{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"11 | Slavery, Runaways, Fancy Girls | Alex Haley\u2019s \u2018Roots\u2019 | African-American Genealogy | February 2019 Issue","description":"Slavery was so pervasive in Tennessee that the city of Nashville owned slaves. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) interviews historian Bill Carey about his book Runaways, Coffles and Fancy Girls: A History of Slavery in Tennessee. Using his survey of advertisements in Tennessee newspapers, Carey shows how slavery touched many aspect of everyday commerce and law, such as banks, newspapers, factories, courts and even taxpayers. The ads also provide personal details and descriptions of enslaved African-American individuals, and they reveal the cruelty of the human bondage, from the separation of mothers from their children, to the use of young girls as sex slaves. (Segment begins at 04:50) Nashville purchased 24 slaves in 1830 to work on construction projects for the city government, such as the water works. The next year, two of them, a married couple, escaped. The mayor of Nashville placed the above ad offering a reward for their capture. The ad appeared in the June 25, 1831, National Banner and Nashville Whig. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives) This ad offering a reward for a runaway slave was placed by slaveholder, and future president, Andrew Jackson in the Oct. 24, 1804, Tennessee Gazette. Jackson offered extra money for the slave to be beaten. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives) \u201cFancy girls\u201d were young female slaves sold for sex. This advertisement by slave trader Rees W. Porter, who operated a slave mart in downtown Nashville, appeared in a March 20, 1856, Republican Banner. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives) Also hear Roots author Alex Haley speak to the Tennessee State Legislature in April 1977. In his speech, samples of which can be heard in this podcast, Haley announced that a new, 12-part TV mini-series was in production, following the success of the record-breaking Roots mini-series. The book and the TV show sparked a surge of interest in genealogical research. In this podcast, genealogist Taneya Koonce discusses her own connection to Roots and the challenges of African-American genealogical research. (Segment begins at 31:00) (Special thanks to Joel Dark) Alex Haley (right), author of Roots, speaks to the Tennessee State Legislature on April 5, 1977. Governor Ray Blanton is on the left. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by Jack Gunter) Alex Haley signs autographs at Fisk University as part of a \u201cWelcome Home Alex Haley\u201d event on May 20, 1977. Haley was raised in Henning, Tenn. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by Dean Dixon) Original caption from the May 21, 1977, Nashville Banner: \u201cKeisha Rutland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Rutland of Nashville, proudly displays Haley\u2019s autograph [on a copy of his book Roots]. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by Dean Dixon) Alex Haley speaks before a crowd of thousands at the Tennessee State University stadium on May 20, 1977, during a \u201cWelcome Home Alex Haley\u201d event. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room) In the 1979 TV mini-series \u201cRoots: The Next Generations,\u201d  the characters Jim and Carrie Warner were a fictionalized version of a real interracial couple in Henning, Tenn. Pictured above are Jim and Carrie Turner, and their sons, George, Hardin, and William. Nashville genealogist Taneya Koonce, who is interviewed in this podcast, researched the family, which you can read about here and here. (Image: Sharon Minor) And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the February 2019 issue, including a river catching fire in 1824 and Bigfoot sightings in 1979. As part of Black History Month, there are also articles about a new Ku Klux Klan headquartered in Nashville in 1919, and a personal account of life under slavery by a former Nashville slave. (Segment begins at 02:15)   SHOW NOTES A list of articles relating to this episode that you can find in archive issues of The Nashville Retrospect (archive issues can be ordered by clicking here or on the issue links below): \u2022 \u201cFind Your Roots, Haley Tells Youngsters,\u201d Nashville Banner, May 21, 1977 (The Nashville Retrospect, May 2014) \u2022 \u201cWhen the City of Nashville Owned Slaves\u201d by Bill Carey, The Nashville Retrospect, August 2018 \u2022 \u201cSale of Negroes,\u201d Nashville Union and American, Jan. 16, 1858; 16 slaves, from 8 