Roots and Alex Haley

The Kunta Kinte - Alex Haley Memorial, which is located at the City Dock in historic Annapolis, portrays in word and symbol the triumph of the human spirit. It stresses the importance of maintaining strong family connections and of preserving and honoring one's family history and cultural heritage.

My father's family began life in the United States in the mid-1700's when two Ledgerwood brothers arrived in Virginia from Scotland as indentured servents. For this reason, I found the Haley Memorial to be a reminder and acknowledgement for all people - African, Asian and European - who arrived in the New World in bondage, whose unpaid labor forged the backbone of this nation's rise to greatness. The Memorial is dedicated to their descendants, who strive to create a nation that celebrates ethnic diversity, mutual respect and understanding.

This area is the only memorial in the country that commemorates the actual name and place of arrival of an enslaved African. The Memorial consists of three distinct areas: the Alex Haley sculpture group, Compass Rose, and Story Wall.



The sculpture group features Alex Haley seated before a group of three children of different ethnic backgrounds. Holding a book open on his lap, he recounts his family's history and that of the Annapolis port as the symbolic beginning of the history and journey of African Americans. Next to the statues is a bronze plaque dedicated in 1981 and containing the original acknowledgement of Kunta Kinte's arrival on the slave ship Lord Ligonier in 1767.



Next to the sculptures is the Story Wall, a series of ten markers topped with bronze plaques lining the retaining sea wall on Compromise Street. On each plaque is a quote from Haley's story of his family's journey as told in Roots. Each quote is accompanied by text and unique graphics that explain and illuminates its meaning.



The Compass Rose is situated next to the Market House across the street from the sculpture group. Fourteen feet in diameter, it includes a bronze inlaid compass and map of the world oriented to true North with Annapolis at its center.