The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President’s Black Family

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“A Roots for a new generation, rich in storytelling and steeped in history.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A compelling saga that gives a voice to those that history tried to erase . . . Poignant and eye-opening, this is a must-read.”
—Booklist

In The Other Madisons, 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.  

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, and half-sister, Coreen. In 1990, 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 to be a source of pride, but for her, it echoed with abuses of slavery, including rape and incest. 

Confronting those abuses, 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; below a federal building in New York City; and under a brick walkway at James Madison’s Virginia plantation. When Bettye tried to confirm the information her ancestors had passed down, she encountered obstacles at every turn. 

Part personal quest, part testimony, part historical correction, The Other Madisons is the saga of an extraordinary American family told by a griotte in search of the whole story.

From the Publisher

A note from Bettye Kearse, author of The Other Madisons

I was a pediatrician in inner-city Boston for more than thirty years. I loved it but was haunted by the intense feeling that my life’s purpose was something else. When I became my family’s eighth-generation griotte (oral historian) and embarked on a journey of discovery–of my ancestors, our nation, and myself–I learned that my calling is to inspire African Americans to embrace our slave ancestry and to show all Americans why we should celebrate the many global contributions made by enslaved people and their descendants.

1860 slave census

Great-great-grandmother Elizabeth, a former slave

The John Chester Madison Family, ca. 1935

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07T2GF5CR
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books (March 24, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 24, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 8032 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages

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