When history finds its way home

THE CHALLENGE

Black Americans face systemic barriers in tracing family history due to historical erasure and limited documentation during slavery. After digitizing Freedmen’s Bureau records, Ancestry uncovered letters from Hawkins Wilson, a freedman searching for his family. The challenge was to honor this history authentically, engage the Black community with care, and bring the broader public into a meaningful conversation around lineage, identity, and discovery.

THE APPROACH

I led a culturally grounded, national campaign anchored by the Juneteenth release of the short documentary A Dream Delivered: The Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson. We built credibility and resonance through trusted voices, including genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith, historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., and actor Anthony Anderson, with Yara Shahidi and her mother, Keri Shahidi, extending the story to younger and culturally engaged audiences. A month-long rollout combined broad national media, culturally relevant storytelling, and influencer partnerships to ensure the campaign reached both the Black community and the general market with authenticity and emotional impact.

RESULTS

  • Coverage in USA Today, Good Morning America, and Jimmy Kimmel Live

  • Drove 2.7M film views for A Dream Delivered

  • Earned 7 industry awards, including a Global SABRE Award and Shorty Impact Award

25M+

SOCIAL IMPRESSIONS

MEDIA IMPRESSIONS

1.8B+


Anthony Anderson Says Filming Ancestry Movie About Descendants of Enslaved Man Was 'Eye Opening'

Anthony Anderson talks ancestry, hosting ‘A Dream Delivered’

Ancestry’s Latest Big-Pitch Commercial Streamed On Pluto, Paramount+