The following are abbreviations used in the notes:
Goodwin |
Hoffman Family Library, Goodwin College, East Hartford, CT |
Schomburg |
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, New York |
UT |
University of Tennessee Libraries Special Collections, Knoxville |
USC |
Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California, Los Angeles |
1. The Tonight Show, NBC, February 2, 1977.
2. Mary Beth Crain, “‘Birth of a Nation’—The Other Side of ‘Roots,’” Los Angeles Times, February 13, 1977.
3. John Stauffer, Zoe Trodd, and Celeste-Marie Bernier, Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth Century’s Most Photographed American (New York: Liveright, 2015); Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby, Enduring Truths: Sojourner’s Shadows and Substance (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015).
4. Shawn Michelle Smith, American Archives: Gender, Race, and Class in Visual Culture (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999); Shawn Michelle Smith, “Looking at One’s Self through the Eyes of Others: W.E.B. Du Bois’s Photographs for the 1900 Paris Exposition,” African American Review 34, no. 4 (Winter 2000): 581–99.
5. Thomas Cripps, Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American Film, 1900–1942 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977).
6. Melvin Patrick Ely, The Adventures of Amos ’n’ Andy: A Social History of an American Phenomenon (New York: Free Press, 1991).
7. Joan Hauer, “‘Roots’ Crushes ‘Gone with the Wind,’” Baltimore Afro-American, February 12, 1977.
8. Henry Louis Gates Jr. et al., The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, 3rd ed. (New York: Norton, 2014).
9. Arnold Rampersad, “Review of Roots,” New Republic, December 4, 1976, 23–24.
10. Toni Morrison, Beloved (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1987); Philippe Vergne, Sander Gilman, and Kara Walker, Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2007); Saidiya Hartman, Lose Your Mother: A Journey along the Atlantic Slave Route (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007); Tiya Miles, Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005).
11. Quoted in Murray Fisher, ed., Alex Haley: The Playboy Interviews (New York: Ballantine Books, 1993), vii.
1. Alex Haley, “August 5, 1964” notecard, n.d. [ca. 1974], box 29, folder 34, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
2. Alex Haley, interview by Anne Romaine, September 29, 1991, transcript, p. 2, box 2, folder 31, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
3. Robert Norrell, Alex Haley and the Books That Changed a Nation (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2015), 15.
4. Alex Haley, “Smithsonian Institution Bicentennial Speech,” n.d. [ca. 1976], box 5, folder 3, Schomberg.
5. Norrell, Alex Haley, 16.
6. Joan Wixen, “Home Village Visit Cherished,” Lubbock Avalanche Journal, January 23, 1977.
7. Quoted in Norrell, Alex Haley, 20.
8. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, April 23, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
9. “The Black Scholar Interviews: Alex Haley,” Black Scholar 8, no. 1 (September 1976): 35.
10. Norrell, Alex Haley, 29.
11. Ibid., 17, 27–32.
12. Alex Haley, “The Harlem Nobody Knows,” Reader’s Digest, July 1954.
13. Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963, http://okra.stanford.edu/transcription/document_images/undecided/630416–019.pdf.
14. Alex Haley, interview by Anne Romaine, December 18, 1990, transcript, p. 6, box 2, folder 32, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
15. Quoted in Norrell, Alex Haley, 34.
16. “Black Scholar Interviews,” 36.
17. Alex Haley, interview by Anne Romaine, December 18, 1990, transcript, p. 7, box 2, folder 32, Anne Romaine Collection, UT; “Search Chapter 4,” n.d. [ca. 1975], box 1, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
18. “Black Scholar Interviews,” 37.
19. Alex Haley, “Search Chapter 4,” n.d. [ca. 1975], box 1, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
20. “Roots: The Second Hundred Years,” transcript of meeting with Alex Haley, John McGreevey, and Stan Margulies, January 9, 1978, p. 18, box 38, folder, 6, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
21. Ibid., p. 52.
22. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952; repr., New York: Vintage, 1995), 3.
23. “Roots: The Second Hundred Years,” p. 2.
24. “Playboy Interview: Miles Davis—Candid Conversation,” Playboy, September 1962, 60.
25. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, September 3, 1963, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
26. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, September 5, 1963, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
27. Norrell, Alex Haley, 63.
28. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, September 22, 1963, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
29. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 24, 1963, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
30. Ibid.
31. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, January 28, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
32. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, July 14, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
33. Alex Haley to Phoebe, November 7, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
34. Alex Haley to Ken McCormick and Paul Reynolds, November 26, 1963, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
35. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, August 16, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
36. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley letter, December 12, 1963, box 3, folder 26, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
37. Joan Cord to Paul Reynolds, August 28, 1964, box 3, folder 26, Anne Romaine Collection, UT; Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, September 24, 1964, box 3, folder 26, Anne Romaine Collection, UT; Paul Reynolds to Lou [Blau], October 26, 1976, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
38. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, September 9, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
39. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 15, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
40. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, July 9, 1965, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
41. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 15, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
42. Ibid.; Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 17, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
43. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 28, 1964, box 3, folder 26, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
44. Alex Haley to “Susannah-O,” November 3, 1964, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
45. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, January 30, 1965, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid.
48. Alex Haley, Roots: The Saga of an American Family (New York: Doubleday, 1976), 570.
49. Ibid., 573.
50. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, January 30, 1965, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
51. Ibid.
52. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, February 8, 1965, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
53. Norrell, Alex Haley, 86–87; Manning Marable, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention (New York: Viking, 2011), 418–49.
54. Quoted in Norrell, Alex Haley, 88.
55. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, May 11, 1965, box 3, folder 26, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
56. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, August 24, 1965, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. Stan Margulies to Conrad Holzgang, July 14, 1975, box 105, folder 019, David Wolper Collection, USC.
