Saturday, September 7, 2019

Alabama History & Culture News: September 7 edition






For a number of years I've been posting links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles in the "alabamahistory" group at Yahoo!Groups. Most of the articles are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio websites. You can subscribe to the emails there if you wish; I send out two or three a week along with relevant meeting announcements and so forth. 

Here's the latest batch:
Michael B Jordan, Jamie Foxx take on wrongful convictions, racism in 'Just Mercy'
... on the latter's 2014 book 'Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.' It tells the story of his fight to free wrongly accused Alabama death row ...


Local history: Akron hotel blocked orator Booker T. Washington from room
Local history: Akron hotel blocked orator Booker T. Washington from room .... incident in rebuffing the founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Remember When: Andalusia celebrates Alabama Bicentennial
On August 29, 2019, Andalusians held the first official Alabama Bicentennial event sponsored by the Covington Historical Society, endorsed by the ...

Historic Building in Montgomery Transforms into SpringHill Suites
The building's historic charm has been intertwined with an urban and ... stunning views of downtown, the Alabama River and Riverwalk Stadium.

Police: South Huntsville property, centuries-old cemetery should contain six graves .... Police said it's the second-oldest cemetery in the city of Huntsville. ... not allowed to until he had permits from the Alabama Historic Commission.


On this day in Alabama history: Placekicker Van Tiffin was born in Tupelo
Van Tiffin was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on this day in 1965. He was was primary placekicker for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1983-1986 and ...

Theatre of Gadsden to perform The Miracle Worker beginning next week
... American Civil Liberties Union and stands out in Alabama's state history. ... That and the Alabama connection makes “The Miracle Worker” a fitting ...

Mulberry Heights School to receive historical marker
As part of Elba's Alabama 200 Bicentennial projects, an Alabama Commission Historical marker will be unveiled Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Mulberry ...

Pinson Council announces Palmerdale Homesteads community to be considered for historical ...
... our application for their historical status will be heard the 26th of September by the Alabama Historical Commission in Montgomery,” Sanders said.

... Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 hit “Sweet Home Alabama”: “Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers/And they've been known to pick a song or two.”.


Laurie signed up for the Navy in Alabama and was assigned to the USS ... the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, also known as ...

"you would have never, ever guessed there was a little cemetery here. ... was a cemetery there, he would need a permit from the alabama historical ...


Michael B. Jordan and Brie Larson Star In 'Just Mercy' Trailer
Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were .... For the book, Stevenson also won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for ...

ALDOT Hopes to Find New Home for Historic Bridges
The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is planning to replace four bridges, three of which have been determined eligible for inclusion in ...


Red Bay welcomes Making Alabama exhibit
“This is not only a chance for us to learn more about the history of Alabama and its story of becoming a state, it also gives us a chance to showcase our ...


On this day in Alabama history: Lewis Smith Dam was put into service
Alabama Power Company created Lewis Smith Dam and Lake to produce hydropower on the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River. The project was ...

Byler Road was the first roadway authorized by Alabama after it attained statehood in Dec. 1819. The privately funded road came through Lawrence ...


Huntsville property investigated for having unmarked graves .... police and the alabama historical society hired the tennessee archaeological research ...


Ruffner Mountain Featured In New Book
The book, "Back to Nature," tells the long story of the mountain's history and the efforts to ... 4 at 5 p.m. during a book signing at Alabama Booksmith.

Loxley preparing for bicentennial celebration
LOXLEY, Alabama — Alabama will be 200 years old on Dec. ... including a history program for 35 Summer Day Camp children at Town Hall and ..


On this day in Alabama history: Tuggle Institute was founded in Birmingham
Tuggle Institute was a privately-run charity founded by social worker Carrie Tuggle in Birmingham on Sept. 3, 1903. She wanted to provide safe ...

Possible unmarked graves behind south Huntsville business leads to investigation
The Alabama Historical Society is overseeing the work. If graves are discovered, Johnson said the graves will either have to be fenced in and remain ...

11 things you didn't know about UAB history
History of UAB. Most people know UAB was once an extension of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Birmingham Extension Center of UA ...

On this day in Alabama history: The first Morrison's Cafeteria opened in Mobile
It introduced a new concept to serving food. The first Morrison's Cafeteria was opened by J. A. Morrison in Mobile on Sept. 4, 1920. The restaurant ...


On this day in Alabama history: Legislation requiring driver's licenses approved
Approval was granted on this day for legislation requiring licenses for Alabama drivers and sanctioning the creation of a State Highway Patrol, which ...

Alabama's Ruffner Mountain focus of new book
Ruffner Mountain, a landmark in the history of Birmingham's industrial rise, is the focus of a new book, ”Back to Nature.” The book tells the long, ...
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Friday, September 6, 2019

Thunder Mountain Review

I wandered once again through my collection of books and other printed matter  recently and came across this item. As far as I can determine it's the first of only three issues published of a literary journal that originated in Birmingham. Let's investigate.

The issue was edited by Steven Ford Brown, who cut a wide path in the literary and arts scene in Birmingham in the 1970's and early 1980's. A Florence, Alabama, native, Brown graduated from Huffman High School and settled in Birmingham's Southside in 1973. Over the next decade he wrote a series of profiles of artists and writers for an alternative publication The Paperman. Birmingham native & sports journalist Allen Barra also wrote for the paper, as did Michael Swindle, future author of Slouching towards Birmingham and other books. 

 In 1975 Brown became editor of UAB's literary magazine, Aura, which is still being published today. In that same year he founded Thunder City Press which eventually became Ford-Brown & Co. and issued books, chapbooks, anthologies and such until 1995. In 1983 the press issued, along with the Birmingham Public Library, Contemporary Literature in Birmingham: An Anthology which included fiction and poetry by local authors.

 Brown left Birmingham for Houston in 1983 and then Boston in 1988, where he lives today. He has maintained a very active arts career as an editor and translator in the U.S. and abroad.

 This spring 1979 issue of Thunder Mountain Review, "An international magazine of poetry, translations, & reviews", was an effort by Brown to establish a literary journal in Birmingham. As you can see from the back cover below, the issue included work by a large number of poets and others. Some of them were well known then and remain so today. Rainer Maria Rilke was a German-language poet known for his mystical, lyrical poetry; he died in 1926. Vincente Aleixandre was a Spanish poet and 1977 Nobel Prize winner. Spanish poet Leon Felipe had died in Mexico City in 1968. Pablo Neruda was a Nobel Prize-winning poet from Chile who died in 1973. Peter Wild was an American poet and historian. Writers with Alabama connections included Andrew Glaze, Michael Swindle and Isabel Reade.  

Thunder Mountain Review combined a focus on both local and world literature that indicates considerable ambition. Like so many such literary or "little" magazines that have started since the early 19th century, TMR did not survive long. Yet these publications serve as an important means of distribution for the works of writers and artists both established and just beginning. 




This sculpture on the cover is by Frank Fleming and is called "Untitled".

Two other issues of TMR are known to have been published, one in spring 1980 and another in summer 1982. Some sort of notice or review of TMR appeared in a journal for librarians, Serial Review in V7 N4 October 1981 on page 27 and written by Chris Halla. 









This page notes that TMR was distributed by EBSCO, a Birmingham company. For many years EBSCO has managed subscriptions to journals for numerous libraries around the world. 

H.E. Francis is listed as a contributing editor for the forthcoming fall 1979 issue. Francis is an author, teacher and translator who was a faculty member and writer-in-residence at the University of Alabama in Huntsville from 1966 until 1988. 



This ad appeared in the first issue of TMR. Gargoyle Magazine began publication in 1976 and is still published today. 













Another GBAA effort was the Birmingham Mural Project in 1978 and 1979.










Steven Ford Brown on 11 September 1983

Photo by Dennis Harper

Source: BhamWiki




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Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Coke & Baby Furniture Signs in Birmingham

Recently Dianne and I were tooling along 22nd Street downtown. I managed to get a few interesting photos along the way and below is one of them. When the matter involves ghost signs in Birmingham, I always consult Charles Buchanan's  Fading Ads of Birmingham [2012] and there on pages 69-71 are  these two signs and their history.

The building is on 22nd Street and First Avenue North Corner. The top sign is obviously one for Coca-Cola, but the bottom one is difficult to read in my shot unless you blow up the photograph. That sign turns out to say "Storkland Baby Furniture." 

 Storkland opened a store at the site around 1976, when Buchanan speculates the signs were painted. The building, constructed in the early 1910's, housed the Alabama Engraving Company on the second floor for many years. Before Storkland moved there from its original Vestavia location, many tenants had occupied the first floor. These included a Greek restaurant, a barber, a bakery, a jeweler and a dictating machine company. 

 Storkland has moved more than once; you can read the details at BhamWiki. The ads have faded even more since Buchanan took the photo for his book. 




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Sunday, September 1, 2019

Alabama History & Culture News: September 1 edition




For a number of years I've been posting links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles in the "alabamahistory" group at Yahoo!Groups. Most of the articles are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio websites. You can subscribe to the emails there if you wish; I send out two or three a week along with relevant meeting announcements and so forth. 

Here's the latest batch:

Poet's art on display this month at Manna Grocery and Deli
Canvas images from a Tuscaloosa poet's book of abstract six-color ... Hank Lazer, a semi-retired University of Alabama professor and former UA ...


2 books published to mark Alabama bicentennial
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Two new books have been published to coincide with Alabama's bicentennial celebration. The Montgomery-based ...

First black student at Auburn University reflects on Gov. Kay Ivey
Franklin had graduated from Alabama State College in 1962 and wanted to get a master's degree in historyfrom Auburn University. He worked selling ..


NOTICE: Pinson Historic District to be considered for National Register ofHistoric Places
PINSON — The Palmerdale Homesteads Historic District, in Pinson, Alabama, will be considered for nomination to the National Register of Historic ...

Lars Anderson's book chronicles dynasties of Bryant, Saban
“The idea behind this book has been circulating in my mind for several years now,” Anderson said. “I have been in Alabama since 2004 so I have had ...

Columbiana hosts Alabama Bicentennial traveling exhibit
Created by the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the Making Alabama ... The traveling exhibit consists of panels detailing different periods of history in ...


On this day in Alabama history: Andalusia depot got historic listing
The Central of Georgia Depot in downtown Andalusia, built at the end of the 19th century, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On this day in Alabama history: Artist Bruce Larsen was born
Bruce Larsen, who repurposes discarded objects into sculptures and also has created special-effects work for movies, was born in Birmingham on this ..

1st high school black history class of its kind taught at Tuscaloosa
1st high school black history class of its kind taught at Tuscaloosa ... black history during the first African American history class of its kind in Alabama, ...

New historic trail honoring Tuskegee-area civil rights trailblazers to be dedicated Sept. 20
New historic trail honoring Tuskegee-area civil rights trailblazers to be ... It also joins six other Alabama trail sites that comprise the U.S. Civil Rights ...

City of Montevallo approves historical marker [for double lynching that occurred 31 August 1889]
City of Montevallo approves historical marker ... City leaders in Montevallo have approved the installation of an historical marker in their city. ... making it only the 6th municipality in Alabama to do so, according to a news release.

Bessemer's Historic Lincoln Theatre Being Revitalized
Glenny Brock, outreach coordinator for the Lyric and the Alabama Theatre, has joined the Lincoln restoration effort as a project consultant. Family ties ...


Janie Wiggins earns historic 600th career win
That win gave Wiggins her 600th career win, making her just the 29th coach in Alabama state history to earn 600 wins or more. Wiggins said that her ...

On this day in Alabama history: Henry Collier died
Henry Collier, the first chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, was a native of Virginia. Collier became chief justice when the state Legislature ...


"House of Rose: A Magic City Story" By: TK Thorne
T. K. Thorne's second book, “Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless ... This novel, “House of Rose,” is set in Birmingham, Alabama, in the present.

The legendary Goat Man's decades-long walk across Alabama
The legendary Goat Man's decades-long walk across Alabama ... Historical accounts debate McCartney's early history – even his birthdate is in ...


Alabama history like you've never seen
It's a 6-minute video covering 175 million years of Alabama history, from the time it was under water to the time it was under Alexander Shunnarah.


Mattel chooses Alabama Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks for Barbie's Inspiring Women series
The Mattel company announced on Monday that Alabama Civil Rights ... 2018, features other dolls based on women who have made historical impact, ...

The 175-Year History of Speculating About President James Buchanan's Bachelorhood
... with one man in particular: William Rufus DeVane King of Alabama. .... prior to their deposit at the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

The Alabama Humanities Foundation brings culture to our state
Projects include the Alabama History and Heritage Festival, Theatre in the Mind and – co-sponsored with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival ...

Mac McAnally bringing songs and stories of home Tuesday atAlabama Shakespeare Festival
A night of familiar songs and Alabama stories is ahead Tuesday at ... McAnally's dad was played guitar a little bit, but he was a history major and a ...


Saga of 1930s Alabama Communists has lessons for today
The book Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression, by Robin D.G. Kelley, a professor of history at University of California ...
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