Friday, February 14, 2020

Alabama History & Culture News: February 14 edition





Here's the latest batch of links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles. Most of these articles are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio station websites. Enjoy!
Oakville Indian Education's Anna Mullican to speak to Historical Commission Sunday
Mullican, an Elkmont native, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alabama in 2007, where she majored in Anthropology.

The legend of Alabama riverboat captain Simp McGhee
According to the 1970 book “The Story of Decatur, Alabama,” by William Jenkins and John Knox, McGhee “was a debauchee but with a heart as big as ...

There is not and has never been a witch at County Line Cemetery. ... Aldridge of the State of Alabama and County of Russell, having a desire for the ...

Fleetwood Mac legend coming to Huntsville
Buckingham has Alabama history too. He and Nicks' pre-Mac group Buckingham Nicks' cult-classic 1973 album gained a fevered Birmingham and ...


New life for old rails: History stays on track in Montgomery
New life for old rails: History stays on track in Montgomery ... I would learn much about the old Western Railway of Alabama Car and Engine Shops in ...

Extra: Saving the St. James Hotel in Selma
While it's been closed and boarded up for years, there's an effort underway to save the St. James and this important part of Alabama history. The St.

Book On Great Alabama Football Plays Was Very Premature
Something over a decade ago I was contracted by Triumph Books in Chicago to write a book on the Fifty Greatest Plays in Alabama Football History.

Africatown event pushes preservation and history
(WKRG) — History and heritage come together in Mobile. ... Alabama Senator Doug Jones spoke, saying whatever happens to improve Africatown, ...

Column: African American museums help preserve an often-ignored history
These artifacts could be found in any historical museum in the United States. ... African American history, a vital part of American history, should be ... Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama., opened in 2018.


SWEET MEMORIES: Pioneer Museum Valentine's collection tells history of love
The Pioneer Museum of Alabama is well-know and appreciated for it ... collection of vintage Valentines and reflect on the history of Valentine's Day, ...


Bailey talks African American history at Read Alabama
Bailey talks African American history at Read Alabama ... featured in his book, "They Too Call Alabama Home: African American Profiles, 1800-1999," ...

Born in 1928 near Gilbertown, Alabama (Choctaw County) in the Sugar ... to an aunt's funeral on the wagon since it was about 4 miles to the cemetery.


MAKING HISTORY: Byrd, Warren paved the way as the first black leaders elected to Troy City Council
The election of Byrd and Warren came as many cities in Alabama and other states were transitioning from a commission form of government to a ...

Alabama man to be featured in 'American Idol' premiere
Alabama has a history of being well represented in the show, with Ruben Studdard winning Season 2 and Taylor Hicks winning Season 5. Several ...

Savannah Book Festival: Jeffrey Colvin speaks across generations in debut novel, 'Africaville'
Savannah Book Festival: Jeffrey Colvin speaks across generations in debut novel, 'Africaville' ... In the late '90s, I was working on a series of stories about rural communities in Alabama, where my grandmother raised her family.


Local author publishes book as he battles mental illness
Smith left Alabama and went north to attend college. The night of the stabbing, Smith was headed home after attending a Halloween Party.

Homewood's Melinda Rainey Thompson, creator of SWAG, back with new book, 'If I Were the Boss ...
... it with a book signing on Friday at 5 p.m. at Homewood's Alabama Booksmith. She follows that up with three book signings in Huntsville on Feb. 13.

How an Alabama teen became America's first WWI hero
Homer Givens was 19 years old when he received the title of “America's first World War I hero,” as well as one of France's highest honors, the Croix de ...


No Place Like Home' documents architecture in Auburn
Draughon serves on the Alabama Historical Commission and the board of the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation. His father, Ralph Brown ...

Daleville Avenue first historic district in city
Kim McIntyre, who lives on the street, spear-headed the push to get Daleville Avenue added to the list of the Alabama Register of Landmarks and ...


Sam Hunt's tour for 'Southside' album coming to Alabama
Hunt, a former Birmingham resident, is a favorite in Alabama, with a significant history of performances in the state. Fans here have watched his fame ...

Bob Weidenbach to speak on Auburn history at Feb. 12 OLLI 'Brown Bag Lunch and Learn' at ...
Auburn native Bob Weidenbach will present Old Auburn: A Pictorial History of Auburn at OLLI's Alabama Bicentennial Brown Bag Lunch & Lecture ...


A Timeline of Birmingham's Black History
1903 – Social worker Carrie A. Tuggle opens the Tuggle Institute and School, the first orphan home in Alabama for African-American boys.
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Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Valley Elementary School in Pelham 1964-2015

In 2015 Pelham City Schools ended use of Valley Elementary on U.S. 31 as a main school when a new replacement Pelham Oaks opened. Valley itself had opened in 1964 and thus had a long history. Both our children, son Amos and daughter Becca, attended in the 1990's. This website noted Valley had 729 K-2 students, which may have been the stats for the final year. When our kids attended the school had K-5 students. 

 The building continued to be used by the city school system for various purposes until sold to a developer in August 2019. The plan for Valley is to create something similar to the company's Campus 805 entertainment project at a former school in Huntsville. As you can see below, some demolition began at the site in early December 2019. You can read a newspaper article updating progress at the site here and even more recent ones here and here.  

I took many of the photos below in August 2019. Also included are photos of some damage from the March 1994 tornado and various miscellaneous items. Comments are below some of the photos. 

 I've written two previous blog posts with relevant material. One describes a postcard of Valley, probably from the 1970's based on the address on the card, "Route 2, Box 310" rather than the later "310 Opportunity Drive". Another post included Valley in a discussion of the history of schools in Pelham. 

 A Facebook page for Valley Elementary lives on.... 




Here's that postcard of Valley Elementary. 


Blank signs seem strange after all those years....





















After Pelham created its own school system, the elementary and middle schools Valley and Riverchase were branded with the high school mascot.





Demolition at Valley began in December 2019.






The photo above shows the school's playground in August 2019. Several photos below show damage from the March 27, 1994 tornado to the same area in back of the school.









Yes, that's Amos and Becca....















































Daughter Becca and her second grade teacher at Valley, Marcia Baggett
ca. 1995





This 2018 book includes a number of photos of students at the city's first elementary school, Pelham Elementary. That school opened in the 1930's, then moved to a new building occupied until 1964 when Valley opened. The  second Pelham Elementary building was demolished in 1973 to make way for the current Pelham City Hall.  


The building on the left on the cover is Rutherford High School, destroyed by a tornado on April 12, 1909.




















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Friday, February 7, 2020

Alabama on Some U.S. Postage Stamps (6): Authors

This post is the sixth in a series about postage stamps with Alabama connections. Previous items were

Alabama on U.S. Postage Stamps (1): Some African-Americans

Alabama on Some U.S. Postage Stamps (5): Some More People & Topics

 You can see literary stamps from around the world here. Wikipedia has a long list of people on U.S. stamps here. 

 More information is below each stamp.





Mary Boykin Chesnut [1823-1886]

A Diary From Dixie. Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut, 1823-1886, ed. by Isabella D. Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary. New York: D. Appleton and Company 1905

Boykin's diary includes material on her time in Montgomery during the Civil War. This stamp was issued in 1995. 




O. Henry 
[William Sydney Porter 1862-1910]

His famous short story "The Ransom of Red Chief" is set in Summit, Alabama. This stamp was issued in 2012. 





F. Scott Fitzgerald [1896-1940]

His Alabama bonafides are several. He trained in Montgomery during World War I, where he met that local beauty Zelda Sayre. The couple lived in the city during parts of 1931 and 1932 with Zelda working on her only novel, Save Me the Waltz and her husband writing parts of Tender is the Night. Fitzgerald also wrote several short stories set in the state or a close approximation of it. His stamp was issued in 1996.





Margaet Mitchell [1900-1949]

Mitchell was the author of a little tome entitled Gone with the Wind. In 1922 she lived in Birmingham's Southside while working at the Birmingham News. This stamp was issued in 1986.




Ayn Rand [1905-1982]

Rand was a novelist and philosopher. One of her best known works is the novel The Fountainhead, published in 1943. In the 1949 film version Gary Cooper plays architect Howard Roark, who in one scene extols the virtues of Alabama marble to his admirer, a socialite played by Patricia Neal. You can read my blog post about the film here.

I have no idea if the same scene occurs in the book. Perhaps someone who has read it can tell us in the comments. 

This stamp was issued in 1999.






Zora Neale Hurston [1891-1960]

Hurston experienced some success during her life writing novels, short stories, plays and works on folklore. Yet she died in poverty and declining health in a Florida nursing home and was buried in an unmarked grave. In the mid-1970's writer Alice Walker found the grave and wrote about her search for Hurston's final resting place. Since then Hurston's work has returned to prominence.

Hurston herself claimed a Florida birthplace, but most scholars accept it was really in Notasulga, Alabama. Some of her writing has Alabama settings and topics. In 1952 she corresponded with Alabama author William Bradford Huie about their mutual interest in a Florida murder case.

The stamp was issued in 2003.





Tennesse Williams [1911-1983]

Williams, along with Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, is considered one of the great American playwrights of the 20th century. His first full-length play, "Candles to the Sun" was produced in St. Louis in March 1937 and is set in a coal mining region of Alabama. 

His stamp was released in 1995.



John Henrik Clarke [1915-1998]

Clarke was a writer, historian and professor at universities in both the United States and west Africa. He was born in Union Springs, Alabama.

I'm not sure this stamp was ever issued. I found information about a campaign to get such a stamp, but no issue information.



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Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Alabama History & Culture News: February 5 edition





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


Alabama Author's Day coming to Blakeley State Park
(WKRG) – On Saturday, February 15th Historic Blakeley State Park invites all those interested in the literary arts to meet up for the annual Alabama ...

Local Author Joe Cuhaj New Book "Hidden History of Mobile"
Joe fell in love with Alabama's biodiversity and continued one of his favorite pastimes, hiking and backpacking. In 2000, he combined his love of hiking ...

New Gaineswood director has big plans; county residents get discount
The Alabama Historical Commission, which owns the home, has agreed to match whatever is raised toward the work, but Gaineswood has a long way ...

Landmarks Foundation & Montgomery Historical Society in Negotiations to Buy Montgomery's ...
The Landmarks Foundation & Montgomery Historical Society are in the early stages of negotiations to buy the First Presbyterian Building from First ...

Motown legend 'Mother' Lois Holden celebrates 110th birthday
Mother Holden was born Lois Russell in Alabama on Feb. 2, 1910. ... Isaac Robinson says they're kicking off black history month the right way.

Wendell Hudson's jersey will become the first in Alabama Athletics' history to be retired
Wendell Hudson came to the Alabama campus 50 years ago as its first African American scholarship athlete, helping to open doors for generations to ...


Mardi Gras: The Mobile Connection
The Alabama city has even been referred to as “The Mother of Mystics.” ... 2017 and 2013), are available at local bookstores and at book web sites.


Founder's Week: 5 things you might not know about Alabama State University
Today, Alabama State University celebrates its founding as the nation's oldest historically black state-sponsored university with a week-long series of ...

Civil rights museum in Scottsboro celebrates 10th year, announces upcoming renovations
"At age 17 I read a book about the Scottsboro Boys. ... Civil Rights Trail will come to Scottsboro, Alabama first," said museum historian Thomas Reidy.


Hitting the trail Artwork featured in the Alabama Mural Trail
CULLMAN, Ala. – If Alabama's old brick walls and cracked building facades could talk, they would likely tell an elaborate story of a state that's ...

Birmingham Music Scene Thriving: What Has Made The Difference
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The state of Alabama has a long and prestigious music history. W.C. Handy, the Temptations, the Commodores, Cleve Eaton ...


On This Date in Weather History: Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded in Alabama Occurs in North ...
On this date in 1966 we saw weather history! A North Alabama town set the record for the coldest temperature EVER on record in the entire state of ...

The Pink House documentary premieres tonight at Homewood City Hall at 7PM
The Pink House and its secret garden on Sunday, November 18th, 2018. Photo via Homewood AL Historical Preservation Society on Facebook.

Preservation Society looks to place Legend and Lore historic marker in Hatton
The Lawrence County History and Preservation Society plans to place a Legends and Folklore historic marker on an Alabama 101 site, which will note ..

'Byler Road' author to visit Jasper
The author of a new book on historic Byler Road will visit Jasper Saturday. ... and transit trail from Fort Morgan to the Alabama-Tennessee state line.
Dixie Art Colony Foundation announces event schedule
26: “Alabama History Through the Eyes of an Artist” | UA OLLI Course Part I of III A look at how DAC artists served as historians during the Great ...

'Father' of Alabama Baptists leaves legacy of church planting, cooperation ... He settled into south Alabama as a farmer, circuit riding pastor, church ... in the old cemetery of Beulah Baptist, another church he had served as pastor.


Tuesday, Alabama Farmers Federation former executive director John H. ... The burial will follow in the Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery near Banks.

The Alabama outlaw buried beneath the street
But there's another reason Tom Clark is the subject of a historical marker in Florence, Ala.: He is buried beneath a busy street, according to legend.

Historical society speaker shares experience as extra in 'Selma'
Historical society speaker shares experience as extra in 'Selma' ... He federalized 1,900 Alabama National Guardsmen to do that along with FBI ...

Graffiti vandals target historic bridge in Blount County
He says it's a beautiful piece of history but the graffiti makes it ugly. “People come ... It's The longest surviving covered bridge in Alabama. One part of ...

Andalusia native releases debut novel
Back in Alabama, Smith started writing right away. ... place, Smith started thinking about the plot for the book and was in the right place at the right time.

Grammy Awards 2020: Brittany Howard, other acts with AL ties go home empty-handed
“History Repeats” is a track from “Jaime," her debut solo album. Howard previously earned four Grammys with the Alabama Shakes: three trophies in ...

Sheriff's office names 1st woman deputy chief in 200 years
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A black Alabama woman in law enforcement continues to make history. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office announced ..
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