Residents > African American Heritage > Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial > Alexander Murray Palmer Haley

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley

"The giving and getting, the sense of belonging and contributing to something larger than yourself, to something that began before you were born and will go on after you die, can make it possible for you to accept life in a way that makes you wish the whole world could realize how easy it is to feel as you do, and wonder why they don't.

That's what having roots - and writing Roots - has done for me.

I pray that reading it - and then reaching out for their families to join in a search of their own - will do the same for everyone."

Alex Haley

Alex Haley, born on August 11, 1921 in Ithaca, New York, was the oldest child of Simon Alexander and Bertha Palmer Haley. His father was then a graduate student at Cornell University and his mother, a music student.

During his early years he spent time at the home of his maternal grandparents in Henning, Tennessee. It was in Henning that young Alex learned about "Kunta Kinte the African" who, according to family tradition, landed with other slaves from Africa in "Napolis."

Haley's writing career developed after he entered the U.S. Coast Guard in 1937. Out of the service, he tried his hand at journalism. His first successful article was an interview that appeared in Playboy Magazine in 1962. Alex next worked on The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Published in 1965, it became Haley's first major book.

It was about this time his thoughts then turned back to the family story of the African slave that he heard as a child. His work on the story, which he knew he had to write, became a primary focus of his writing efforts. First referred to as Before This Anger, it was eventually published in abbreviated form in 1974 by the Reader's Digest. The completed version of Roots was placed on bookshelves in 1976. This monumental epic won the Pulitzer Prize the following year, and the National Book Award. Roots has been published in over 35 languages, and the award winning television mini-series based on the Roots saga introduced Kunta Kinte to the world.

Alex's next publication, in 1990, was about the underground railroad, and was entitled A Different Kind of Christmas. The miniseries, based on his book Queen, appeared in the winter of 1993.

Perhaps Alex Haley's greatest gift was in speaking. He was a fascinating teller of tales. In great demand as a lecturer, both nationally and internationally, he was on a lecture tour in Seattle, Washington, when he died on February 10, 1992.

Author Alex Haley first learned of his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, while living as a child with his maternal grandparents in Henning, Tennessee. According to family history, Kunta Kinte landed with other Gambian Africans in "Napolis" where he was sold into slavery.

Alex Haley's quest to uncover his family roots resulted in the book Roots, published in 1976. It won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and has been published in over 35 languages. Roots became the first ever television mini series and an international TV movie sensation. The movie Roots won nine Emmy Awards.

The movie inspired a group of Annapolitans to memorialize the messages embodied in Roots. That began an over 20-year effort that, through the commitment of many people in America and around the world, brings us to today's dedication.