Name: The Other Madisons
ISBN: 9780358505006

Bettye Kearse

Bettye Kearse--a descendant of an enslaved cook and, according to oral tradition, President James Madison--shares her family story and explores the issues of legacy, race, and the powerful consequences of telling the whole truth.

The Lost History of a President's Black Family

The Other Madisons

In The Other Madisons, Bettye Kearse--a descendant of a slave named Coreen and, according to oral tradition, President James Madison--finally shares her family story, exploring legacy, race, and the powerful consequences of telling the whole truth. For thousands of years, West African griots (men) and griottes (women) have recited the stories of their people. Without this tradition Bettye Kearse would not have known that she is a descendant of President James Madison and his slave Coreen. In 1990, when her mother delivered a box of memorabilia--painstakingly collected--Bettye became the eighth-generation griotte for her family. Their credo--"Always remember--you're a Madison. You come from African slaves and a president"--was intended as a source of pride, but for her, it echoed with abuses of slavery and rape. Bettye embarked on a journey of discovery--of her ancestors, the nation, and herself. She learned that wherever African slaves walked, recorded history silenced their voices and buried their footsteps: beside a slave-holding fortress in Ghana; beneath a gaudy concession stand in Lagos, Portugal; in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean; below a federal building in New York City; and under a brick walkway at James Madison's Virginia plantation. And when Bettye tried to confirm the information her ancestors passed down, she encountered obstacles at every turn. Part personal quest, part testimony, part historical correction, The Other Madisons is the story of an extraordinary American family by a griotte determined to tell the whole story.

Anna Adams

This was a family history, sprinkled with righteous anger and hope and self-awareness. It was poetry and just good writing and a story that needs to be read as much as it needed to be told. It's the story of so many families in this country, but I'm so glad Bettye Kearse told her family's story, and I got to read it.

The Other Madisons The Lost History of a President's Black Family

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