The video delves into the personal history of Viola Davis as she explores the roots and lineage on her mother's side. Viola was born in a sharecropper's house on a plantation in South Carolina, but moved to Rhode Island at a very young age. Despite her long residence in Rhode Island, she has always felt a disconnection from it, identifying more with her birthplace, where her maternal family's roots are deeply entrenched. This personal journey is one of discovery about her grandparents, their marriage, and the complexities of family ties.

The narrative unfolds various surprises and secrets about her grandfather, Henry Logan, who had a somewhat enigmatic lineage. This exploration is greatly aided by historical records and DNA tests, which reveal discrepancies between recorded parentage and biological reality. Through this process, Viola learns that her grandfather's father was likely John Young, not the presumed Gable Logan. This comes as a revelation, suggesting the silent and unresolved complexities in her family history.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. plantation [plænˈteɪʃən] - (noun) - A large estate or farm on which crops are grown, often with the labor of workers or slaves. - Synonyms: (estate, farm, hacienda)

I started with Viola. She was born on a plantation in South Carolina where her mother's family had lived for generations.

2. integration [ˌɪntɪˈɡreɪʃən] - (noun) - The process of combining or bringing together different groups, often referring to racial or cultural blending. - Synonyms: (assimilation, incorporation, amalgamation)

It was just hard integrating into that culture.

3. sharecropper [ˈʃerˌkrɑːpər] - (noun) - A farmer who gives a part of each crop as rent to landowners. - Synonyms: (tenant farmer, metayer, cultivator)

I was born in my grandmother's sharecropper's house.

4. enigmatic [ˌɛnɪɡˈmætɪk] - (adjective) - Mysterious and difficult to understand or interpret. - Synonyms: (mysterious, puzzling, cryptic)

Viola's grandfather, Henry Logan, who had a somewhat enigmatic lineage.

5. obituary [oʊˈbɪtʃuːˌɛri] - (noun) - A notice of a death, especially in a newspaper, typically including a brief biography of the deceased person. - Synonyms: (death notice, memorial notice, necrology)

But when Henry passed away in 1979, his obituary said something very different.

6. census [ˈsɛnsəs] - (noun) - An official count or survey of a population, typically recording various details of individuals. - Synonyms: (survey, population count, enumeration)

But we had to be certain, so we turned to DNA and the 1920s census for South Carolina.

7. paternity [pəˈtɜrnɪti] - (noun) - The state of being someone's father. - Synonyms: (fatherhood, parenthood, filiation)

The truth of Henry's paternity likely stayed hidden, in no small part because of the events that followed.

8. massive load [ˈmæ sɪv loʊd] - (noun) - Expression used to signify a significant amount of emotional or historical burden. - Synonyms: (heavy burden, weight, responsibility)

It makes me know that I entered this world with a big old load from the moment I came out of my mother's womb.

9. legacy [ˈlɛɡəsi] - (noun) - Something handed down or received from an ancestor or predecessor. - Synonyms: (heritage, inheritance, tradition)

I'm the amalgamation of a lot of stories and a lot of secrets.

10. amalgamation [əˌmæləˈɡeɪʃən] - (noun) - The action, process, or result of combining or uniting. - Synonyms: (combination, union, merger)

I'm the amalgamation of a lot of stories and a lot of secrets.

The Hidden Truth in Viola Davis' Family Tree - Finding Your Roots - PBS

I started with Viola. She was born on a plantation in South Carolina where her mother's family had lived for generations. And she still feels a deep tie to the place, even though she didn't stay there long. So when someone asks you, Viola Davis, who are your people? Where do you come from? What do you say? I always say, I came from Singleton plantation in St. Matthew, South Carolina. I was born in my grandmother's sharecropper's house. And that's usually it. It stops there. I mean, once we moved to Rhode island when I was two months old, I sort of lost that connection to my family and self.

So you don't think of yourself as a native of Rhode island, though you spent so much time that you went to school there. Yeah, I would call that my home. But it's interesting that when I talk about where my home, I always talk about where I was born. Right. And I think the disconnect from Rhode island is just the black side of me going, ah, it was just hard integrating into that culture. So then I always revert back to my birth. Yeah. And where your people are from, the purest form. Yeah. While Viola may feel bonded to her mother's people, she knew very little about their lives. We focused first on her mother's parents, Henry and Moselle Logan. They were both born in St. Matthew, South Carolina. And we found them in the town's archives in the year 1942, making a very significant decision.

Signatures of contracting parties. Henry Logan, Moselle Howell. That's your grandparents marriage certificate. What's it like to see that? Awesome. I mean, you know, people that made you who you are, you're like, you wouldn't be born. Yeah. If it weren't for them. That's right. And yet you don't really know them. Then all of a sudden, you're seeing it. Right. It's pretty incredible. They were married on September 19, 1942. Henry was 22. Your grandmother Moselle, was just 15. Same age as my mom and dad when they got married. That's right. Same spread. Wow. The Logans were married for 37 years and had at least 18 children together. But as we scoured the records that they left behind, we noticed something unusual, a secret that Viola's grandfather Henry had largely kept to himself.

