What did Alex Haley do that was important?

Discover the life and achievements of Alex Haley, creator of Roots and author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, on Biography.com. ... read more

Alex Haley was born Alexander Murray Palmer Haley on August 11, 1921, in Ithaca, New York. At the time of his birth, Haley's father, Simon, a World War I veteran, was a graduate student in agriculture at Cornell University, and his mother, Bertha, was a musician and teacher. read more

Like his father, Alex Haley was enrolled at age 15 in Alcorn State University, a historically black college in Mississippi and, a year later, enrolled at Elizabeth City State College, also historically black, in North Carolina. The following year he returned to his father and stepmother to tell them he had withdrawn from college. read more

Alex Haley was born Alexander Murray Palmer Haley on August 11, 1921, in Ithaca, New York. At the time of his birth, Haley’s father, Simon Haley, a World War I veteran, was a graduate student in agriculture at Cornell University, and his mother, Bertha Palmer Haley, was a teacher. read more