On Tuesday's episode of "Finding Your Roots," civil rights activist Angela Davis learned a series of surprising facts about her ancestral history, but one revelation left her outright shocked.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Davis grew up not knowing her maternal grandparents since her mother had grown up in a foster home, so she was eager to see if host Henry Louis Gates Jr. could solve that life-long mystery for her. But after digging into her family tree, and then digging even further, he presented Davis with answers to questions that she would have never even thought to ask.
"You are descended from one of the 101 people who sailed on the Mayflower," Gates said, presenting Davis with a manifest including the name of her 10th great-grandfather.
"No, I can't believe this," Davis said. "My ancestors did not come here on the Mayflower . . . That's a little too much to deal with right now."
“Do you know what you’re looking at? That is a list of the passengers on the Mayflower.”
— Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGates) February 22, 2023
Our researchers discovered #AngelaDavis’s ancestors traveled to the US on the Mayflower and here is her reaction. #FindingYourRoots pic.twitter.com/G2HhA9BSrT
William Brewster, a decedent from Davis' father's side, was born in England roughly around 1570, according to research conducted by Gates, and was one of the first settlers in America — a fact that was difficult for Davis to wrap her mind around.
While Davis came away from her appearance on the show knowing way more about her paternal side, her maternal side remains a bit of a mystery.
No information was found on her mother's mother, but Gates was able to uncover the name of her maternal grandfather, a white Alabama lawyer named John Austin Darden.
"He has my mother's lips," Davis said, looking at a photo of her grandfather for the first time. "It's so funny, I can see her in him."
