Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (1921 - 1992)

Ancestors

Biography

Author Alex Haley won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1976 book, Roots, The Saga of an American Family, which was adapted to a television mini-series the following year and watched by 130 million viewers, raising public awareness of Black history and sparking an interest in genealogy. His Autobiography of Malcolm X was ranked as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century.^[1]

"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past and bridge to our future." ~ Alex Haley

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was born August 11, 1921, in Ithaca, New York to Simon Haley and Palmer-10033|Bertha George Palmer.^[2] His father was a professor of agriculture at Alabama A&M University. Alex was the oldest of three brothers and a sister.^[1]

At the age of 15 he enrolled at Alcorn State University, then a year later at Elizabeth City State College. The next year he returned home to let his father know he had withdrawn from school. Simon felt his son needed more discipline, and convinced Alex to join the military. At the age of 18, Alex joined the Coast Guard, a decision that would lead to a 20-year military career.^[1]

During his service in the Pacific during WWII Alex honed his writing skills. Other sailors would pay him to write love letters to their girlfriends. He started his military career working in the mess hall; he finished as chief petty officer and the first chief journalist in the Coast Guard, a position created in recognition of his ability. After retiring from the military in 1959, he began his writing career in earnest, and eventually became a senior editor of Reader's Digest.^[1]

He conducted the first interview for Playboy magazine with Miles Davis in the September 1962 issue. He had many notable interviews, including Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, Johnny Carson, Quincy Jones, Sammy Davis Jr. and American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell.^[1]

Haley's first book, published in 1965, was The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley. It described the path that Malcolm X followed from street criminal to national spokesman for the Nation of Islam. It was the culmination of fifty in-depth interviews he conducted with Malcolm X between 1963 and 1965.^[1]

In 1976, Alex published a novel based on his family's history called Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots was eventually published in 37 languages, and he was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for it in 1977. That same year, ABC adapted Roots into a miniseries that would become a smash hit.^[1]

Alex Haley was a 33rd-degree mason in Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction.^[3]

He married three times. His first wife was Nannie Virginia Branch;^[4] their marriage produced children and lasted for twenty-two years (1942–1964).

His second wife was Juliette Collins, whom he married in 1964, the marriage lasting through 1972.^[1]

He was married to Dr. Myran Lewis, a writer, from 1977 until his death in 1992.^[1] They had no children.

Alex Haley died on February 10, 1992, in Seattle, Washington,^[5][6] from a heart attack.^[1] He was buried at Alex Haley's Boyhood Home Grounds in Henning, Lauderdale County, Tennessee.^[7]

“In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage- to know who we are and where we have come from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness.” - Alex Haley

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Wikipedia contributors, "Alex Haley," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alex_Haley&oldid=1176496552 (accessed October 27, 2023).
2. ↑ "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K4Q-DJ7C : 11 February 2023), Alexander Palmer Haley.
3. ↑ https://www.chicofreemasons.org/lodge-news/2019/2/21/black-history-month-celebrating-famous-black-freemasons
4. ↑ "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VXTT-81D : Wed Oct 18 04:31:42 UTC 2023), Entry for Alexander Haley and S A Haley, 21 Aug 1942.
5. ↑ "Washington Death Index, 1965-2014," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLW9-Z4Q6 : 13 July 2017), Alexander P Haley, 09 Feb 1992, King, Washington, United States; from the Department of Health, Death Index, 1907-1960; 1965-2014, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives (https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Collections/TitleInfo/472 : n.d.); Citing Washington State Department of Health.
6. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JGQJ-P2K : 11 January 2021), Alexander P Haley, 10 Feb 1992; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
7. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1796/alex-haley: accessed 27 October 2023), memorial page for Alex Haley (11 Aug 1921–10 Feb 1992), Find a Grave Memorial ID 1796, citing Alex Haley's Boyhood Home Grounds, Henning, Lauderdale County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.

• Wikipedia: Alex Haley
• Wikipedia: Roots: The Saga of an American Family
• "United States 1950 Census", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6X53-6XR4 : Fri Oct 06 01:28:15 UTC 2023), Entry for Alexander P Haley and Nannie Haley, 10 April 1950.
• Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration. Ancestry.com link
• "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5D-7RW3 : accessed 20 February 2016), Alex Haley, Tennessee, United States, 19 Feb 2012; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing , born-digital text.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWS3-PJY : accessed 20 February 2016), Alexander P Haley, Ward 1, New Bern, Township 8, Craven, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 25-17, sheet 9A, family , NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 2894.

• Wikidata: Item Q296069