Who Do You Think You Are? Episode 1.07 Spike Lee

Spike Lee is one of America's best-known film directors. The success of his first film, "She's Gotta Have It" allowed Spike to start his own production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. Although Spike portrays African American history through his films, he actually knows little about his maternal roots. Spike's mother Jacquelyn died abruptly when he was only 19. Spike believes he wouldn't be the person he is today if it weren't for his mother, and he feels as though her death was a kind of sacrifice. For Spike, this journey is all about finding his mother's slave roots and learning who owned his ancestors.

Spike's grandmother Zimmie became an important part of Spike's life after his mother died. Also referred to as "Mama," Zimmie helped Spike go to college at NYU to study film. Zimmie also contributed money to Spike's first feature film. Zimmie taught art for 50 years in the segregated schools of Georgia and saved her money in order to send her grandchildren to college. Zimmie died in 2006 when she 100 years old. Spike feels as though he squandered his opportunities to ask what she knew about her family. Five years ago, Spike Lee took a DNA test, which revealed that his father's side of the family came from Cameroon and his mother's side came from Sierra Leone.

Spike travels to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia to see if he can learn about Zimmie's grandmother Lucinda Jackson, who was born into slavery. Spike meets with a genealogist of African American ancestry, Melvin J. Collier. Through ancestry.com, Melvin and Spike discover that Lucinda died on May 13th, 1934. Spike and Melvin look for Lucinda's obituary to learn she had three sons: Isaac, Wilson and Philip (Spike's great-grandfather). There's no mention of Lucinda's husband.

Spike's great-grandfather Philip Jackson's death certificate bears the name of his father: Mars Jackson (Spike's great-great-grandfather). Back when he was making the film "She's Gotta Have It," Spike asked Zimmie to help him name the character he was going to play. She suggested the name Mars. Now Spike realizes he unknowingly named his character in the film after his great-great-grandfather. Since Lucinda was born into slavery, Spike assumes that Mars was also a slave. He journeys to Morrow, Georgia to search through archives in hopes of learning more.

Spike meets with local historian Professor Mark Schultz hoping to find out more about Mars' slave life. Mark and Spike look through records to find a man named Mars Woodall, a farmer who had a wife named Lucy (short for Lucinda), and three boys with the names Wilson, Isaac and Philip. Later in life, Mars would change the family name to Jackson, but as a young boy in 1880, Mars and his family had the last name Woodall, which could also be the last name of his former owner.

Mark and Spike search through the 1860 Census of Twiggs County, Georgia to find Mars' owner. The name James Woodall appears to be the best match. James was a farmer and owned a large plantation. Spike wants to know how to tell for sure whether James really owned his ancestors, since slaves were not part of the census at the time. Spike counts how many slaves James had; the nameless marks on the roster may account for Spike's relatives. According to the U.S. Constitution at that time, slaves were only considered to be three-fifths of a human being, and therefore their names were not included in public records until after the Civil War.

Spike continues his journey, hoping to learn whether his great-great-grandfather Mars remained under the care of his owner after the emancipation. Using the 1880 Census of Agriculture, Spike sees that Mars owned 80 plus acres of land. Mark tells Spike that many slaves used their relationship with their previous masters to help them get what they wanted, and this could have been what happened in Mars' case. Spike takes a drive to his great-great-grandfather's land and is amazed by what he sees. In a tribute to Mars, Spike wears his Mars necklace from his film, "She's Gotta Have It." Spike takes some of Georgia's red clay from Mars' land to bring home to his family.

Spike will never know how Mars lost his land after 1880, so he decides to search for more information about his great-great-grandmother Lucinda and her ancestors. Spike finds out that Lucinda's parents were Wilson and Matilda Griswold, who were only recorded on a census after the Civil War in 1870. Spike searches the 1870 Census to find out that Matilda was a mulatto cook living in Griswoldville. Spike believes that Griswold is likely the last name of the man who owned her. Spike wants to know where Griswoldville, Georgia is - and whatever happened to Wilson Griswold, Lucinda's father?

Spike meets with professor Daina Berry, a historian of 19th century slavery in Macon, Georgia. Using the 1860 Census, they find out that a man named Samuel Griswold owned many, many slaves. Daina has found a contract that shows how Samuel Griswold hired out his slaves to work cotton gins, one of them being Wilson Griswold. On top of this, Spike learns that in 1865, Union General W.T. Sherman and his army destroyed the land and the cotton gin factory where Wilson and the other slaves were working and took them with him. But there are no records to show what exactly happened to Wilson. He could have fought in the Union Army or he could have been killed.

Spike wants to find out what happened to Wilson and the Griswold plantation. Presently, there's nothing left of Griswoldville besides a street sign, train tracks, and a plaque where the cotton gin factory once stood. Both the factory and the town were destroyed during the Civil War. The cotton gin factory was turned into The Confederate Pistol Factory, which supplied Colt pistols to the Confederacy. Spike's great-great-great-grandfather Wilson worked there, but Spike will never know how Wilson felt, or what happened to him.

Spike meets with Bill Bragg, Director for the Center of Georgia Studies, who shows him an authentic Colt pistol which Wilson could have built. Spike can't believe Wilson worked in a factory that made pistols used to kill the people who were coming to liberate him. Although Bill doesn't have a picture of the factory, he does have a picture of Wilson's owner, Samuel Griswold and his wife, Luisa.

After speaking with Bill, Spike learns it's possible Samuel Griswold could have been Matilda's (Spike's great-great-great-grandmother) father. Spike talks to Daina about Matilda, and discovers that it's a great possibility Matilda was the daughter of a slave owner. If Samuel Griswold was Matilda's father, it could explain why Matilda ended up working for Samuel's daughter, Eliza Grier. Through ancestry.com, Daina finds a descendant of the Griswold family, who wants to meet Spike.

Spike travels to Arlington, Texas to meet with a descendant of Samuel Griswold. He tries to keep an open mind, knowing this descendant had nothing to do with slavery, and wonders if she's aware of what her ancestors did. Guinevere Grier tells Spike that Samuel is her great-great-grandfather. Spike explains they may be third cousins twice removed, if in fact, Samuel did father Matilda. Guinevere's happy to know she may have a famous relative.

Full of emotion, Guinevere tells Spike how much the thought of slavery bothers her and many people she knows. Spike says he can't love any slave owner, because he doesn't understand how you can own another human being. Spike believes this journey has been very meaningful for him and hopes one of his next films can deal with the complexities of what happened on plantations during the era of slavery in America. Spike believes that Zimmie would be proud of what he's discovered.