Alabama History & Culture News: July 10 edition

 

Here's the latest batch of links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles. Most of these items are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio station websites. Some articles may be behind a paywall. Enjoy!

'Lost Treasures of Mississippi and Alabama' focus of talk - The Dispatch - CDispatch.com CDispatch.com He will cover historical events such as the Boaz Whitfield antebellum gold coin hoard discovered in 1926 near Demopolis, Alabama; the missing 5-foot- ...

National Park Service Awards $2.5 Million to Preserve Alabama HBCUs

Alabama News Network

The National Park Service says it will help preserve historic buildings on the campuses of Alabama's historically Black colleges and universities.

New museum index for Black history, slavery in Shelby Co. - WBRC WBRC Good Day Alabama · Vaccine Alert Team · The Good Stuff. WBRC; 1720 Valley View Drive; Birmingham, AL 35209; (205) 322-6666. Public Inspection File.

Alabama A&M National Park Grant will restore, renovate Carnegie Hall Library - WZDX WZDX The $500000 grant is part of a National Park Service program to help 21 preservation projects in 9 states for historic structures at HBCUs.

Tutwiler Hall imploded at the University of Alabama - WVTM 13 WVTM 13 The University of Alabama is imploding Julia Tutwiler Hall, a 13-story dormitory that has housed more than 50000 women since its opening in 1968.

Alabama Roots: The 100 greatest careers of the NFL's 102 seasons - al.com AL.com From Don Hutson to Dave Washington, the best of the NFL from Alabama high schools and colleges.

Group locates graves of Revolutionary War veterans - The Madison Record The Madison Record Menefee is buried in an old family cemetery in a wooded area of Decatur west of Pines Park on the property of North Alabama Fabricating Co., .

Headstone donated for grave of one-time slave in Alabama - New Canaan Advertiser New Canaan Advertiser The obit stated he had no survivors. On Saturday, several people gathered at Coffee's grave in Florence City Cemetery for a brief memorial service.

Alabama attorney Fred Gray will receive Presidential Award of Freedom from Biden Alabama NewsCenter The 91-year-old attorney still practices law in his Tuskegee offices, as well as in his hometown of Montgomery, where the street he grew up on was ...

New sculpture forged from railroad steel taps into Birmingham's history - AL.com AL.com Inception” is the creation of artist Deedee Morrison, a Birmingham native who spent about a year on the piece in time for the World Games.

Alabama ghost towns: Lentzville | | enewscourier.com

The News Courier

The Lentzville Methodist Church still stands in front of the Lentzville Cemetery where John, Savilla and members of their family are buried.

Tutwiler Hall memories: Makeout sessions, fire drills, friendships and more reader stories AL.com “I lived on the '14th'...13th floor overlooking the cemetery! My sister lived there when she attended Alabama in the late 60s and there was a 9 pm ...

Jesmyn Ward to receive Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction - AL.com AL.com Author once taught at an Alabama university. ... her second novel, “Salvage the Bones,” won the National Book Award for Fiction.

Pres. Biden Honors ASU Alumnus Gray! | Alabama State University Alabama State University ... lives for equality and justice for all," said Gray, in a recent interview with ASU media on the publication of his new book "Alabama v. King.".

A timeline of Julia Tutwiler Hall on the University of Alabama campus - Tuscaloosa News Tuscaloosa News Here's a look at t

Trowbridge's in Florence is Alabama's Oldest Ice Cream Shop | Southern Living

Southern Living

During that year, Texas dairy farmer Paul Trowbridge happened to stop overnight in the tiny North Alabama town of Florence on his way to a dairy ...

The Historic AG Gaston Motel Comes Back to Life With a Coffee Shop and Exhibit BirminghamWatch The Historic A.G. Gaston Motel Comes Back to Life With a Coffee Shop and ... ALGOP to Rehear Hovey, Whatley Arguments in SD27 Contest (Alabama ...

Ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrates restoration of historic A.G. Gaston Motel - WBRC WBRC Now, new memories and a new history can be written.” Advertisement. The A.G. Gaston Motel is the key historic site of the Birmingham Civil Rights ...

Hitting the Hank Williams trail in Alabama - The Washington Post The Washington Post In Alabama, attractions including a museum and an annual festival ... The gravesite of Williams at the Oakwood Annex Cemetery in Montgomery.

Old Alabama Books: The Guntersville Project [1941]

The downsizing of my book collection continues, and I recently let this one go--it quickly sold on eBay. The book has some interesting aspects, so I thought I would discuss it here. 

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers began scouting the Guntersville area for a dam site in the early 1900s. Area farmers suffered from frequent flooding and the Tennessee River at that point was too shallow for navigation. By 1914 the Corps had settled on a site about five miles upstream from the current one but Congress made no appropriations. 

