Who Do You Think You Are? Episode 3.10 Rashida Jones

Rashida Jones lives in Los Angeles as an actor and writer. Her many film credits include "I Love You, Man," "The Muppets" and "The Social Network," and she currently plays Ann Perkins on the NBC comedy "Parks and Recreation." She is the daughter of music legend Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton, and this blend of African-American and Jewish cultures has formed her individuality since she was a child.

"My dad has always been obsessed with our genealogy and our family tree," Rashida says as she explains why she'll be focusing on her Jewish maternal ancestry where very little is known. Rashida spent lots of time with her maternal grandparents, Harold and Rita, when she was growing up, but they have both passed away and with them any detailed knowledge about that side of the family. She has always felt a special connection with her Grandmother Rita and is excited to discover insight into her life.

Peggy shows Rashida glamour photos of her Grandmother Rita and explains how she emigrated from Ireland to Nyack, New York, but then quickly moved to Manhattan in the 1930s where she lived a mysterious life. At some point, Rita changed her name from Rosenberg to Benson, but the how and why is a mystery to them. "It seems my grandmother was reinventing herself, and that is very interesting to me," Rashida says as she heads to New York City to find the answers.

Rashida meets with Prof. Fermaglich at the New York Public library and hopes to figure out what her grandmother was like when she was living the single life in Manhattan. They start on Ancestry.com and pull up the immigration forms that list Pearl, Rita's sister, and Rita Rosenberg coming to America from Glasgow, Ireland at the ages of 18 and 13. She learns her great-grandmother was named Jeanie and her brother was Elliott Benson. "Okay, this is really weird," Rashida says as everyone thought Rita made up the name Benson, but it seems to have been taken directly from her uncle. "Now I'm really confused," Rashida laughs.

Prof. Fermaglich shows Rashida her grandmother's citizenship papers to become an American in 1936 and she finds that it was with those papers she officially dropped Rosenberg for Benson, although she was unofficially using that name during her mysterious years in Manhattan. Rashida assumes it was the smart move to change her name to a nondenominational surname since it would've been hard to get a job during that time in America. "It is weird that there is this parallel American dream," Rashida says, where you're told anything is possible, yet you need to change yourself in order to succeed.

Rashida meets with David Freeland who is an expert in the history of Manhattan nightlife. Rashida learns from David that Rita was a "taxi dancer" and showgirl during the 1930s. As a taxi dancer, Rita would earn five cents for each 90-second dance, sometimes working late into the night for the chance to dance for a Hollywood producer or an Ivy-league bachelor. David shows Rashida a famous tabloid of the time where Rashida's grandmother, using the name Rita Ray, was mentioned as a hostess at a nightclub called the Bluebird.

"My grandmother was so young and so ambitious when she came to this country. I wonder what she was leaving back home," Rashida ponders as she heads to Dublin, Ireland to delve deeper into her family tree. She meets with a genealogist at the National Archives and learns her great-grandmother's maiden name was Ginny Benson, and she was born in Manchester, England. She then reads Ginny's marriage certificate listing Hyman Rosenberg as her husband and her 2x great-grandparents as Benjamin and Sophia Benson. "It's funny," Rashida says, "I thought my grandmother took this name... out of the ether... we didn't realize the name Benson went back this far."

Rashida is amazed as she finds photos of her 2x great-grandfather, Benjamin Benson, who was a Hebrew teacher in Ireland. She then discovers the Benson family is from Latvia, so Rashida heads to the capital of Latvia to delve deeper. "I had no idea about Latvia and no idea about what the Jewish experience there is like," Rashida says as she arrives in the Eastern European country.

Rashida meets with an expert in Jewish American history in Latvia to help her discover more about the Bensons. Until the end of World War 1, the Russian empire was home to the largest Jewish population in the world. They were perceived by the government as an economic and cultural threat, so Jews were subject to double taxation and double military service terms. Rashida looks at the military records of 1871 and finds Benjamin Benson listed with all his relatives. To Rashida's surprise, the Benson name has been the true name of the family for generations and her 5x great-grandfather created that name as his family's first surname.

Through further records, Rashida finds that the Benson family is originally from the Latvian city of Hazenpoth, known today as Aizpute. Rita learns that her 4x great-grandfather was Schlaume Benson, and her 5x great-grandfather was Benjamin Marcus Benson. Rashida heads to Hazenpoth and meets with historian Ilya Lensky to discover more about Jewish life in that city. Lensky tells Rashida about the anti-Semitism her family and all Jews had to face in the country; all of that hardship is likely the reason why Benjamin Benson immigrated his family to Ireland.

Lensky then tells devastating news to Rashida that it was lucky Benjamin decided to immigrate from Hazenpoth to Ireland because during World War 2, the Nazis exterminated the city's entire Jewish community on October 27, 1941. "Nobody thought something like that could happen," Lensky tells a shocked Rashida who realizes all of her relatives that stayed were massacred. "In a weird way, it's kinda dumb luck that I'm here. I'm really lucky. I feel like I owe it to my relatives to know our complete history," Rashida reflects.

Rashida learns about the fate of her ancestor in the Rumbula Forest where Nazis forced them to march into the woods and undress; they then were brutally killed and buried in mass graves. Tears flow down her face as she looks at a copy of her family tree where branches just come to a complete dead end. It seems the only branch of the family that made it was hers because Schlaume had the luck and/or foresight to leave.

Radshida and her mother Peggy walk the Rumbula Holocaust Memorial and reflect on the luck their branch of the family had to survive the massacre in the war. "When I began this journey I was hoping to find out more about my grandmother Rita, and I am astonished by how much more I've learned about my mother's side of the family. As difficult as it's been, I'm grateful to share these stories with my mother and that the two of us can visit this memorial and pay our respects to our family. "