60. Alex Haley, Search for Roots draft, n.d. [ca. 1975], p. 99, box 14, folder 13, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
61. Alex Haley to Ken McCormick, November 24, 1965, box 3, folder 24, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
62. Ibid.
63. Alex Haley, “Preface: August 19, 1966,” box 6, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
64. Alex Haley, “Notes on ‘America America,’” n.d. [ca. 1965], box 6, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
65. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 24, 1966, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
66. Ibid.
67. Ibid.
68. Dr. Kathryn Graupner to George Haley, December 16, 1966, box 8, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin; Karen Lawman to Alex Haley, December 21, 1966, box 8, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
69. George Haley to Alex Haley et al., February 1, 1967, box 8, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
70. Simon Haley to Alex Haley, September 8, 1965, box 8, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin; Alex Haley, “From Dad Night of 10–11 January 1965” notes, box 8, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
71. Simon Haley to Alex Haley, April 26, 1966, box 8, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
72. Alex Haley, “Anecdotes about Dad” notecard, n.d. [ca. 1974], box 1, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
73. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, March 9, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
74. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, March 5, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
75. Ibid.
76. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, March 9, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
77. Ibid.
78. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, March 10, 1967, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
79. Ibid.
80. Ibid.
1. Lloyd Garrison, “Gambia a Nation, Tiniest in Africa,” New York Times, February 18, 1965.
2. “Independent Gambia,” February 20, 1965, New York Times, February 20, 1965.
3. William Hogan, “A Bookman’s Notebook,” Corona Daily Independent, January 11, 1966.
4. Alex Haley, “Primary Tribes Then in Gambia,” n.d. [ca. 1973], box 2, folder 4, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin, and “Mungo Park” notes, n.d. [ca. 1971], box 2, folder 4, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
5. Alex Haley to Ken McCormick, August 8, 1966, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
6. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 18, 1966, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
7. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 29, 1966, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
8. Alex Haley, Roots: The Saga of an American Family (New York: Doubleday, 1976), 573–74.
9. Ebou Manga, interview by Anne Romaine, March 4, 1992, transcript, pp. 2–3, box 3, folder 15, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
10. Alex Haley to Alexander Alpert, December 23, 1970, box 6, folder 4, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
11. Alex Haley, “Search: My Mental Model” note, n.d. [ca. 1974], box 10, folder 4, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
12. Ebou Manga to Alex Haley, November 1, 1966, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
13. Alex Haley to Maurice Ragsdale, December 14, 1966, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Alex Haley to Dr. and Mrs. John Mahoney, March 16, 1967, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
18. M.D. N’ Jie to Alex Haley, March 23, 1967, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
19. Alex Haley, “Working Calendar for Roots, Inserts for Chapter One, p. 262,” n.d. [ca. 1975], box 29, folder 34, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
20. Ebou Manga, interview by Anne Romaine, March 4, 1992, transcript, pp. 4–7, box 3, folder 15, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
21. “Top American Writer Here on Working Visit,” Gambia News Bulletin, April 11, 1967; David P. Gamble, “Postmortem: A Study of the Gambian Section of Alex Haley’s ‘Roots,’” Gambian Studies, no. 39 (2000): 18–19.
22. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, April 23, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
23. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, April 25, 1967, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
24. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, May 13, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
25. Alex Haley, “May 12, 1967,” n.d. [ca. 1974], box 10, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
26. Alex Haley, “Safari, into the Provinces, Tuesday, May 16, 1967” notes, n.d. [ca. June 1967], box 29, folder 33, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
27. Ibid.
28. See box 8, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
29. “Tape #9, Haley,” transcript, n.d. [ca. May 1967], p. 4, box 29, folder 33, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
30. “Tape #9, Haley,” transcript, n.d. [ca. May 1967], pp. 1–2, box 29, folder 33, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
31. Alex Haley, “Safari, into the Provinces, Tuesday, May 16, 1967,” notes, n.d. [ca. June 1967], box 29, folder 33, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
32. Haley, Roots, 576.
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid., 577.
35. “Tape #2, Radio Gambia,” transcript, n.d. [ca. May 1967], pp. 2–3, box 29, folder 33, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
36. Haley, Roots, 578–79.
37. Mark Ottaway, “Tangled Roots,” Times (London), April 10, 1977, 17.
38. Bakari Sidibe to Alex Haley, May 30, 1973, box 30, folder 24, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
39. Ibid.
40. “Griot Embodies Entertainment” notecard, n.d. [ca. 1974], box 3, folder 4, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
41. “Searching, Motivation,” n.d. [ca. 1974], misc. box, no folder number, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
1. “During Civil Rights Demonstrations” notecard, n.d. [ca. 1974], box 1, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
2. See lecture booking contracts in box 21, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
3. Alex Haley, “Search Chapter 7,” n.d. [ca. 1975], box 1, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
4. “Alex Haley Is . . . ,” W. Colston Leigh Bureau brochure, n.d. [ca. 1971], box 105, folder 001, Wolper Collection, USC.
5. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, April 10, 1967, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
6. Alex Haley, “Search Chapter 7,” n.d. [ca. 1975], box 1, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
7. Michael Kirkhorn, “A Saga of Slavery That Made the Actors Weep,” New York Times, June 27, 1976.
8. Alex Haley to June Glenn, September 25, 1970, box 10, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
9. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, April 23, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
10. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, n.d. [ca. April 1967], box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
11. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, May 16, 1967, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT; Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, May 28, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
12. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, May 28, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
13. Ibid.
14. Harry Gilroy, “A Book in a New Form Earns $2-Million for Truman Capote,” New York Times, December 31, 1965; George Plimpton, “The Story behind a Nonfiction Novel,” New York Times, January 16, 1966.
15. Gilroy, “Book.”
16. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, May 28, 1967, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
17. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, May 29, 1967, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
18. Alex Haley to Lisa Drew, July 17, 1967, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
19. Quoted in Robert Norrell, Alex Haley and the Books That Changed a Nation (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2015), 122.
20. Alex Haley, “Working Report: ‘Before This Anger,’” n.d. [ca. 1967], box 2, folder 30, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
21. Alex Haley to Cham Joof, July 29, 1967, box 6, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
22. Alex Haley to Friends & Committee Joof, Salla & Jallow, August 11, 1967, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT; Alex Haley to R.C.E. Lander, July 26, 1967, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT; R.C.E. Lander to Alex Haley, August 7, 1967, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT; Dorris Maguire to Alex Haley, August 9, 1967, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT; Vaughn Brown to Alex Haley, August 17, 1967, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
23. Alex Haley to Cham Joof, July 29, 1967, box 6, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
24. Gary Mills and Elizabeth Mills, “The Genealogist’s Assessment of Alex Haley’s Roots,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 72 (1984): 42.
