Alabama History & Culture News: May 17 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!

Dani Loeb makes history as first National Team skier from Alabama WBRC Now, I know what you're thinking: how does a gal from Alabama find her way to the snow and a pair of skis? “I was a gymnast. I did gymnastics at United ...

Six from UAB named to Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame UAB News He participated in early studies on the treatment of acute leukemia with aminopterin — one of the first drugs in the history of medicine to bring about ...

Meet the Young Couple Transforming a Crumbling Alabama Town into a Modern "Mayberry" southernliving.com Just outside of Huntsville, Alabama, Whitney and Bethany Dean are ... “We're turning history into an experience,” Whitney told Southern Living. Today ...

Bayer Properties plans a redevelopment of another historic downtown Birmingham building Alabama NewsCenter Bayer Properties plans a redevelopment of another historic downtown ... new project in downtown Birmingham from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo. ... It qualifies for historic tax credits and opportunity zone incentives, which ...

Alabama advertising leader, philanthropist dies at 94 Birmingham Business Journal Alabama advertising leader, philanthropist dies at 94 ... at the University of Alabama with what was at the time the largest gift in the university's history. [Lewis Monroe Manderson, Jr.]

Alabama Theatre and Lyric Theatre Feeling Economic Brunt of Outbreak Broadway World Both the Alabama Theatre and the Lyric Theatre, located in downtown ... but the COVID-19 pandemic has jeopardized the future of our historic venues.

On This Day: Alabama Gov. George Wallace shot during presidential campaign

UPI.com

On May 15, 1972, Alabama Gov. George Wallace and three others were shot ... On this date in history: In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in ...

7 times historic tax credits have helped preserve Birmingham's skyline Bham Now The Alabama Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit is a 25% refundable tax credit for both private and commercial properties. To be eligible, the property ...

Rock and roll icon Little Richard will be buried in Huntsville WBRC He will be buried at Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery next week. Details for the service are still being confirmed. Copyright 2020 WAFF. Little Richard Will Reportedly Be Laid To Rest Next Week - BET Full Coverage

Buildings receive historic designation Wetumpka Herald The city can now include a log cabin and the Ma Brown Dog Trot structures to its list of officially recognized historical buildings by the Alabama Historical ...

Steve Flowers: Recounting the 1965 Special Succession Session Sand Mountain Reporter Therefore, the momentous and historical September 1965 Special Session called by Wallace is referred to in Alabama political lore as the Succession ...

What if Paul 'Bear' Bryant had taken the Miami Dolphins job in 1970? al.com I have no idea if anyone at Alabama would have pushed in all their chips on a (29-year-old) guy. Alabama's been pretty conservative in its hires ...

Guntersville bicentennial event receives award Sand Mountain Reporter The City of Guntersville is pleased to announce that Historic Guntersville City Cemetery Celebration has been honored by the Alabama Bicentennial ...

Author Marc Lacy shares insight into his creative process Rolling Out A native of Huntsville, Alabama, and a proud graduate of Alabama A&M ... My first book was a book of poetry called The Looking Heart Poetic ...

Novato's John Shea, Willie Mays team up for book on baseball legend Marin Independent Journal Mays knew racism firsthand since childhood, growing up in the Jim Crow South near Birmingham, Alabama. The book quotes Martin Luther King Jr. as ...

Southern LGBTQ History Project Recognized by Archivists U.S. News & World Report BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama-based program compiling the history of LGBT people in the Deep South is being recognized for its work.

2 films with Alabama ties among nominees for Peabody Awards

al.com

Both films explore the experiences of black people in Alabama, illuminating racial ... It was a mix of myth and realism and historical weight, symbolism.

Bart Starr: A Legendary Quarterback Sports Illustrated Johnny Dee, the basketball coach at Alabama, was a friend of the personnel director of the Green Bay Packers. Dee recommended Starr as a prospect ...

