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About the Artists

Memorial Site Design

Gary S. Schwerzler, is the interpretive architect behind the design of the entire Memorial complex, from its inception in 1992 to its completion in 2002. Schwerzler created, with community input, a Memorial site design that seamlessly integrates the bronze sculpture group, compass rose, story wall, and other components into an accessible, compelling and inspirational public space at the foot of the City harbor.

As President and Principal Architect of Fourth Street Design Studio, a full-service architectural firm in Annapolis, Maryland, Schwerzler has designed projects throughout the greater Washington-Baltimore- Annapolis region. A graduate from Carnegie Institute of Technology, his designs for residential and commercial structures have been featured in Country Home, Southern Living, and Annapolitan magazines, among others. He also was a Program Director and Professor of Architecture at Anne Arundel Community College.

An integral member of the Annapolis community, Schwerzler has served on the board of Historic Annapolis Foundation, Inc., was Chairman of the Annapolis City Planning and Zoning committee, a former President of the Ward One Association, and a current member of the board for the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation.

Memorial Sculpture Group

Memorial sculptor Ed Dwight created the life-sized bronze sculpture of Alex Haley reading to three children. Dwight is one of the premier figurative artists in the world, with works in private collections, institutions, and museums, including the Smithsonian Institution. He has created over 55 monuments and memorials of noted and historic Americans. One memorial is a tribute to the Underground Railroad, installed on the grounds of the Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Dwight's early career began as an engineer and U.S. Air Force Test Pilot; he was America's first African American Astronaut trainee. He earned a Master's in Fine Arts Degree from the University of Denver in 1977 and has dedicated the last 25 years solely to his art endeavors. Dwight lives in Denver, Colorado, and his company, Ed Dwight Studios, is one of the largest single-artist production and marketing facilities in the western United States.

Story Wall Design

Peter D. Tasi, exhibition designer for nearly 40 years, designed the graphics for the ten bronze plaques that comprise the Story Wall. A graduate of Pratt Institute in graphic, architectural and industrial design, Tasi designed U.S. government exhibitions locally and abroad. Later, with two partners in Washington, D.C. he produced the opening exhibit for the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, and the first logo for the National Endowment for the Arts. After establishing his own studio in Annapolis, Maryland, he designed numerous exhibitions for the Jewish Museum of Maryland. His design approach to the Kinte-Haley Memorial story wall drew upon his work with the Eastport Historical Walking Tour and the Annapolis Gateway exhibition at City Dock. He serves as the director of exhibitions for the Annapolis Maritime Museum.

Artist Patricia Fisher McHold assisted Tasi in plaque design. McHold has been a sculptor and painter for over 30 years. Her masks in paper, clay and other media have been used in dance productions and stem from an interest in ritual and psychodrama. Her work has received awards in national and regional juried competitions and is in numerous corporate collections, including Baltimore Gas & Electric, Verizon Telephone, United Technologies, University of Maryland Medical Center, National Institutes of Health, and the White House Christmas Tree Archives.

Story Wall Narrative

Award winning journalist Wiley A. Hall, 3rd conceptualized and wrote the text for the story wall plaques, drawing upon quotes from Alex Haley's Pulitzer prize winning book, Roots.

A native of Washington, D.C., Hall has been a writer and communicator for over 25 years. As writer for the Baltimore Sun, he won awards for his reporting on criminal justice, education and politics. A 1984 series on racial disparities in prison brought him a Pulitzer Prize nomination. As a Sun columnist, Hall won dozens of awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and others. His writing is included in Thinking Black, an anthology of black columnists published by Crown Books, and in a personal work, Urban Rhythms, Urban Blues.

Hall became executive editor of the Afro-American Newspapers in 2001. In this role, he sets editorial policy for all Afro publications; his column " Urban Rhythms" appears weekly in the Afro and other papers in Baltimore, Atlanta and Richmond. He received a Distinguished Citizen Alumni Award from his alma mater, Macalester College, in 1995, and is listed in Marquis' Who's Who in America.