Alex Haley's saga of a black American family resumes in 1882 Henning, Tenn., with blacksmith Tom Harvey as the family patriarch. This episode: Black schoolteacher Carrie Barden marries Jim Warner, white son of the town's leading citizen.

Tom's daughter Cynthia marries Will Palmer, a lumberyard laborer who eventually takes over the business when its hard-drinking owner loses control.

Will's daughter Bertha becomes the first of Kunta Kinte's descendants to go to college, where she meets the young and ambitious Simon Haley.

In 1918, Simon Haley enlists in the Army and sees action in France; upon his return to the United States, he and Bertha leave Henning to attend school in the North.

Alex Haley learns his family history from his grandfather.

After dropping out of college and joining the Coast Guard, Alex meets and marries Nan Branch; he re-enlists and begins his writing career.