In his Social Security application, filed in the early 1940s, Henry's father is listed as being a man named Gable Logan. But when Henry passed away in 1979, his obituary said something very different. He was a son of the late John Young and misses Corrine Ravenel Logan. Well, according to this obituary, Henry's father was a man named John Young, not Gable Logan. Did your mom ever talk about this? Never. Mm. Isn't that interesting, that silence. Silence is always interesting to me. Records show that Henry's mother, Corinne, married Gable Logan in 1912 and that they were still married when Henry was born in May of 1920. But, of course, that doesn't prove that Gable was Henry's father.

So we set out to see what else we could learn about Gable and Corinne, and we found a surprise. Could you please turn the page? Oh. I'm Corey. What are you doing? Viola? This record is dated July 18, 1919. Would you please read the transcribed section? Passenger list of colored casuals returning to the United States port of departure, Brest, France, to Camp Mills, New York. Arrived July 18, 1919. Name. Logan Gable. Address? St. Matthew, South Carolina. Any idea what you're looking at? He must have served during this would be World War one, right? That's right. That's a list of black soldiers returning from serving in France during World War one. And Gable Logan was on that ship. Did you know? No. Nobody talks about that. Right.

Yeah. Well, it's certainly possible that Gable got off this ship and went home to his wife and conceived your grandfather. However, there's just one problem. Do you see where the men on this ship were headed? They're coming back to Camp Mills. Camp Mills? Yep. I see it right there. Camp Mills. Yeah. Gable got off his ship and went to a military base in Long Island, New York, and we found no evidence that he ever went back to South Carolina. Wow. So what do you think happened? I think Corinne. I don't know, got bored, had a disconnect, and went with someone else while he was away. And I think that that was a very short lived relationship.

Viola's theory was seemingly supported by the 1920s census for South Carolina, where we saw Corinne living with her parents just four doors away from a familiar name. John Young. Head black. Age 35. Married. Ooh. Occupation. Farmer. Josephine. Wife, black. Age. 27. Recognize any names there? Yeah. John Young. What's it like to see that? It's like life. You know, it's people getting with other people who are married. It's the mess of relationships and the mess of, you know, love, sex, truth. Yep. Lust. Desire. Yeah. At this point, it seemed quite likely that Henry's father was John Young and not gable Logan.

But we had to be certain, so we turned to DNA. Since Viola's mother is one generation closer to Henry, we asked her to take a DNA test. We then compared her genetic profile to millions of other profiles in publicly available databases, and we saw that she had no matches to anyone in the extended Logan family, meaning that Henry definitely was not Gable's son. But that still left us with a question. Now, of course, the fact that Gable wasn't Henry's father does not mean that John Young was. Exactly. So we returned to the DNA databases and immediately noticed a cluster of matches that were all related to your mother through one couple.

And based on the amount of DNA that your mother shares with the descendants of that couple, we confirmed that they were your mother's great grandparents, biologically genetically linked to your mother through one of their children, in fact, a son, to be exact. Wow. That son is Henry's father, and that son is your mother's biological grandfather. You want to meet him? Yes, absolutely. Could you please turn the page? Viola, would you please read the name in the box with a yellow border on the chart in front of you? John Young. John Young. Yeah. Wow. It makes me know that I entered this world with a big old load from the moment I came out of my mother's womb. Right. I'm the amalgamation of a lot of stories and a lot of secrets.

The truth of Henry's paternity likely stayed hidden, in no small part because of the events that followed. His mother, Corinne, died of tuberculosis in 1926 when Henry was shut down. Years old. And when we look for his father, John Young, we found him in the 1930 census, living far from St. Matthews. Charlotte City, North Carolina. John Young. Head. Age 46. Occupation, janitor, apartment house, Josephine. Wife. Age 37. John Junior son, age eight. Place of birth, South Carolina. Julius son. Age four. Place of birth, South Carolina.

Sometime between 1926 and 1930, John Young, his wife, Josephine, and their two young sons. Your grandfather's half brothers. Yeah. Moved from St. Matthews to Charlotte, North Carolina. Do you think that John's relationship with Corinne may have had something to do with this move? Oh, absolutely. You know, you gotta. You gotta bury your secrets. That's right. Can't be living four doors away from that heifer. I can hear that conversation, huh? You don't think I know? Look at that baby. That baby looked just like you. How do you imagine Henry felt? His mother dies, and then his father, his biological father, moves away, abandoned. Yeah. And he was probably labeled unwanted.

That's right. Yeah. What's it like to learn all this, to see all this? I think that all of us want to create a past that benefits us and our fantasies. Yes. I think because the other is too hard to process. We like stories that are going to elevate us. Right. You know, we're not so good with messy truth. No. And this is a messy truth.

Viola Davis, Ancestry, Family Secrets, History, Inspiration, Technology, Pbs