In 1935 a new federal agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority, recommended construction of a dam that would make the entire river in that section navigable, as well as control flooding and aid economic development and electricity generation. To that end TVA purchased over 110,000 acres, relocated over 1200 families, raised what is now US 431, moved numerous cemeteries and loads of materials from several hundred Cherokee archaeological sites. 

The Encyclopedia of Alabama entry gives construction details:

"The TVA began construction of the dam on December 4, 1935, and completed it on January 24, 1939. The project used 295,700 cubic yards of concrete and 4,600 tons of reinforcing steel while employing a crew of 1,800 men, three of whom died during the construction. The dam generates 140,400 kilowatts of electricity with four hydraulic turbines and four generators. It stands 94 feet high and 3,979 feet wide. Water below the dam averages 20 to 30 feet deep. At a cost of $51 million, it has been so far the most expensive project ever undertaken in Marshall County."

As Guntersville Lake rose behind the dam, the town was left on a peninsula. In subsequent years the location has become a major destination for bass fisherman and water enthusiasts of all types. 

This volume is the TVA's official report on the project and was published two years after the dam's completion. In its more than 400 pages, in addition to the text, are numerous illustrations and tables. 

Further comments are below some of the images beginning about halfway down, in the ones from Chapter 4, "Employee Housing and Access".  

Guntersville Dam

Source: Wikipedia

This map shows the layout of the village built for construction workers and support personnel. Note the dormitories for white and black males and females. I presume there were no black women at the site. Also listed are a recreation building for blacks and single family homes. Support services included a cafeteria and store and hospital. 

This page shows the three types of the 36 single family homes, differing mainly in the number of bedrooms. 

The cafeteria was constructed to hold 168 whites and 24 blacks at a time. 

The community building had an auditorium, lounge, library, post office, workshop, and classrooms.

The recreation building for blacks included class rooms, game room, and a living room/library.

The site hospital was located a distance away from the main camp to be closer to actual construction. Facilities included white and black wards, isolation room, nurses' rooms, an operating room, doctor's office and quarters, dentist office, x-ray room and more. You can see it's location on the village map above on page 124. 

The entire cost of village construction was just over $372,000. 

Alabama Photo of the Day: Artesian Well in Livingston

One day while lost in that wonderful Alabama Mosaic database, trying to find my way out, I stumbled across this postcard photograph featuring an artesian well in Livingston, the county seat of Sumter County. The Encyclopedia of Alabama entry on the town discusses this well: "A lack of nearby water led most residents to settle close to one of the area's natural springs near what is now Livingston's Spring Street. In 1854, an artesian well, known today as the Bored Well, located on the Courthouse Square, was dug to supply water for the town. For most of the late nineteenth century, this artesian well water attracted visitors to the town for its supposed health benefits. In 1904, the town added a hand pump to the well and in 1928 installed an electric pump." The postmark as seen below indicates the card was mailed on July 19, 1907, so  the pagoda was built prior to that date. In 1899 James Crook published his survey  Mineral Waters of the United States, which has a state-by-state listing. Several are  noted in Alabama; you can see the two-page entry on this artesian well below. I've also included larger versions of two excerpts of details about the well. Crook does  not mention the pagoda, so perhaps it was built after 1899.  Located on the courthouse square, the well is now known as the Bored Well. The  wooden pagoda was replaced with a brick structure in 1924, which collapsed in  1999. A new pavilion was built in 2005.

Source: Troy University Digital Collections via Alabama Mosaic

Epes is located on the Tombigbee River in east-central Sumter County and is named after a doctor, John W. Epes, who lived in the area and sold land for a railroad depot. Fort Tombecbe was built by the French on the site in 1735. 

Source: Crook, Mineral Waters, pp90-91

Crook's Mineral Waters of the United States published in 1899 can be read at the Internet Archive. 

Source: Waymarking.com

Alabama History & Culture News: July 1 edition

 

Here's the latest batch of links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles. Most of these items are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio station websites. Some articles may be behind a paywall. Enjoy!

Cheryl Head On Using Crime Fiction To Tell The Story of Her Grandfather's Murder CrimeReads The suspense novel was featured on the TODAY show and was a Book of the ... My Grandfather was shot and killed by police in Birmingham Alabama ...

Pro Football Hall of Fame welcomes piece of Birmingham Stallions' memorabilia - CBS 42

CBS 42

The Stallions secured a spot in the inaugural USFL Championship by dominating the New Orleans Breakers in a 31-17 win Saturday night and a big ...

Montgomery offers snapshots of the civil rights movement - Southern Poverty Law Center Southern Poverty Law Center A visit to the city offers many chances to see where history happened. It's where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger ...

Bill Baxley's place in Alabama history | Home | southeastsun.com The Southeast Sun The 1970 governor's race between George Wallace and Albert Brewer overshadowed every other political race in the state that year.

