In honor of Alex Haley’s 93rd birthday on Monday, a Literary Landmark Dedication Ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. on Saturday at The Alex Haley Museum & Interpretive Center.
The site has been designated a Literary Landmark by United for Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.
The dedication ceremony will include the unveiling of the official Literary Landmark bronze plaque; proclamations by city, county, and state officials; the United States Coast Guard and Color Guard Detail; and representatives from the Tennessee Historical Commission. The master of ceremonies will be WMC-TV 5 news anchor Justin Hanson.
The Alex Haley Museum & Interpretive Center is the second Literary Landmark in Tennessee, the first being the 1998 dedication of the Cossitt Library in Memphis honoring Richard Wright.
The Literary Landmark program is administered by United for Libraries. More than 130 Literary Landmarks across the United States have been dedicated since the program began in 1986.
Alex Haley’s boyhood home, which was built by his grandfather, William E. Palmer in 1919, served as a seat of inspiration for Haley’s Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family.” Haley’s works, life, and legacy are preserved by the museum. Built by the Tennessee Historical Commission, the facility houses a walk-through exhibit, a theater room, genealogy center, and a gift shop.
For more information, contact Paula Boger or Beverly Johnson at 731 738-2240.