A Quick Visit to Montgomery (1)

In August 2012 son Amos and I made a trip to Montgomery to see some historical sites. Along the way, as I've covered in previous blogs, we happened upon a great Alabama ruin, the Clanton Drive-In, and made a trip through Tuskegee on the way back. In this post and two more I'll share some of the photos from the Montgomery trip and make a few comments. Downtown Montgomery was quiet that day, since the legislature was not in session.

Montgomery is one of Alabama's most history-filled cities. Much attention has been paid to the Civil War period and the Civil Rights era; many articles and books have been published on those periods and individual participants. A recent book on the antebellum period is Jeffrey C. Benton's Through Others' Eyes: Published Accounts of Antebellum Montgomery, Alabama [2014]. 

We saw both the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and the ministers' home, although we did not have time to go through either one. More comments are below a couple of the other photos. More sites to come in parts two and three of this series. 

Benjamin Moore Hotel and Majestic Cafe served many prominent African-American visitors to Montgomery. 

If the Smithsonian is the "nation's attic", then the state archives is Alabama's "attic." However, like the Smithsonian, the place has better organization and staff than most attics. 

Medical History in Birmingham: The List

I recently worked on a blog item fitting this general topic, and it dawned on me how many such posts I've done since I start this blog in March 2014. I've also published relevant items in other venues. I decided to bring them together in a single posting with links; perhaps I'll be doing something similar in other subjects. I'll try to keep this one updated as well.

So here we go....

Birmingham's "Heaviest" Medical Block

Birmingham Medical College 1894-1915 

Birmingham Photos of the Day (34): Some More Hospitals

Birmingham Photos of the Day (35): Even More Hospitals

Birmingham Photo of the Day (9): McAdory Home & Infirmary in 1910

Birmingham Photo of the Day (18): St. Vincent's Hospital in 1908 

Birmingham Photos of the Day (33): Holy Family Hospital

Dr. John Payne Murdered in Birmingham in 1901 

Medical History Panels in Jefferson Tower at UAB 

Birmingham Photo of the Day (38): Gunn's Pharmacy ca. 1915

Two Early Medical Libraries in Birmingham

Hektoen International series on "Famous Hospitals: Hillman Hospital

Profile of Dr. Lloyd Noland 
Important to public health in Birmingham for many years

Standing Tall at UAB: The Statue of Dr. William E.B. Davis 

Early black physician in Birmingham: Dr. Arthur McKinnon Brown 

Alice McNeal, MD: Alabama's First Female Anesthesiologist

UAB's Anesthesiology Library 1983-2015

A Plaque in UAB's Jefferson Tower

A Plaque in UAB's Jefferson Tower

I've written a number of blog posts and other items devoted to some aspect of medical history in Birmingham, and this one is another in that series. 

Past the main entrance of the Jefferson Tower building on the UAB campus, near the public elevators, is the plaque you see below. Let's investigate.

In the 1930's the growing number of indigent patients in Jefferson County began to overwhelm the facilities at Hillman Hospital. The county and Birmingham agreed on a joint funding mechanism in 1939. The year before the U.S. Public Works Administration offered two million dollars in a grant and loan to fund the building of a new hospital that would charge patients based on their ability to pay. 

The new facility was a modern one, sixteen stories that could hold almost 600 patients. The maternity ward occupied the entire fifth floor, and eight operating rooms filled the seventh floor. The top two floors provided living space for numerous nurses and interns. 

The first patients were accepted at Jefferson-Hillman Hospital in February 1941. In December 1944 the county gave the hospital to the University of Alabama. This donation was part of the two-year Medical College of Alabama's move from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham to become a four-year school. Students entered the first class in October 1945. 

The building was renamed Jefferson Tower in 1979. UAB's new hospital building, the North Pavilion, opened in late 2004 and most clinical services were moved out of Jefferson Tower.

My original purpose for this blog post involved the local names on this plaque. I've spent some time researching all of them, but found nothing much online about the six commissioners listed. The same goes for half the men listed on the Building Committee. However, Cooper Green was a well-known businessman and politician and the namesake for Cooper Green Mercy Hospital. Dr. Harry L. Jackson was apparently a prominent local surgeon.

James S. McLester, MD, had served on the faculty of the Birmingham Medical College from 1902 until 1915 when the school closed. He was Professor of Medicine at the Tuscaloosa school and then at the new one in Birmingham from 1920 until 1945. He was head of the Hillman Hospital medical staff. An expert on nutrition, McLester published two books on the topic. He also served as President of the American Medical Association in 1934.

