Abstract
In The Other Madisons, Bettye Kearse'a descendant of an enslaved cookand, according to oral tradition, President James Madison'shares her family story and explores the issues of legacy, race, and the powerful consequences oftelling 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, Kearse became the eighth-generation griotte for herfamily.