Raised mostly by a surrogate family, Boston artist Lumina Gershfield is compelled to find out all that she can about her biological family. In particular, she hopes to connect with her grandmother, who in her youth faced a similar question to the one that currently concerns Lumina.

The Generations Project

Raised mostly by a surrogate family, Boston artist Lumina Gershfield is compelled to find out all that she can about her biological family.

Lumina

As an African American with a southern heritage, Durrell assumed his great-grandfather was a farmhand, but an old photo reveals this ancestor wearing a suit. Puzzled and eager to learn more, Durrell travels to Columbus, Mississippi.

Durrell

Katie Newbold’s life has been riddled with health problems, and she has most recently been diagnosed with precancerous polyps. As Katie looks to her family’s past to understand if these health issues are genetic, she is able to connect with a great-grandmother who died of a similar condition in her early 30s.

Katie’s great grandmother is said to have died of leukemia. After having her own share of health problems, Katie wants to know if her great-grandmother's health problems are genetic or not.

Katie

Maile wants to learn more about her ancestor that was sent to an island off of Hawaii, Kalaupapa, because she was diagnosed as a leper. Maile wants to learn what life was like for her, isolated from her children and family.

Hawaiian cultural educator Maile Mossman travels to the Kalaupapa leper colony to learn about her great-grandmother's life and discovers how the strength of our ancestor can live on in us.

Maile

John Searcy feels passionate about the power of a name. John wants to learn more about his namesake, his great-grandfather, in hopes of identifying morals and values that he can emulate. He travels to Florida and Georgia, where he learns about his surprising past.

John wants to learn where he got his name from and the type of person his great-grandpa was. He visits Andersonville Prison, Palmetto Agricultural Museum and Palmetto’s Yellow Fever Cemetery.

John

Deanna Jensen sets out on what seems to be an impossible journey of learning about her great-grandparents, who were killed in a house fire after throwing their 11-month-old daughter to safety. Deanna’s grandmother knows little about her parents, making it difficult for her to pass on their legacy.

Deanna’s great-grandparents died in a house fire. Deanna wants to learn the truth about what happened and what her great-grandparents' lives were like immigrating from Italy to St. Louis.

Deanna

Danielle's apathy concerning family history is razed when she learns that her African-American great-grandfather was the inventor and patent holder of the horse bridle in 1892. To learn more about her ancestor, Danielle journeys to Colonial Williamsburg to see what life would have been like for a man of his status.

Danielle learns that her great-grandfather was an inventor, so she looks into more of her ancestry.

Danielle

To find the truth behind the family legend that he has an East Indian princess in his pedigree, bridal gown designer James Walker travels to southern Utah to learn how this alleged princess would have fared in a rural community.

James

As Andrea undergoes her second bout of cancer, she must face drastic lifestyle changes. Join her as she draws strength and inspiration from her ancestors, particularly the independent women of her past.

Andrea

Gloria Squires has been troubled by a family story of her grandfather William, known only as a drunk who cheated on his wife and was ultimately found beaten to death. Gloria believes there is good in everyone and wants to find something admirable that she can pass on to future generations.

Gloria sets out to uncover any positive attributes for which her ancestor can be remembered.

Gloria

Former judge Boyd Mossman believes that he is related to Isaac Davis. Legend has it that Davis was the royal adviser to King Kamehameha, who allegedly gave Davis a Hawaiian princess to marry. Boyd researches the story of his ancestor to find out if the legend is true and if Boyd really is royalty.

Boyd wants to discover if his lineage traces back to Hawaiian royalty. He visits Iao Valley and Kauai Historical Society to find his answers.

Boyd

Vicki Biss believes she is part American Indian and travels to Shiloh, Tennessee, to discover the surprising truth behind the legend.

Vicki

Is pessimism hereditary? Lakia Holmes journeys through her great-grandmother’s life to find out. Her question takes her from the Big Apple to rural Alabama to the small schoolhouse of her great-grandmother’s youth, a harrowing reenactment of life as a slave and a surprise encounter with the grandfather she has never met.

After spending her childhood in foster care, Lakia Holmes looks to make a connection with her family through her great-grandmother.

Lakia

Pluto

Rachel is curious about her ancestors' relationships with their ecosystems. Her discoveries range from Canadian canals to the Salem witch trials.

Rachel

Xander and Carrie, whose twin boys were saved from a genetic disease by an anonymous bone-marrow donor, test the relationship between genetic and genealogical ancestry while searching for the disease in their own family histories.

Xander & Carrie

A Golden Gate Bridge ironworker sets out to build emotional bridges with his estranged son. When Kerry discovers a story about his father's relationship with his own parents, he wonders if history is repeating itself.

Kerry

Emily goes on a journey to trust the feelings and impressions she has about her ancestors. She visits Marysburg Cemetery and Cambridge, Massachusetts to kindle a connection to her ancestors.

Emily

Learn how to do your own generations project by connecting with your ancestors in a way that makes a difference in your life right now.

Do Your Own Generations Project

PJ and Heidi are on their way to rehabilitating their relationship. They hope to find tight-knit, well-adjusted ancestors in their family tree.

PJ & Heidi

Tara, a Pakistani-American, learns how her prominent Muslim ancestors risked their lives to help establish India's independence and participate in the Pakistan-India partitioning.

Tara

Will, an actor, hopes his family history can help him choose between a practical career and his dream of working in the arts.

Will

In search of a stunning new recipe for the rising generation, Chef Nick sets out to learn about the lives and diets of his French-Canadian ancestors.

Nick

Ty attempts to reconcile his feelings about his German ancestors' involvement in both World Wars, including their role in the Nazi regime.

An undertaker learns about the lives of his African American ancestors by investigating their deaths and how they were memorialized.

Sean, a dyslexic author and mountaineer, learns about his great-grandfather's life during World War I to see if following the call is worth all the heartache. He visits Plymouth Plantation and Boston.

Sean

What secrets run in your blood? This reality series uncovers the hidden identities in family pasts, proving that the best way to know who you are is to know who you came from.

Rachel

Full Episodes

Season 2, 12 episodes