The ‘Finding Your Roots’ frontman will talk ancestry during Dec. 4 event
From uncovering hidden family roots on television to rewriting literary history through groundbreaking scholarship, Henry Louis Gates Jr. illuminates the past while shaping cultural conversations today. Erie residents will have a chance to see him in action as he joins the Global Summit for a Special Event on Thursday, Dec. 4. “An Evening ‘Discovering Your Roots’ with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.” will be held at 7 p.m. at the Warner Theatre, 811 State St., Erie, PA 16501.
“We are incredibly honored to add Dr. Gates to the 2025 Global Summit lineup this year,” said Dr. Ferki Ferati, JES President. “We are excited to be bringing one of the nation’s most impressive, preeminent literary scholars and institution builders Erie to close out this year’s Global Summit..”
Gates is an Alphonse Fletcher University professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. An Emmy, Du Pont, and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, and institution builder, he has published numerous books and produced and hosted an array of documentary films about Black history, most recently Great Migrations (PBS, 2025). Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series, Finding Your Roots, which received an Emmy nomination, just concluded its eleventh season. His latest book in 2024, The Black Box: Writing the Race, was named one of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the Year. Most recently, he was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was elected an Honorary Fellow by the Royal Academy of Arts in England.
Tickets for this special event are available through Erie Events – online at ErieEvents.com; by calling the box office at 814.452.4857; or by visiting the box office in person at 809 French St., Erie, PA 16501.
The 2025 Global Summit, in total, will feature an in-person series of 18 events featuring 23 speakers.
For more information, including how to register for tickets to other events, please visit the JES website, www.jeserie.org. If further assistance is needed, JES can be reached at 814.459.8000.
The Global Summit is hosted each year by JES in cooperation with several major community sponsors, including LECOM Health and Erie Insurance.