The Birmingham Public Library has this information about the architect in it's introduction to the collection of his firm's papers:



"Charles H. McCauley (1893 – 1970) was born in Chicago and studied architecture at the University of Illinois. McCauley practiced architecture in Chicago before moving to Birmingham in 1919 where he worked for William Leslie Welton before opening his own practice in 1925. McCauley and his firm, Charles H. McCauley Associates, designed many important buildings in Birmingham including Temple Beth-El (1926), Medical Arts Building (1931), Birmingham City Hall (1950), Boutwell Auditorium Entry Pavilion (1957), U.S. Post Office and Vehicle Maintenance Facility (1968), and First National – Southern Natural (1968-1971, with Welton Becket & Associates). At the time of McCauley’s death in 1970, Charles H. McCauley Associates was one of the largest architectural practices in the South. "




These individuals, agencies and companies created an important part of what became the medical and university behemoth UAB is today.

Cooper Green in 1947

Source: BhamWiki

James S. McLester, MD

Source: UAB Digital Collections

1939 architect's rendering of Jefferson Hospital

Source: BhamWiki

1945 aerial view of Jefferson Tower. The Kracke Building is in the lower right and Hillman Hospital on the upper right of the block. I've written a blog post about "Birmingham's Heaviest Medical Block."

Source: BhamWiki

J.C. Lincoln's Sunny South Minstrels in Alabama in 1936

First appearing in the 1830's, minstrel shows are perhaps America's oldest original contribution to theatrical popular entertainment, but they are a very problematic one. The productions included comedy, dancing and music and initially featured white performers in "blackface". The material made extensive use of black people as objects of hilarity, grotesque stereotypes and ridicule. Troupes with black actors and performers began to appear as early as the 1840's. Minstrel shows featured numerous stock characters and a three-part structure with various characters and acts in each part.

Despite some controversy, minstrel shows were wildly popular across America until the late 19th century when vaudeville, musical comedies and other entertainments began to erode their audience, especially in the North. Minstrel shows managed to continue finding audiences in smaller towns of the South and Midwest into the 1930's. One or two companies toured very rural areas into the 1950's. 

Despite their controversial nature, minstrel shows have had tremendous influence on popular music and comedy that continues today. The quick gags and sketches of much modern comedy are descendants. Many influential black performers such as W.C. Handy, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith worked in minstrel troupes. Many films such as The Jazz Singer [1927] and Minstrel Man [1944] contain recreated minstrel routines. The Wikipedia article linked above has an extensive history of the shows and long lists of the films and further reading. 

As far as I know, the history of minstrel shows in Alabama remains to be written. However, during his visit to Alabama in 1935 and 1936 famed photographer Walker Evans took several photographs that tell us something about these travelling shows in the state in the 1930's anyway. 

The first two photographs contain advertisements for "J.C. Lincoln's Sunny South Minstrels". According to a comment on the Shorpy site, a man named Harry Palmer organized the show and first put it on tour "under canvas" in 1927. Several trucks were probably required to carry the tent and other equipment. According to one source, the group was also known as "J.C. Lincoln's Mighty Minstrels".

What could the audience expect at the Sunny South show? An advertisement recently for sale in a Hillcrest Books catalog gives us some specific information: "Featuring the Famous New Orleans Brown Skin Models. See ALVINA the Fan Dancer. Free Street Parade. World’s Greatest Mammoth Minstrel Review. Sweet Singers, Fast Dancers, Funny Comedians."

The information given at Shorpy indicates the show last toured from Dothan in 1934. If that's the case, the ads in the first two photos below were a year or two old when Evans took them. I have no idea who J.C. Lincoln was--perhaps a master of ceremonies for the show.

The third photo here features an advertisement for the "Silas Green Show", known in early decades as "Silas Green from New Orleans". Organized in 1904, the production toured the South in various forms until 1957. Time magazine gave it a review in its April 29, 1940 issue. "Silas Green" combined elements of the minstrel shows with the musical and comedy revues of vaudeville.

The show was originally written by vaudeville performer Salem Tutt Whitney, and sold to the only African-American circus owner in the U.S., Ephraim Williams. Williams developed and expanded the show and toured extensively with a tent that seated 1400 patrons. In the early 1920's Williams sold half interest in the production to Charles Collier. After Williams' death in the mid-1930's, Collier owned the show until it ceased touring. 

The final two photographs show another ad for each show. Comments continue below.

Photograph taken by Walker Evans in August 1936. You can view it in ultra large format at the wonderful Shorpy site. This photo may have been taken in Selma, although Evans visited other places, such as Marion, that same month.

Source: Library of Congress

Taken by Walker Evans in Selma in December 1935. This poster tells us the J.C. Lincoln troupe appeared on October 28 and adult admission was a quarter.

Source: Photogrammar at Yale University

That day Evans also photographed the shop next door with a poster advertising the Silas Green Show, which had appeared in town on Thursday, October 31--although not necessarily in 1935! That poster looks pretty weathered. 

Source: Photogrammar at Yale University

These two photographs are identified on the Library of Congress site as being taken by Evans in January 1936. No town location is given. Further research would be required to determine just when and where Evans took these various photos. 

