Editing Alex Haley (section)

==Early life and education==
[[File:Henning Alex Haley Home and Memorial.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Haley's boyhood home at Henning, Tennessee, in 2007]]
Alex Haley was born in [[Ithaca, New York]], on August 11, 1921, and was the eldest of three brothers (the other two being [[George W. Haley|George]] and Julius) and a half-sister (from his father's second marriage). Haley lived with his family in [[Henning, Tennessee]], before returning to Ithaca with his family when he was five years old. Haley's father was [[Simon Haley]], a professor of agriculture at [[Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University|Alabama A&M University]], and his mother was Bertha George Haley (née Palmer), who had grown up in Henning. The family had [[Mandinka people|Mandinka]], other African, [[Cherokee]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]], and [[Scottish-Irish American|Scottish-Irish]] roots.<ref>{{cite news|title=Roots author had Scottish blood|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7917605.stm|date=March 1, 2009|access-date=April 13, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605163653/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7917605.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History|author=David Lowenthal|page=218}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Lost Plantations of the South|author=Marc R. Matrana|page=117}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=DNA testing: 'Roots' author Haley rooted in Scotland, too|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/genetics/2009-04-06-haley-dna_n.htm|date=April 7, 2009|access-date=April 13, 2015|archive-date=April 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414024313/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/genetics/2009-04-06-haley-dna_n.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The younger Haley always spoke proudly of his father and the obstacles of racism he had overcome.

Like his father, Alex Haley was enrolled at [[Alcorn State University]], a historically black college in Mississippi and, a year later, enrolled at [[Elizabeth City State University|Elizabeth City State College]], also historically black, in Elizabeth City, [[North Carolina]]. The following year, he withdrew from college. His father felt that Alex needed discipline and growth, and convinced him to enlist in the military. On May 24, 1939, Alex Haley began what was to become a 20-year career in the [[United States Coast Guard]].<ref name="USCG1">African Americans in the U.S. Coast Guard, US Coast Guard Historians Office</ref>

Haley traced back his maternal ancestry, through genealogical research, to [[Jufureh]], in [[The Gambia]].<ref name="jufureh">{{cite web|url=http://finalcall.com/international/1999/haley-mosque7-13-99.htm|title=Alex Haley Mosque opens|work=The Final Call|date=July 13, 1999|access-date=June 11, 2016|archive-date=October 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006082544/http://finalcall.com/international/1999/haley-mosque7-13-99.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>