Group says historic cemetery has been desecrated over a dozen times - WHNT.com WHNT.com A board member of the Living LaGrange Historical Association says the historic LaGrange Cemetery has been desecrated around a dozen times within ... Group says historic cemetery has been desecrated over a dozen times - Gold Rock Hotels – South Sudan Group says historic cemetery has been desecrated over a dozen times - usa news today Full Coverage

Alabama Man Builds World's Smallest Church Outside Mobile | Southern Living Southern Living There's a tiny chapel in Semmes, Alabama, that's built to hold a whole lot of love.

Fate of historic Huntsville Five Points oak tree is unclear after outrage over plans to cut it down | News WAAY-TV The city of Huntsville started to cut it down but neighbor's demanded they stop. Now the fate of a historic white oak tree in the Five Points ...

Opinion | A tribute to the legend Bill Baxley - Alabama Political Reporter Alabama Political Reporter Bill Baxley has a place in Alabama history. It is hard to believe that young Bill Baxley turns 81 this month.

'Light Up Sloss' celebrates Birmingham's history, present and future - Alabama NewsCenter Alabama NewsCenter New energy efficient lighting will be a permanent nighttime feature at Birmingham's Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. %

Lilly Ledbetter + local author's book coming to the big screen - Bham Now Bham Now Did you know the fair pay icon is from Alabama? From Possum Trot, Lilly Ledbetter grew up in poverty and then became a night supervisor at Goodyear ...

Go fossil hunting in Alabama at Union Chapel Mine Alabama NewsCenter Carl Sloan, secretary of the Alabama Paleontological Society, ... Center in Birmingham or the Alabama Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa.

The Little-Known Story Of Alabama Baseball's Historic 1950 Season | Tuscaloosa, AL Patch Patch TUSCALOOSA, AL — It was arguably the greatest baseball team in the University of Alabama's history, but few still living are likely to recall that ...

Tuskegee resident tells story of 'torn life' as an Indian immigrant in rural Alabama

Montgomery Advertiser

June Samuel poses with a copy of her book “The Audacity to Carry On”. June Samuel knows struggle. Her parents moved to Alabama when she was 8 ...

Samford University receives archives of Judson College, the oldest women's school in Alabama CBS 42 Hundreds of historical artifacts from Judson College are now part of Samford University's special

'They felt that they deserved to be heard': What was early Pride like in Birmingham? CBS 42 Picture of the front page of the Alabama Forum's July/August edition in 1989 (Photo courtesy of the Alabama Forum).

'Big Fish' sculpture is latest nod to Wetumpka film history - AL.com AL.com Wetumpka, known as a filming site of the movie “Big Fish,” has a new sculpture to celebrate its history.

LGBTQ archival group collecting pieces of Southern history in Birmingham Saturday CBS 42 A LGBTQ archival group will be collecting Southern LGBTQ memorabilia during a public event in Birmingham.

Alabama historian: Jesse Owens Museum an 'unsung treasure' | News - Moulton Advertiser Moulton Advertiser Alabama historian, former Auburn University professor and Pulitzer nominee, Dr. James Wayne Flynt has high praise for the Jesse Owens Museum after ...

Historical Marker: Old Merritt School/Midway Community Center | News | unionspringsherald.com Union Springs Herald As stated in a previous article, 23 historical markers have been erected throughout Bullock County. With the help of the Historical Marker Database ( ...

ADAI is Accepting Century & Heritage Farm and Bicentennial Farm Applications | Lowndes Signal ADAI created these programs to help recognize and celebrate family farms that have significantly impacted Alabama history and agriculture.

“Scapegoat: The Tommy Lee Hines Story” By: Peggy Allen Towns | Alabama Public Radio Alabama Public Radio Her work was recognized in March by the Alabama Historical Association with the prestigious Virginia Van Der Veer Hamilton Award.

“Deep South Dynasty: The Bankheads of Alabama” By: Kari Frederickson Alabama Public Radio Author Explores Lives of Alabama's First Political Family. ... by establishing and maintaining the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Historic Alabama tower reopens to public after 20 years - al.com AL.com The historic Flagg Mountain Tower reopened in Coosa County his week, with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey in attendance. (Courtesy of Alabama Forestry ...

The Moth: a story-telling movement with a new book on narrative skills - Texarkana Gazette Texarkana Gazette This year Burns, a native of rural Alabama, has co-authored a book, "How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The ...

Answer Man: What's the story behind a historic house in Abbeville? | Local News Dothan Eagle The house was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1976 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Erie-area students walking in Black history as bus trip resumes after pandemic cancellations

GoErie.com

It was 30 years ago that the Rev. Herlies Murphy of Community Missionary Baptist Church led nearly 100 young people from the Erie area to Alabama ...