Source: Library of Congress

Buck Jones was a major star of mostly western movies of the period. This film had been released in July 1935. 

Source: Library of Congress

"Theatre Guild on the Air" in Birmingham in 1947

In a couple of recent posts on this blog I've covered two world movie premiers that took place in Birmingham in 1947 and 1952. I've also done a blog post on Birmingham native and film star Mary Anderson. As noted in the article below, Anderson had returned to Birmingham in November 1947 for the world premier of her film Whispering City and a public appearance at Pizitz. The film premier benefited the Crippled Children's Clinic and was held at the Empire Theater on Third Avenue North.

I noticed some other interesting activities in this piece as well. Anderson had accepted a role in an episode of the "Theatre Guild on the Air" radio program to be broadcast from the city's Municipal Auditorium on November 23. She and other celebrities, including her co-star in that episode, Robert Mitchum, also accepted an invitation to watch the Crippled Children's Clinic football game played at Legion Field on Thanksgiving Day. Others who watched included sports broadcaster Harry Wismer and opera star Helen Jepson. Anderson then convinced her studio bosses to also have her new film's world premier in Birmingham.

Let's take a look at the football game and the radio production.

The web site of the Alabama High School Football Historical Society has a history of the "Crippled Children's Classic" game played annually at Legion Field for many years. The game started in 1935 as a contest between local college freshman teams, but by 1943 local high school teams played in the game. In 1947 Ramsey defeated Woodlawn 25-0. All proceeds went to support the clinic.

Founded in New York City in 1918, the Theatre Guild was an organization dedicated to the production of non-commercial plays. The Guild mounted over 200 productions and was a major player on Broadway into the 1970's. The group first tried radio in 1943-4, and on September 9, 1945 launched "Theatre Guild on the Air". The series continued on radio until June, 1953, when it moved to television. The radio version featured many famous plays and actors during its run. 

The hour-long episode broadcast in Birmingham that November evening was no. 94, "The Straw" written in 1922 by Eugene O'Neill. The story follows two characters during their stay at a tuberculosis sanitarium. 

Robert Mitchum returned to Alabama in August 1987 for a few days of filming aboard the USS Alabama for the TV miniseries War and Remembrance. 

According to a log of episodes, this one was Mitchum's only appearance in Theatre Guild on the Air. Anderson appeared in at least two other productions. Huntsville native Tallulah Bankhead also appeared in an episode broadcast in 1952.

Birmingham News 9 November 1947

Source: Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections

Robert Mitchum in July 1949

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Listal

Another Lunch at the Helena Depot

Eating a good meal in the midst of some history is always fun. Recently Dianne and I had lunch at The Depot Deli & Grill in Helena. We've eaten there several times and always enjoyed it, and this lunch was no exception. Since The Depot is an historic location, and Helena has some interesting history, I thought I would post a little bit about both. 

Helena began as a community known as Cove in the mid-1840's and then renamed Hillsboro in 1856 when a rolling mill was built in the area. That mill provided arms for Confederate forces during the Civil War. Railroads pushed into the area during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the town was renamed again after an engineer's sweetheart. 

The town boomed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Steel mills, a cotton gin, and coal mines all contributed to the growth that also included hotels and many stores and residences. Helena survived a devastating fire in 1895, but in 1920 decline began. The coal mines closed and the steel mill moved. The Great Depression hit hard and in 1933 a tornado killed 14 people and destroyed over 100 homes. Helena remained a small community in rural Shelby County until late in the 20th century, when suburban growth south of Birmingham exploded.

Several historical structures remain, and the entire downtown, known as Old Town Helena, is a pleasant place with various shops and restaurants. Read some more below the photos.  

You can find many historical photos of Helena in a book by Ken Penhale and Martin Everse, Helena, Alabama [Images of America Series, Arcadia Press, 1998]. 


UPDATE 19 April 2019

You can read an article about the 20th anniversary of the restaurant here.

The Depot is a modest looking place, but culinary delights can be found within.

There is a definite railroad theme to the place.

As this large sign near the entrance notes, the Depot building has been moved twice. The second move brought it to its current location in 1999, when the eatery opened. This structure was the railroad depot and freight house from 1872 until 1905.

The interior retains the look and feel of a waiting room from another time. Part of the decor includes dollar bills; you can see many of them above the counter.

Hey, kids! Know what this item is? Many great works of literature were pounded out on similar machines. Lots of other stuff, too.

Here we have an old cash register and various trinkets and an old photo.

This caboose greets you from across the street as you enter and leave the Depot. Railroads lost some of their magic when they stopped using these. 

There are some pleasant views from the patio.

This plaque is just outside the Depot and across the street next to the caboose.

Just down the road from the Depot is the Penhale Museum, devoted to history of the area. The Museum, which celebrated its fifth anniversary last year, is open most Saturdays, but call ahead to make sure.