Author Louise O'Connor's new book “The Practice Round” is a lighthearted collection of true stories ... PR Web (press release) ... O'Connor's new book “The Practice Round” is a lighthearted collection of true stories recalling memorable events in her life in southern Alabama ...

The Alabama Boxer Who Fought Muhammad Ali

Well, Muhammad Ali was Cassius Clay at the time, but still...

One of the professional boxers native to Alabama was heavyweight Herb Siler. According to most sources, he was born on January 5, 1935 in Brundidge. His Social Security record gives the date as December 20, 1934. That record also lists his parents as Herbert Siler and Catheren McCray. I've so far been unable to find any further information in census or other records.

I've also found nothing on Siler's early life--how long he lived in Brundidge, how he got into boxing, etc. We next find him in Miami at his first fight against Harold Brown on April 25, 1960, at the Palace Arena. He won that bout on his way to a final record of 20 wins [9 by knockouts] and 12 losses [8 by knockouts]. His last fight on May 4, 1967, was a loss, as were the previous five fights. 

Clay was Siler's seventh fight overall and seventh and last bout in 1960.  Clay faced only one previous professional opponent, Tunney Hunsaker, on October 29 in Louisville, Kentucky. Thus Siler had more professional fights, but Clay had defeated all four of his opponents in the Rome Summer Olympics earlier that year. 

Siler and Clay fought on December 27 at the Auditorium in Miami Beach. Clay won in a technical knockout in the fourth round. Clay was just 20 days shy of his 19th birthday. All of Siler's earlier professional bouts took place in Miami or Miami Beach. That pattern would continue for most fights over the rest of his career. 

Another gap of information appears in Siler's life after his boxing career ended in 1967 until 1972. In that year he was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of a friend and served seven years in the Belle Glades Correctional Institute in Florida. At some point he apparently overcame an alcohol addiction and by the late 1980's ran a successful construction company. 

Siler died, again according to his Social Security record, on March 25, 2001. He is buried in Ft. Lauderdale. His grandson is NFL linebacker Brandon Siler.

In November 1966 Ali visited Alabama during the midst of a tour of southern colleges. You can see one of the photographs taken during that visit below.

Our family has some connections to Brundidge which I've written about here. 

Soure: BoxRec

Source: Find-A-Grave

Siler is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Central in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Source: Find-A-Grave

Muhammad Ali is seen here on November 24, 1966, at the Turkey Day Classic football game played in Montgomery between Alabama State and Tuskegee Institute. You can see many more photographs taken that day here.

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History

Alabama Photos of the Day: 1937 Brundidge Tornado

On April 8, 1937, a tornado cut a path through Pike County that included the town of

Brundidge. According to records of the U.S. National Weather Service, the tornado was

on the ground for eight miles. The Service records five tornadoes in the state that

year. This one caused the most fatalities, four, and 25 injuries.

My mother's grandparents Mollie and Joseph Flowers lived in Brundidge in 1937.

Joseph ran a general store on main street for many years. Mom remembers visiting

her grandparents when she was young, playing in "Papa's" store and taking a nap on

the bluejeans piled on a table. In July 2015 my brother Richard and I visited Brundidge,

their house, which still stands, and the location of the store, which housed the police

department at that time.

The photos that follow come from the digital collections of the state archives.

Residence of the Misses Bryant after the tornado

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

Path of the tornado in Brundidge

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

A severely damaged house in Brundidge

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

Dickerts Planing Mill after the tornado

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History 

A house moved by the tornado

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History 

Movies with Alabama Connections: The Revolt of Mamie Stover

One of two films Jane Russell made in 1956 was The Revolt of Mamie Stover, which has an Alabama connection. Let's investigate.

