NEWS RELEASES from the Mayor's Office City of Knoxville, Tennessee Bill Haslam, Mayor

City of Knoxville & African American Appalachian Arts Celebrate 10 Years of the Alex Haley Statue

Haley Heritage Square May 15, 2008 - The City of Knoxville and the African American Appalachian Arts, Inc. will celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the Alex Haley statue and Haley Heritage Square on Sunday, May 15, 2008.

Alex Palmer Haley, American author, is most famous for his works Roots: The Saga of an American Family and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Prior to his death, Haley had purchased a farm near Knoxville in Norris with the intent to reside on the property. Haley died in 1992 of a heart attack. In honor of the author, the City of Knoxville unveiled the 13-foot bronze statue of Alex Haley and Haley Heritage Square in 1998 at Morningside Park. This Sunday’s ten-year celebration of the statue will be held from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. in Haley Heritage Square at 1600 Dandridge Ave. Speakers will include Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and special guest Lou Gossett, Jr. of the original Roots cast. Other speakers, storytellers and poets will participate in the celebration. Food available will include an “Old Fashioned Fish Fry” by Fro’s Fish.

PRESS RELEASE INDEX