KQED and show producers seek local residents with interesting stories for national broadcast.
PBS and KQED, the public media institution that serves Northern California, announced today that a new series Genealogy Roadshow, which premieres nationally this fall, is seeking local participants to share their families’ stories. Final participants will be part of an episode taping in San Francisco on Sunday, July 21. Part detective story, part emotional journey, Genealogy Roadshow will combine history and science to uncover fascinating stories of a diverse collection of Americans. The producers are looking for Bay Area residents who have (or believe they have) a historically significant story in their family. Chosen stories will be researched by a team of local experts, and will be linked to the larger community history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of San Francisco and America. Individuals with interesting stories are encouraged to submit them online through the KQED website at kqed.org/grshow.
After participants are chosen, genealogy, history and DNA experts will use family heirlooms, letters, pictures, historical documents and other clues to hunt down more information. These experts will enlist the help of local historians to add color and context to the investigations, ensuring every artifact and every name becomes a clue in solving the mystery. San Francisco residents are invited and encouraged to submit their personal stories as Genealogy Roadshow will unearth family and community secrets, reveal notable relatives and discover unexpected stories that connect the past to the present. Many answers will be revealed on camera before a local audience, in a historic building relevant to the cities’ — and the participants’ — histories.
Genealogy Roadshow’s premiere season features participants from four American cities — San Francisco, Detroit, Nashville, and Austin— who want to explore unverified genealogical claims passed down through family histories that may (or may not) connect them to an event or an historical figure. These cities were chosen as American crossroads of culture, diversity, industry and history. The San Francisco episode, which will be filmed before a live audience, will air this fall (specific air dates will be announced later).
San Francisco is known as a Pacific port, a religious mission, a railroad hub, a mining mecca, an earthquake epicenter, the birthplace of world-famous counterculture movements and the home of the biggest technological innovations of all time, including denim jeans. The city has seen its population transformed over and over again due to its constantly shifting industries, leading to the significant diversity that exists there today.