The Kunte Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, designed by sculptor Ed Dwight commemorates the location along Annapolis City Dock where Kunta Kinte was first brought ashore in 1767 after being captured in Gambia and transported across the Atlantic on the slave ship the Lord Ligonier. The memorial is named after Kunte Kinte and his descendant, Alex Haley, who chronicled Kinte's story in the 1976 novel "Roots: The Saga of an American Family," which was adapted into a record-breaking 1977 miniseries on ABC.
The memorial was built in three phases, starting in 1997 with a foundation and a special pedestal for the original commemorateive plaque from 1981. The centerpiece sculptural group, designed by Ed Dwight, of a seated Alex Haley, whose first book was The Autobiography of Malcolm X, reading from a book to three children of different ethnic backgrounds was unveiled and dedicated on December 9, 1999. A 14-foot diameter compass rose, lighting, and "Story Wall" were added in 2002.
Loading contexts...