months old to 60 years old, for almost $16,000, (The Nashville Retrospect, January 2019) \u2022 \u201cWill be Sold,\u201d Tennessee Gazette and Mero District Advertiser, Feb. 1, 1806 (The Nashville Retrospect, February 2019) \u2022 \u201cStop the Runaways,\u201d National Banner and Nashville Whig, Feb. 6, 1835 (The Nashville Retrospect, February 2019) \u2022 \u201cCecelia Chappel, A Nashville Slave Narrative,\u201d The Nashville Retrospect, February 2019 \u2022 \u201cFrances Batson, A Nashville Slave Narrative,\u201d The Nashville Retrospect, February 2017 \u2022 \u201cSlavery in Tennessee,\u201d National Banner and Nashville Whig, Nov. 7, 1834; about Tennessee choosing not to abolish slavery with its new constitution (The Nashville Retrospect, November 2011) \u2022 \u201cFort Donelson Falls\u2014Panic In City,\u201d The Nashville Retrospect, February 2012 (excerpts from The Great Panic, a booklet about the fall of Nashville to Federal troops published in 1862) \u2022 \u201cThe Executions of Henry and Moses,\u201d Nashville Gazette, Feb. 22, 1852; execution of two slave accused of murder (The Nashville Retrospect, February 2010) \u2022 \u201cAgents of Abolition,\u201d Nashville Union, Dec. 10, 1838; about a suppressed slave revolt in Williamson County (The Nashville Retrospect, December 2018) \u2022 \u201cCaution to owners of Slaves,\u201d Nashville Whig, Jan. 3, 1825; about city laws regulating the hiring of slaves (The Nashville Retrospect, January 2017)   Other related articles and links: \u2022 \u201cSlave Importations in Memphis\u201d (\u201cfor sale\u2026direct from Congo\u201d by Nathan Bedford Forrest), Republican Banner, May 1, 1859 \u2022 \u201c\u2018Roots\u2019 Now Landmark In Television History,\u201d Indiana Gazette, Feb. 3, 1977 \u2022 \u201cHaley Lauds Growing Up In Henning,\u201d Nashville Banner, April 6, 1977 \u2022 \u201c\u2018Roots\u2019 Search Gains Interest,\u201d The Tennessean, April 10, 1977 \u2022 \u201cU.S. historians defend \u2018Roots\u2019,\u201d Arizona Daily Star, April 10, 1977 \u2022 \u201cHaley Announces \u2018Roots\u2019 Sequel With State Aspect,\u201d The Tennessean, April 6, 1977 \u2022 \u201cBlacks Must Help Others: Haley,\u201d The Tennessean, May 21, 1977 \u2022 "Records, Memories Helping Blacks Build Family Histories," The Tennessean, May 23, 1977 \u2022 \u201cAlex Haley Sued For Plagiarism,\u201d The Tennessean, May 26, 1977 \u2022 \u201cAlex Haley loses plagiarism case,\u201d Missoulian, Jan. 6, 1979   Bill Carey: Runaways, Coffles and Fancy Girls: A History of Slavery in Tennessee, book by Bill Carey Fortunes, Fiddles and Fried Chicken: A Business History of Nashville, book by Bill Carey Chancellors, Commodores, & Coeds: A History of Vanderbilt University, book by Bill Carey TN History for Kids! website   Isaac Franklin: \u201cRetracing Slavery\u2019s Trail of Tears\u201d by Edward Ball at Smithsonian \u201cIsaac Franklin\u2019s money had a major influence on modern-day Nashville \u2014 despite the blood on it\u201d by Betsy Phillips at Nashville Scene \u201cMore About Isaac Franklin\u201d by Betsy Phillips at Nashville Scene \u201cIsaac Franklin\u201d by Mark Brown at Tennessee Encyclopedia   Black History Month events: Nashville Conference on African-American History and Culture "Fort Negley Descendants Project" event at Fort Negley Nashville Public Library Fort Negley The Hermitage   Roots: Roots: The Saga of an American Family book by Alex Haley at Amazon Roots: The Saga of an American Family at Wikipedia \u201cRoots\u201d 1977 mini-series at Wikipedia \u201cRoots: The Next Generations\u201d mini-series at Wikipedia Alex Haley Museum   Taneya Koonce: \u201cTaneya\u2019s Genealogy Blog\u201d by Taneya Koonce \u201cRoots and Truth in Genealogy\u201d blog post by Taneya Koonce \u201cJim & Carrie of \u2018Roots: The Next Generations\u2019\u201d blog post by Taneya Koonce   Genealogy: Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Nashville Chapter Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society Ancestry.com DNA testing 23andme.com DNA testing The Freedmen\u2019s Bureau Project The Freedmen\u2019s Bureau Records   Audio excerpts: Alex Haley speaking before the state legislature, April 5, 1977, from the Tennessee State Library and Archives; trailer for Roots (1977) TV mini-series by ABC Music: \u201cNear You\u201d by Francis Craig and His Orchestra (Bullet, 1947); \u201cQuiet Outro\u201d by ROZKOL (2018); \u201cCovered Wagon Days\u201d by Ted Weems and His Orchestra; and \u201cThe Buffalo Rag\u201d by Vess L. Ossman ","author_name":"Nashville Retrospect","author_url":"http:\/\/nashretro.libsyn.com\/website","html":"