25. Alex Haley to Friends & Committee Joof, Salla & Jallow, August 11, 1967, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
26. Frank Chin to Alex Haley, n.d. [ca. 1969], box 3, folder 11, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
27. Alex Haley to Fulton Oursler Jr., July 29, 1969, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
28. Ibid.
29. Henry James, A Small Boy and Others (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1913), 160.
30. James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son (Boston: Beacon Press, 1955), 19.
31. When Haley wrote these words he was collaborating with Malcolm X on the black Muslim leader’s autobiography, and it is easy to see this essay as part of Haley’s efforts to make it clear that the two men held different political philosophies. Haley notes in the essay that Malcolm X had called “practically every Negro leader in the nation” an Uncle Tom. Alex Haley, “In ‘Uncle Tom’ Are Our Guilt and Hope,” New York Times, March 1, 1964.
32. Alex Haley, “Separate Insert: Met with Reader’s Digest, p. 239–242,” n.d., box 29, folder 34, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
33. Ibid.
34. Lou Blau, interview with Anne Romaine, August 9, 1989, transcript, pp. 7–8, box 2, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT; Columbia Pictures to Alex Haley, April 7, 1969, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
35. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, December 29, 1970, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
36. Ibid.
37. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, February 15, 1971, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
38. Ibid.
39. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, February 5, 1971, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
40. Alex Haley to Elaine and Wally Wiser, March 4, 1972, box 3, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
41. Alex Haley, “My Furthest Back Person—‘The African,’” New York Times, July 16, 1972.
42. Peggy Murrell, “Black Genealogy,” Wall Street Journal, March 9, 1972.
43. Lafe Todd to Alex Haley, October 20, 1972, box 10, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
44. Paula Glenn to Alex Haley, July 20, 1972, box 10, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
45. Mary Wheeler to Alex Haley, July 25, 1972, box 10, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
46. Rosemary Lyons to Alex Haley, July 16, 1972, box 10, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
47. J. Fred Coots to Alex Haley, July 16, 1972, box 10, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
48. Mary Bagley to David Frost, May 4, 1972, box 10, folder 4, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
49. Phyllis Woodard to Alex Haley, April 21, 1972, box 10, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
50. Lorrie Mikesell to David Frost, April 20, 1972, box 10, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
51. Walter Green to David Frost, April 24, 1972, box 10, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
52. Alex Haley to Calre Ward, June 12, 1972, box 10, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
53. Lois Alexander to Alex Haley, July 26, 1972, box 10, folder 4, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
54. B.K. Joshi to Alex Haley, January 21, 1973, box 10, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
55. Genevieve Abel Stephenson to Alex Haley, August 2, 1972, box 10, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
56. Alex Haley to Charles Anderson, February 13, 1971, box 10, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
57. Alex Haley to Harry Edwards, June 12, 1970, box 10, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
58. Bernice Reagon, interview by Anne Romaine, March 3, 1992, transcript, p. 3, box 3, folder 16, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
59. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, August 18, 1967, box 6, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
60. Alex Haley to Elaine and Wally Wiser, March 4, 1972, box 3, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
61. Jean Blackwell Hutson to Alex Haley, November 30, 1972, box 10, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
62. Jean Blackwell Hutson to Alex Haley, January 19, 1977, box 11A, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
63. C. Eric Lincoln, interview with Anne Romaine, June 11, 1992, transcript, p. 8, box 3, folder 14, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
64. “Anecdotes about Dad” notecard, n.d. [ca. 1974], box 1, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin; “Notes on Meeting with Jan Vansina,” n.d. [ca. 1967], box 16, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
65. Alex Haley to Fulton Oursler Jr., July 29, 1969, box 3, folder 12, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
66. Alex Haley to Michael Kirley, January 26, 1971, box 10, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
67. Alex Haley to Elaine, October 20, 1972, box 10, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
68. Alex Haley to Mid York Library for Utica Observer Dispatch, June 10, 1969, box 3, folder 11, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
69. Frank Chin to Alex Haley, n.d. [ca. 1969], box 3, folder 11, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
70. Gil Noble to Alex Haley, n.d. [ca. October 1972], box 10, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
1. Alex Haley to Michael Blow, November 30, 1973, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
2. Alex Haley to Fulton Oursler, July 29, 1969, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
3. Jeffrey Elliot, “The Roots of Alex Haley’s Writing Career,” Writer’s Digest, August 1980, 36.
4. Alex Haley to Fulton Oursler, July 29, 1969, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
5. Alex Haley, “Search Chapter 8,” n.d. [ca. 1974], box 1, folder 9, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
6. Alex Haley to Curtis Strong, September 25, 1972, box 16, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
7. Alex Haley, “7/2/69” Roots draft, misc. box, no folder number, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin; “The Journey: August 20” Roots draft, misc. box, no folder number, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin; “October 3, 1973” Roots draft, box 2, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin; “October 4, 1973” Roots draft, box 2, folder 5, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin; “August 11, 1975” Roots draft, box 2, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
8. Alex Haley, “Writing Roots—2 Major Fetishes,” n.d. [ca. 1976], box 14, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
9. Alex Haley to Fulton Oursler, July 29, 1969, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
10. Alex Haley, Roots: The Saga of an American Family (New York: Doubleday, 1976), vii.
11. Myrna Oliver, “Murray Fisher, 69,” Los Angeles Times, June 5, 2002.
12. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, October 9, 1075, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
13. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, July 18, 1970, box 29, folder 25, Alex Haley Collection, UT; Alex Haley to Lafe Todd, December 12, 1972, box 10, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
14. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, December 29, 1970, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
15. See Murray Fisher comments on drafts of Roots in box 14, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
16. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, November 3, 1972, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
17. Alex Haley, Roots draft marked “1802–1,” n.d. [ca. 1974], box 2, folder 14, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
18. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, May 18, 1971, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
19. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, July 27, 1971, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
20. Ibid.
21. Alex Haley, “Note: Unused Selection Material,” n.d. [ca. 1971], box 29, folder 35, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
22. See Alex Haley, “Unused Selection Material,” box 29, folder 35, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
23. Alex Haley, “Book Outline Parts II and III Notebook,” n.d. [ca. 1973], box 29, folder 23, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
24. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, March 15, 1975, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
25. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, March 11, 1973, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
26. Ibid.
27. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, July 11, 1973, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT; Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 5, 1972, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
28. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, May 5, 1973, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
29. Ibid.
30. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, August 10, 1973, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
31. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, August 16, 1973, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
32. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 24, 1973, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
33. Ibid.
34. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, November 3, 1973, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
35. Alex Haley to Michael Blow, November 30, 1973, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
36. Alex Haley to Ray Possiel, June 7, 1974, “misc.” box, no folder number, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
37. Victoria Crews to Alex Haley, July 9, 1974, box 10, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
38. Caryl Faulk to Alex Haley, June 4, 1974, box 10, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
39. Rolfe Neill to Alex Haley, May 28, 1974, box 10, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
40. Alex Haley to Rolfe Neill, May 9, 1974, box 10, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
41. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, pp. 21–22, David Wolper Collection, USC.
42. David Wolper to Stan Margulies, May 23, 1974, box 13, folder 30, Stan Margulies Collection, USC.
43. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, March 10, 1974, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
44. Alex Haley to Steve Sheppard, May 3, 1974, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
45. Alex Haley to John Hawkins, March 24, 1974, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
46. Reynolds cautioned Haley, “It’s awfully hard to make a motion picture deal without the book written and again, motion picture people talk, know of your Columbia deal and wonder why there isn’t a book.” Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, May 3, 1974, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT; Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, May 6, 1974, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
47. Harold Cohn to Wolper Productions, August 28, 1974, Alex Haley Collection, UT; Paul Reynolds to Lou Blau, August 12, 1974, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
48. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, November 7, 1974, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
49. Paul Reynolds to Lou Blau, October 26, 1976, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
50. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, pp. 22–23, David Wolper Collection, USC.
51. Paul Reynolds to Alex Haley, September 25, 1974, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
52. Stan Margulies to Alex Haley, December 26, 1974, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
53. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, January 4, 1975, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
54. Lisa Drew to Paul Reynolds, December 11, 1974, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
55. Lisa Drew to Paul Reynolds, February 3, 1975, box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
56. Lisa Drew, interview with Anne Romaine, January 27, 1989, transcript, p. 7, box 3, folder 10, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
57. Ibid.
58. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, May 16, 1975, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
59. Lou Blau to Alex Haley, August 4, 1975, box 10, folder 7, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
60. Alex Haley to Lou Blau, August 11, 1975, box 10, folder 7, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
61. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, July 18, 1975, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
62. Alex Haley to Stan Margulies, June 14, 1975, box 105, folder 001, Wolper Collection, USC.
63. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, October 9, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
64. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, March 10, 1974, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
65. Ibid.
66. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, October 9, 1075, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
67. Ibid.
68. Ibid.
69. Haley wrote, “What I am wishing now is that you had submitted the bill around the time when I was there, when I had the money, for now I sure do not. Absolutely stopping other even lucrative forms of income in order to isolate with the book, to finish, has produced an uncommon squeeze.” Alex Haley to Diane Yensen, October 7, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
70. Alex Haley to John Roman, October 15, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
71. Alex Haley to Herman Blake, October 12, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
72. Alex Haley to Howard Meyer, October 12, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
73. Dick Kleiner, “Alex Haley Still Can’t Believe He’s Rich and Famous,” Cincinnati Post, January 29, 1977.
74. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, October 18, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
75. Ibid.
76. Ibid.
77. Ibid.
78. Ibid.
79. Ibid.
80. Quoted in Robert Norrell, Alex Haley and the Books That Changed a Nation (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2015), 138.
81. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, October 18, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
1. Stan Margulies to Lou Rudolph, December 5, 1975, box 104, folder 024, David Wolper Collection, USC.
2. Alex Haley to Stan Margulies, September 5, 1974, box 105, folder 001, David Wolper Collection, USC.
3. William Blinn, interview by Gary Rutkowski, October 7, 2005, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/william-blinn#.
4. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, pp. 34–35, David Wolper Collection, USC.
5. William Blinn, interview by Quincy Troupe, May 12, 1977, transcript, p. 11, David Wolper Collection, USC.
6. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 35, David Wolper Collection, USC.
7. Ibid., pp. 35–36; William Blinn, interview by Quincy Troupe, May 12, 1977, transcript, p. 11, David Wolper Collection, USC.
8. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 35, David Wolper Collection, USC.
9. Ibid., p. 37. By July 1975, Blinn and Margulies submitted the first Roots script to ABC, which had eliminated the use of flashbacks or a narrator. Stan Margulies to Lou Rudolph, July 8, 1975, box 104, folder 024, David Wolper Collection, USC.
10. Lynn Stalmaster, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph of an American Family, 30th Anniversary Edition (Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2011), DVD, disc 1.
11. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 47, David Wolper Collection, USC.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid., p. 49.
14. Brandon Stoddard, interview by Brian Lowry, December 12, 2007, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/brandon-stoddard#.
15. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 48, David Wolper Collection, USC.
16. David Greene, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1.
17. Brandon Stoddard, interview by Brian Lowry, December 12, 2007, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/brandon-stoddard#.
18. Lynn Stalmaster, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1.
19. William Blinn, interview by Gary Rutkowski, October 7, 2005, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/william-blinn#.
20. Jeannie Battersby to Alex Haley, January 30, 1977, box 11A, folder 7, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
21. David Wolper, interview by Quincy Troupe, June 20, 1977, transcript, p. 63, David Wolper Collection, USC.
22. Ibid., p. 65.
23. Ibid.
24. Regarding Roots casting, see box 104, folders 020–023, Wolper Collection, USC.
25. “Being Too Skinny for School Team Was Lucky Break for Lou Gossett,” Philadelphia Tribune, August 8, 1970.
26. “John Amos Leaving ‘Good Times,’” Hartford Courant, June 27, 1976.
27. “Roots as Untold History,” PBS, www.pbs.org/wnet/pioneers-of-television/video/roots-as-untold-history/.
28. “The Cast of Roots,” YouTube video, posted by Wendy Williams, February 5, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EqO1680evM.
29. Sharon Male, “A Return to Roots: A Conversation with John Amos,” Parade Magazine, May 22, 2007.
30. “Roots as Untold History,” PBS, www.pbs.org/wnet/pioneers-of-television/video/roots-as-untold-history/.
31. Council on Interracial Books for Children, Stereotypes, Distortions and Omissions in U.S. History Textbooks (New York: Racism and Sexism Resource Center for Education, 1977); Frances FitzGerald, America Revised: History Schoolbooks in the Twentieth Century (New York: Vintage, 1980).
32. LeVar Burton, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1.
33. George Stanford Brown, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 3.
34. Ibid.
35. Alex Haley to Stan Margulies, August 30, 1976, box 105, folder 001, Wolper Collection, USC.
36. LeVar Burton, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1.
37. David Greene, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1.
38. On the Oyotunji African Village, see Kamari Maxine Clarke, Mapping Yorùbá Networks: Power and Agency in the Making of Transnational Communities (Raleigh, NC: Duke University Press, 2004); Carl Hunt, Oyotunji Village: The Yoruba Movement in America (Washington, DC: University Press of America, 1979).
39. Tom Kersey to Stan Margulies, March 16, 1976, box 104, folder 024, David Wolper Collection, USC.
40. Stan Margulies to David Wolper, March 4, 1976, box 104, folder 019, David Wolper Collection, USC.
41. Brandon Stoddard, interview by Brian Lowry, December 12, 2007, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/brandon-stoddard#.
42. Carl Sterens to David Wolper, June 15, 1976, box 282, folder 014, David Wolper Collection, USC.
43. “John Amos on Ancestor and Roots,” PBS, www.pbs.org/wnet/pioneers-of-television/video/john-amos-on-connecting-to-ancestors-in-roots/.
44. John Amos, interview by Quincy Troupe, May 9, 1977, transcript, p. 17, David Wolper Collection, USC.
45. “John Amos on Ancestor and Roots.”
46. John Amos, interview by Quincy Troupe, May 9, 1977, transcript, p. 22, David Wolper Collection, USC.
47. Ibid.
48. Denise Ames, “One-on-One with Richard Roundtree,” Tolucan Times (Glendale, CA), March 6, 2014.
49. Marvin Chomsky, interview by Quincy Troupe, May 23, 1977, transcript, p. 22, David Wolper Collection, USC.
50. William Blinn, interview by Gary Rutkowski, October 7, 2005, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/william-blinn#.
51. Woodie King to David Wolper and Stan Margulies, May 31, 1976, box 105, folder 019, David Wolper Collection, USC.
52. Gilbert Moses, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, pp. 3, 10, David Wolper Collection, USC.
53. Charlayne Hunter, “‘We Are Starved for Images of Ourselves,’” New York Times, March 5, 1972.
54. Gilbert Moses, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 29, David Wolper Collection, USC.
55. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 67, David Wolper Collection, USC.
56. Gilbert Moses, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, pp. 30–31, David Wolper Collection, USC.
57. Ibid., p. 35.
58. Ibid., p. 49.
59. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 69, David Wolper Collection, USC.
60. Joe Wilcots, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 21, 1977, transcript, pp. 1–9, David Wolper Collection, USC.
61. Dennis McLellan, “Joseph M. Wilcots Dies at 70,” Los Angeles Times, January 5, 1970.
62. Joe Wilcots, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 21, 1977, transcript, p. 11, David Wolper Collection, USC.
63. Ibid., p. 27.
64. Gilbert Moses, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 35, David Wolper Collection, USC.
65. Joseph Wilcots, interview by Gary Rutkowski, December 5, 2007, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/joseph-m-wilcots#.
66. Stan Margulies, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, p. 29, David Wolper Collection, USC.
67. William Blinn, interview by Quincy Troupe, May 12, 1977, transcript, pp. 6–7, David Wolper Collection, USC.
68. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, October 18, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
69. David Wolper, Producer: A Memoir (New York: Scribner, 2003), 226.
70. Carole Stevens, “Roots,” April 7, 1976, box 30, folder 7, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
71. David Wolper and Quincy Troupe, The Inside Story of T.V.’s “Roots” (New York: Warner Books, 1978), 134.
72. Lisa Drew to Stan Margulies, February 1, 1976, box 104, folder 025, David Wolper Collection, USC.
73. Quoted in Norrell, Alex Haley, 147.
74. David Wolper to Lisa Drew, May 13, 1976, box 283, folder 013, David Wolper Collection, USC.
75. David Wolper to Carole Stevens, June 17, 1976, box 283, folder 013, David Wolper Collection, USC.
76. “Promotion Managers: ‘Roots’ Exploitation Opportunities,” n.d. [ca. 1976], box 30, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
77. “This Is ‘Roots’ Week,” Afro-American, January 29, 1977.
78. Brandon Stoddard, interview by Brian Lowry, December 12, 2007, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/brandon-stoddard#.
79. Lawrence Laurent, “An Unprecedented Eight Straight Nights,” Washington Post, January 23, 1977.
80. “ABC Sets Precedent by Airing ‘Roots,’” November 1976, box 30, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
81. Brandon Stoddard, interview by Brian Lowry, December 12, 2007, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/brandon-stoddard.
82. Fred Silverman, interview by Dan Pasternack, March 16, 2001, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/fred-silverman.
1. Murray Fisher, “A Candid Conversation with the Author of the American Saga Roots,” Playboy, January 1977, 78.
2. Mel Watkins, “A Talk with Alex Haley,” New York Times, September 26, 1976.
3. Willie Lee Rose, “An American Family,” New York Review of Books, November 11, 1976.
4. A.S. Doc Young, “Roots: Tangled and Untangled,” Los Angeles Sentinel, April 21, 1977.
5. William Henry, “Did Haley Bring Us Together?” Boston Globe, February 1, 1977.
6. “Penthouse Interview: Alex Haley,” Penthouse, December 1976, 145.
