Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Watch Audra McDonald Explore Her Fresno Roots on PBS
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 4 years ago on
April 28, 2021

Share

Entertainment superstars Audra McDonald and Mandy Patinkin learn about their ancestors’ struggles and successes in the latest episode of “Finding Your Roots” on PBS.

“My father talked about his town called Jericho, but I didn’t have an understanding of what that was.” — Audra McDonald

The episode debuted Tuesday night but is available for viewing on the PBS website through May 25. You can watch the “On Broadway” episode at this link.

While the show — now in its seventh season — always delves into the ancestors of well-known figures and sparks emotional responses from its subjects, this episode should especially appeal to Fresno area residents and fans of McDonald and Patinkin.

Thanks to the show’s research team, McDonald learns from host Henry Louis Gates Jr. about her family’s early days in Fresno.

And, Patinkin breaks into tears upon hearing that many of his Jewish ancestors in Poland were Holocaust victims. He previously had been told that his family escaped the Holocaust.

Legend of Jericho Explained

The big discovery for McDonald involves her great-grandfather Jessie McDonald and his wife, Ruth.

Born in Mississippi, they took part in The Great Migration along with six million other Blacks. But, instead of fleeing the Jim Crow South for a northern city, they headed west and landed in Fresno with their five children in the early 1920s.

Over time, Jessie McDonald bought properties and built businesses in southwest Fresno. These included a grocery store, a cafe, and a few apartments, Gates explains. And, that small community had a name: Jericho.

“My father talked about his town called Jericho, but I didn’t have an understanding of what that was,” McDonald tells Gates.

The discussion also covers Fresno’s historical red-lining policy that prevented Blacks from purchasing property except in the least desirable areas.

McDonald also is surprised to learn that she’s a distant cousin of her former Broadway costar, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.

Watch: Audra McDonald Is DNA Cousins With Sean Combs

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California Senator Will Make Historic Appearance at Fresno City College Commencement

DON'T MISS

Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Cairo Near ‘Significant Breakthrough,’ Two Security Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Farmer Sentenced to Prison in $650,000 Crop Insurance Fraud Case

DON'T MISS

Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List

DON'T MISS

Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman

DON'T MISS

Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say

DON'T MISS

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

DON'T MISS

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

DON'T MISS

Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers

DON'T MISS

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

UP NEXT

Autopsy Confirms Gene Hackman Died From Heart Disease

UP NEXT

Kim Kardashian Jewel Heist Trial Starts in Paris

UP NEXT

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

UP NEXT

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

UP NEXT

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

UP NEXT

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

UP NEXT

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

UP NEXT

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

UP NEXT

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

UP NEXT

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List

8 hours ago

Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman

9 hours ago

Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say

9 hours ago

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

9 hours ago

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

10 hours ago

Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers

10 hours ago

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

10 hours ago

US and Mexico Have Reached Agreement on New World Screwworm, Ag Secretary Rollins Says

11 hours ago

Death Toll in Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Blast Rises to 70

11 hours ago

Selma Mayor Responds to Criminal Charge

11 hours ago

California Senator Will Make Historic Appearance at Fresno City College Commencement

For the first time in Fresno City College’s 115-year history, a United States senator will speak at its commencement ceremony. California De...

8 hours ago

8 hours ago

California Senator Will Make Historic Appearance at Fresno City College Commencement

Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip April 28, 2025. (REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa)
8 hours ago

Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Cairo Near ‘Significant Breakthrough,’ Two Security Sources Say

8 hours ago

Fresno County Farmer Sentenced to Prison in $650,000 Crop Insurance Fraud Case

8 hours ago

Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List

Officers with the New York Police Department outside the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, on Monday, April 28, 2025. The Police Department said it was preparing for new protests in Brooklyn on Monday after a woman was verbally and physically assaulted by hundreds of pro-Israel demonstrators there last week. (Victor J. Blue/The New York Times)
9 hours ago

Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman

9 hours ago

Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say

At least 26 people were killed and three injured on Monday when two vehicles struck an improvised explosive device in Nigeria’s insurgency-hit Borno state, an attack residents blamed on Boko Haram. (Shutterstock)
9 hours ago

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

Visitors pay their respects at a memorial after a vehicle drove into a crowd during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP/Lindsey Wasson)
10 hours ago

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend