(upbeat music) - The PBS program, Finding Your Roots, explores many challenges through our Nation's history of war, racism and prejudice.

And here with information about an upcoming event and panel discussion is our own director of engagement, Laura Durham.

Hi, Laura.

- Hi.

- Welcome back.

- Thank you.

(Mary and Laura laugh) - Okay, so this series is so popular and people love it, because it explores your people's past, that often that they didn't know about.

- Exactly, Finding Your Roots, is one of the most popular shows in Utah, and I think it's because we do have a strong tradition of researching our ancestors and family history here.

You know, ancestry is located here, so our viewers love this program and so we're really excited.

I've been wanting to do an event around this program for a really long time, and thanks to WETA, the distributor, they gave us a grant, so now we're able to put something together.

- Ah, wonderful, and the panel you've got, it's really fascinating.

- Yes, yes.

- Yeah.

- So it's gonna be really cool.

We're having a reception at 6:00 PM, so people can mingle and we'll have some music and some food, but then we'll be moving into the auditorium for a panel discussion that will be supplemented with some clips from the series that are along the theme of our difficult past.

You know, it's easy to get together and talk about our wonderful ancestors and these great stories, but all of us have a character in our past or an event that's kind of is associated with trauma or shame.

And so we wanted to explore that with these panelists and how important it is to heal, to grow and move forward.

- And I know you've got Elaine Clark from KUER moderating.

- Yes, so Elaine Clark is the newsroom director here at KUER, and she's also a family history buff.

So Elaine helped me put together this wonderful panel of experts in family history and genealogy.

We have Dr. Amy Harris from BYU, and we have a couple others.

We have an artist and then we have an LGBTQ family history expert, so it's gonna be fascinating.

- Ah, I know, you and I were talking about it, this is one not to miss, so thank you for being here.

And if you'd like to know more about that upcoming Finding Your Roots Screening & Panel, March 12th from 6:00 to 8:30. it's at the Mid-Valley Performing Arts Center in Taylorsville, go to pbsutah.org/events, pbsutah.org/events.

I'm Mary Dickson, thanks for watching Contact.

(upbeat music) - Local events, arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

Here on Contact, we introduce you to local events and organizations that serve your neighborhood.

If you work for a nonprofit and would like to appear on our show, please visit pbsutah.org/contact.