7. Mike Kelley, “‘Roots’ Author: Don’t Forget to Look Back,” American Statesman (Austin, TX), January 26, 1977.
8. Mary McCauley, “Alex Haley, a Southern Griot: A Literary Biography” (PhD diss., Vanderbilt University, 1983), 207.
9. Roger Wilkins, “The Black Ghosts of History,” New York Times, February 2, 1977.
10. Maya Angelou, “Haley Shows Us the Truth of Our Conjoined Histories,” New York Times, January 23, 1977.
11. Fisher, “Candid Conversation,” 78.
12. Jeffrey Elliot, “Alex Haley Interview,” Negro History Bulletin, January 1, 1978, 782.
13. Ibid., 783.
14. Ibid.
15. “Searching for His Roots, Alex Haley Helps Us Discover Our Own,” Los Angeles Times, October 17, 1976.
16. Louis Rubin, “On the Need for Roots,” Sewanee Review 85, no. 4 (Fall 1977): 702.
17. Jim Cleaver, “The Wisdom and Truth of Alex Haley’s ‘Roots,’” Los Angeles Sentinel, December 23, 1976.
18. Ibid.
19. Charles Price, “Haley Makes a Significant Contribution,” Atlanta Daily World, October 17, 1976.
20. Chuck Stone, “Roots: An Electronic Orgy in White Guilt,” Black Scholar 8, no. 7 (May 1977): 40.
21. US Department of Labor Office of Policy Planning and Research, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action,” March 1965, 30.
22. Herbert Gutman, The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750–1925 (New York: Vintage, 1977), xvii, 461–67.
23. Kelley, “‘Roots’ Author
24. Joan McKinney, “An Author’s Search for Roots,” Oakland Tribune, October 26, 1976; Bruce Lewis, “Haley Tells Local Listeners to Find Their Roots,” Contra Costa Times, May 24, 1977.
25. Fisher, “Candid Conversation,” 92.
26. Lou Ann (Owens) Strozyk to Alex Haley, January 19, 1978, box 2, folder 28, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
27. Mrs. Carl Smith to Alex Haley, February 3, 1977, Alex Haley Collection, box 11A, folder 8, Goodwin College.
28. DeWayne Wickham, “Haley to Head African-American Round Table,” Baltimore Sun, March 1, 1976.
29. Alex Haley, Roots: The Saga of an American Family (New York: Doubleday, 1976), 584.
30. Fisher, “Candid Conversation,” 79.
31. Arnold Rampersad, “Review of Roots,” New Republic, December 4, 1976, pp. 23–24.
32. Rose, “American Family.”
33. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, “Corroborating Evidence,” New York Times, October 14, 1976.
34. Ibid.
35. Mark Ottaway, “Tangled Roots,” Times (London), April 10, 1977, 17.
36. Israel Shenker, “Some Historians Dismiss Report of Factual Mistakes in ‘Roots,’” New York Times, April 10, 1977.
37. Ibid.
38. Warren Roberts, “Statement on Alex Haley’s Roots,” April 12, 1977, box 4, folder 41, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
39. C. Eric Lincoln, interview by Anne Romaine, June 11, 1992, transcript, p. 11, box 3, folder 14, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
40. Robert Maynard, “The Making of an American,” Washington Post, September 26, 1976.
41. Thomas Lask, “Success of Search for ‘Roots’ Leaves Alex Haley Surprised,” New York Times, November 23, 1976.
42. C. Eric Lincoln, interview by Anne Romaine, June 11, 1992, transcript, p. 11, box 3, folder 14, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
43. “Pulitzer for ‘Roots,’” Guardian (London), April 19, 1977.
44. Ken McCormick to Alex Haley, March 29, 1977, box 10, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
45. Holly Hill, “Alex Haley and His Exceptional Book Is Given Astounding Acclaim,” Public Opinion (Chambersburg, PA), November 3, 1976.
46. Erik Lacitis, “‘Don’t Do It’ Haley’s ‘Roots’ Spoke,” Seattle Times, October 19, 1976.
47. Steve Kemme, “Haley Relates His Odyssey into the Past,” Clermont Courier (Batavia, OH), November 18, 1976.
48. Alex Haley, “Notes,” n.d. [ca. 1977], box 30, folder 24, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
49. Alex Haley, “NYT Article Notes,” n.d. [ca. 1977], box 30, folder 24, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
50. McCauley, “Alex Haley,” 181.
51. Joanne Williams to Alex Haley, January 23, 1977, box 11A, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
52. Alex Haley, “Search Chapter 7,” n.d. [ca. 1974], box 1, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin College.
53. Alex Haley, “Search” note, n.d. [ca. 1974], box 6, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin, and “Search” note, n.d. [ca. 1975], box 3, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
54. James Baldwin to Alex Haley, May 29, [1968], box 3, folder 27, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
55. Alex Haley, “Suicidal Slaves,” n.d. [ca. 1973], box 7, folder 1, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
56. Angelou, “Haley Shows Us.”
57. James Baldwin, “How One Black Man Came to Be an American: A Review of ‘Roots,’” New York Times, September 26, 1976.
1. Alex Haley, foreword to From Freedom to Freedom: African Roots in American Soil, ed. Mildred Bain and Ervin Lewis (Milwaukee, WI: Purnell Reference Books, 1977), xvi.
2. Stan Margulies to David Wolper, March 4, 1976, box 105, folder 019, David Wolper Collection, USC.
3. Alex Haley, Roots: The Saga of an American Family (New York: Doubleday, 1976), 1.
4. David Greene, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph of an American Family, 30th Anniversary Edition, DVD (Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2011), disc 1.
5. Richard Schickel, “Middlebrow Mandingo,” Time, January 24, 1977.
6. Mary Beth Crain, “‘Birth of a Nation’—The Other Side of ‘Roots,’” Los Angeles Times, February 13, 1977.
7. Alex Haley, “Captain Davies’ View,” 1971, box 9, folder 13, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin, and “Book Section Two,” August 12, 1971, box 9, folder 13, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
8. Ed Asner, interview with Morrie Gelman, April 7, 1999, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/edward-asner.
9. William Blinn, interview by Gary Rutkowski, October 7, 2005, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/william-blinn.
