stirred deep feelings for many in the capitol today but perhaps they reached deepest for this man, ken morris. >> my grandfather was frederick douglass iii, and he was frederic douglas' son. and my grandmother nettie hancock, was booker t. washington's granddaughter. >> morris, he descends not from one leader but two. >> can you imagine growing up and you see your ancestors, there are bridges that are named after them, they're on schools and libraries. it can be pretty intimidating and that's quite a vast, long shadow to grow up in. >> reporter: morris avoided the shadow while building a successful marketing career until one day a buddy passed along a magazine and morris felt a pull he could not ignore. >> and the cover story was 21st century slaves. and i reacted the way i think most people do. slavery didn't end with the work of frederick douglass, and i have two teenaged daughters who at the time were 12 and 9 years old, and i got up and i walked in to my girls' room, and i found that i couldn't look them in the eyes and walk away from this and not do anything. each and every one of