10. Jane Scott, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1.
11. Nella Larsen, Quicksand (1929; repr., New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1986), 59.
12. On casting of extras, see box 104, folder 018, Wolper Collection, USC.
13. David Greene, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1.
14. Bill Blinn, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1, side B.
15. Sander Vanocur, “‘Roots’: A New Reality,” Washington Post, January 19, 1977.
16. Harry Waters, “The Black Experience,” Newsweek, January 24, 1977, 59.
17. Lloyd Pilchen to Alex Haley, January 31, 1977, box 11A, folder 7, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
18. David Greene, interview by Quincy Troupe, April 18, 1977, transcript, pp. 13–14, David Wolper Collection, USC.
19. Rebecca Bess Shearry, affidavit, attached to Milton Segal to David Wolper, May 11, 1984, box 282, folder 022, David Wolper Collection, USC.
20. LeVar Burton, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1.
21. Ibid., disc 1, side B.
22. ABC Press Relations, “LeVar Burton,” n.d. [ca. 1976], box 30, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
23. Roots: The Triumph, disc 1, side B.
24. “The Cast of Roots,” YouTube video, posted by Wendy Williams, February 5, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EqO1680evM.
25. LeVar Burton, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1, side B.
26. John Erman, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 1, side B.
27. Mrs. John Pelli to Alex Haley, February 3, 1977, box 11A, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
28. Murray Fisher, “A Candid Conversation with the Author of the American Saga Roots,” Playboy, January 1977, 76.
29. John Amos, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 2.
30. Roots: The Triumph, disc 2.
31. Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” July 5, 1852.
32. Mary McCauley, “Alex Haley, A Southern Griot: A Literary Biography” (PhD diss, Vanderbilt University, 1983), 183–84.
33. “Page 253: Roots Working Calendar,” n.d. [ca. 1973], box 29, folder 34, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
34. Leslie Uggams, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph, disc 3.
35. Roots: The Triumph, disc 2, side B.
36. Ibid., disc 2, side B.
37. Stan Margulies to Lou Rudolph, June 2, 1976, box 104, folder 024, Wolper Collection, USC.
38. Roots: The Triumph, disc 2, side B.
39. Ibid., disc 3.
40. Stan Margulies to Irwin Russell, June 8, 1976, box 104, folder 005, Wolper Collection, USC.
41. William Blinn, interview by Gary Rutkowski, October 7, 2005, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/william-blinn.
42. Benjamin Hooks, “Another Word on Roots,” New Journal and Guide, March 19, 1977.
43. Charlayne Hunter-Gault, “‘Roots’ Getting a Grip on People Everywhere,” New York Times, January 28, 1977.
44. W. Clyde Williams, “The Power of the Roots Search,” Norfolk Journal and Guide, April 30, 1977.
45. Robert Williams, “Postscript,” Washington Post, February 14, 1977.
46. Janice Turner, letter to the editor, Los Angeles Sentinel, March 10, 1977.
47. Clarissa Steedley, letter to the editor, State (Columbia, SC), February 9, 1977.
48. Joan Lawrence, letter to the editor, Seattle Daily Times, February 20, 1977.
49. Gregory Sweigert, letter to the editor, Fort Wayne News Sentinel, March 22, 1977.
50. “Seething Southerner,” letter to the editor, Pasadena Star-News, February 4, 1977.
51. “Kizzy,” letter to the editor, Pasadena Star-News, March 3, 1977.
52. Roger Wilkins, “The Black Ghosts of History,” New York Times, February 2, 1977.
53. “Why ‘Roots’ Hit Home,” Time, February 14, 1977, 71.
54. Timothy Havens, Black Television Travels: African American Media around the Globe (New York: New York University Press, 2013), 48–49.
55. William Chapman, “‘Roots’ Becomes Japan’s Latest Fad: ‘Roots’ Is a National Hit in Japan,” Washington Post, October 23, 1977.
56. Havens, Black Television Travels, 45–46.
57. Chuck Stone, “Roots: An Electronic Orgy in White Guilt,” Black Scholar 8, no. 7 (May 1977): 39.
58. David Wolper, interview by Quincy Troupe, June 20, 1977, transcript, p. 65, David Wolper Collection, USC.
1. John Egerton, “Homecoming,” New Times, July 8, 1977.
2. “The Making of a Millionaire,” Michigan Chronicle, February 19, 1977; “Alex Haley Finds ‘Roots’ Means Bucks,” Staten Island, May 19, 1977; “Bio: Alex Haley. Writer Alex Haley’s Slave Ancestors Help Him Make It Rich,” People, October 18, 1976.
3. “‘Roots’ Captures America’s Heart,” Cleveland Call and Post, February 5, 1977.
4. Mary Ellen Ferry, “The Commercial Success of ‘Roots,’” Oakland Tribune, February 25, 1977.
5. Alex Haley to John Hawkins, March 24, 1974, box 3, folder 25, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
6. David Wolper to Al Ashley, June 14, 1977, box 282, folder 027, David Wolper Collection, USC.
7. David Wolper to LeVar Burton et al., June 14, 1977, box 282, folder 027, David Wolper Collection, USC.
8. David Wolper to Georg Stanford Brown, June 17, 1977; David Wolper to Ron Yatter, September 28, 1977; Irwin Russell to David Wolper, September 2, 1977, box 282, folder 027, David Wolper Collection, USC.
9. Mildred Bain and Ervin Lewis, eds., From Freedom to Freedom: African Roots in American Soil: Selected Readings Based on Roots (Milwaukee, WI: Purnell Reference/Random House, 1977); Morris Johnson, William Primus, and Sharon Thomas, From Freedom to Freedom: African Roots in American Soil: Study Guide (Milwaukee, WI: Purnell Reference/Random House, 1977).
10. Gale Livengood to Charles Benton, December 16, 1976, box 282, folder 022, David Wolper Collection, USC.
11. Films Incorporated to “Film and Videotape Customers,” n.d. [ca. January 1977], box 282, folder 022, David Wolper Collection, USC.
12. David Wolper to James Benton, February 9, 1977, box 282, folder 022, David Wolper Collection, USC.
13. Hollie West, “The Roots of Haley’s Suit,” Washington Post, March 19, 1977.
14. “Re Haley vs. Doubleday Matter,” n.d. [ca. March 1977], box 10, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
15. Eleanor Blau, “For Alex Haley, Work Is a Voyage,” New York Times, December 10, 1988; Quoted in Norrell, Alex Haley, 177.
16. Mark Ottaway, “Tangled Roots,” Times (London), April 10, 1977, 17.
17. M.D. N’Jie, “Gambian on ‘Roots,’” Baltimore Afro-American, March 26, 1977.
18. Alex Haley, telegram to B.L.K. Sanyang, April 10, 1977, box 3, folder 10, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
19. Robert Smith, “Roots Country Waits for Sons of the Soil,” the Guardian, April 16, 1977.
20. John Darton, “Haley, Assailing Critic, Says ‘Roots’ Is Sound,” New York Times, April 19, 1977.
21. Linda Witt, “Stung by Accusations, Alex Haley Returns to the Village Where He Found His Roots,” People, May 9, 1977, 31.
22. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, August 6 [1971], box 6, folder 13, Alex Haley Collection, Goodwin.
23. A.S. Doc Young, “Roots: Tangled and Untangled,” Los Angeles Sentinel, April 21, 1977.
24. Quoted in Robert Norrell, Alex Haley and the Books That Changed a Nation (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2015), 186.
25. Alexander v. Haley, 460 F. Supp. 40, 45 (1978).
26. Harold Courlander, “‘Roots,’ ‘The African,’ and the Whiskey Jug Case,” Village Voice, April 9, 1979, 33.
27. Harold Courlander to Herbert Michelman, February 4, 1977, box 41, folder 3, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
28. Ibid.
29. Harold Courlander to Nat Wartels, February 9, 1977, box 3, folder 28, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
30. Courlander, “‘Roots,’” Village Voice, April 9, 1979, 33.
31. Witt, “Stung by Accusations,” 32.
32. Mary McCauley, “Alex Haley, A Southern Griot: A Literary Biography” (PhD diss, Vanderbilt University, 1983), 199.
33. Ibid., 200–201.
34. “Defendants’ Pretrial Memorandum: Courlander v. Haley,” 1978, box 41, folder 2, Alex Haley Collection, UT.
35. Quoted in Norrell, Alex Haley, 195.
36. McCauley, “Alex Haley,” 199.
37. Alex Haley, interview by Anne Romaine, September 29, 1991, transcript, p. 10, box 2, folder 31, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
38. C. Eric Lincoln, interview by Anne Romaine, June 11, 1992, transcript, p. 9, box 3, folder 14, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
39. Alex Haley to Murray Fisher, October 18, 1975, box 10, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
40. Alex Haley to Sandra Stevens, March 2, 1973, box 10, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
41. Alex Haley to Amelia Fry, March 2, 1973, box 10, folder 6, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
42. Charles Powers, “Haley Locked in Suit on Origin of ‘Roots,’” Los Angeles Times, December 11, 1978.
43. Alex Haley to Bill Leigh, December 28, 1977, box 14, folder 8, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
44. Alex Haley to George Sims, June 1, 1979, box 10, folder 15, Alex Haley Collection, Schomburg.
45. Detine Bowers, “On the Alex Haley Auction: Disintegrating Roots: African American Life and Culture Returns to the Auction Block,” Black Scholar 22, no. 4 (Fall 1992): 5.
46. Diana Lachatanere to James Lloyd, January 4, 1993, box 3, folder 22, Anne Romaine Collection, UT; Kimball M. Sterling, Inc. invoice, October 1, 1992, box 3, folder 22, Anne Romaine Collection, UT.
47. Genevieve Millet Landau, “Alex Haley on Kids in Search of Their Roots,” Parents’ Magazine, September 1977, 85.
1. Toni Morrison, “A Bench by the Road,” World, January/February 1989, 4.
2. Quoted in Dan White, “Toni Morrison and Angela Davis on Friendship and Creativity,” October 29, 2014, University of California Santa Cruz Newscenter, http://news.ucsc.edu/2014/10/morrison-davis-q-a.html.
3. Jori Finkel, “A Reluctant Fraternity, Thinking Post-Black,” New York Times, June 10, 2007.
4. Toni Morrison, Beloved (New York: Random House, 2004), 248.
5. Ibid., xviii.
6. Alex Haley, Roots: The Saga of an American Family (New York: Doubleday, 1976), 127.
7. Mary McCauley, “Alex Haley, A Southern Griot: A Literary Biography” (PhD diss., Vanderbilt University, 1983), 185.
8. Robert Hobbs, Kara Walker: Slavery! Slavery! (Washington, DC: International Arts and Artists, 2001), 31.
9. Jerry Saltz, “Kara Walker: Ill-Will and Desire,” Flash Art, November/December 1996, 84.
10. Rhonda Stewart, “Still Here: Artist Kara Walker in Black and White,” Crisis, January/February 2004, 50.
11. “Stories: Kara Walker,” Art 21, September 9, 2003, PBS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGZ7ijeiCW0.
12. Arlene Keizer, “‘Our Posteriors, Our Posterity’: The Problem of Embodiment in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Venus and Kara Walker’s Camptown Ladies,” Social Dynamics 37, no. 2 (June 2011): 206.
13. “Henry Louis Gates Jr.: A Life Spent Tracing Roots,” NPR, May 8, 2012, www.npr.org/2012/05/08/152273032/henry-louis-gates-jr-a-life-spent-tracing-roots.
14. Alex Beam, “The Prize Fight over Alex Haley’s Tangled ‘Roots,’” Boston Globe, October 30, 1998.
15. “Henry Louis Gates Jr.”
16. Alondra Nelson, The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome (Boston: Beacon Press, 2016), 77.
17. Phyllis Lu Simpson, “No New Black Shows on TV,” New York Amsterdam News, May 21, 1977.
18. David Wolper, interview with Morrie Gelman, May 12, 1998, Web video, www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/david-wolper.
19. David Wolper, commentary, in Roots: The Triumph of an American Family, 30th Anniversary Edition (Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2011), DVD, disc 3, side B.