In 1941 Leesburg Mississippi, native Mamie is working as a prostitute in San Francisco. Authorities tell her to leave the city, so she boards a freighter for Honolulu. The only other passenger is Jim Blair [Richard Egan], a writer. They fall in love, but part ways when the ship docks and Jim's sweetheart meets him. Mamie goes to work at The Bungalow, a dance hall, quickly becoming the star attraction. She and Jim renew their relationship until the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Jim joins the army. Meanwhile, Mamie begins buying up real estate from residents returning to the mainland and gets rich selling it to the military. She and Jim meet again, but things don't work out, and as the film ends Mamie is returning to Mississippi.

Marilyn Monroe was first choice to play Mamie Stover, but that didn't work out. She was in the midst of contract negotiations with the studio, 20th Century Fox, at the time and turning down many properties offered to her as a bargaining ploy. I enjoyed the film with Russell, but would have really like to see Monroe in the role. 

Russell handled the hard-bitten aspects of her role pretty well. Mamie tells her story of origins in abject poverty to Blair right away, and as we learn that drives her behavior. She wants to get rich, go back to Leesburg and lord it over all the people who looked down on her and her family. She does get rich, but loses Blair in the end. Apparently, if we go by the ending, she gives it all away before returning to her roots. 

The film is based on the 1951 novel of the same name by William Bradford Huie, born in Hartselle on November 13, 1910. Over his long career Huie wrote numerous novels, non-fiction books and short stories and articles for magazines. Among his best-known works of non-fiction is The Execution of Private Slovik about the only American soldier executed for desertion during the Second World War. By the time he died on November 20, 1986, he had been living back in Alabama for several decades. He is buried in Hartselle, where the public library was renamed in his honor.

Huie served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and his experiences influenced three of his novels. The first was Mamie Stover, followed by The Americanization of Emily in 1959 and then Hotel Mamie Stover in 1963. Americanization was filmed in 1964 with Julie Andrews and James Garner. All three novels have the same narrator.

Some changes were made in the first novel's story on its way to the screen. Mamie left Mississippi for Hollywood to become and actress, but ends up as a prostitute there before leaving for Hawaii. The location was probably changed to San Francisco because the screen version dropped Huie's criticisms of Hollywood. One thing unchanged is Mamie's relentless pursuit of war profiteering. Her poverty-stricken childhood in Mississippi left her with only one desire--to make money. 

Agnes Moorehead [almost unrecognizable as a bleached blonde!] plays Bertha Parchman, the crusty owner of The Bungalow. I've written about her 1973 visit to Birmingham here. 

Jonathan Yardley, long time book critic for The Washington Post, published an appreciation of Huie and his Mamie Stover novel in 2006. 

Sydney Boehm [1908-1990] was a screenwriter and producer whose career in Hollywood began in 1944 and extended until 1967. 

I think we can conclude Jane looks fabulous in the film, although she does spend most of it with red hair as "Flaming Mamie". 

Money comes between the lovers literally and figuratively. 

This paperback edition from Signet was published in 1964.

This first hardback edition had a somewhat less exciting cover than the paperback.

This inscription appears in my copy of the first edition. 

William Bradford Huie [1910-1986]

Alabama History & Culture News: May 7 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!

Church marks 200th year since founding Tuscaloosa News First Presbyterian was also a pioneer in the education of women, with the 1833 founding of the Alabama Female Academy with the church's ...

Former UAB nurse Carolyn Hood recalls 30-year career Alabama NewsCenter Carolyn Hood wasn't so much interested in making history as she was taking care ... Carolyn Hood was a trailblazer in Alabama nursing from Alabama ...

Three Female Alabama Graduates make UAB History

Birmingham Times

This month's commencement ceremony at the University of Alabama at Birmingham marked the first time in its history that the School of Engineering ...

Alabama native, popular blogger writes first book, 'Mom Babble' al.com Alabama native, popular blogger writes first book, 'Mom Babble'. Updated 9:49 AM; Today 8:00 AM.

NPR podcast 'White Lies' named Pulitzer Prize finalist al.com Alabama-based hosts Brantley and Grace traveled to Selma to speak to the people ... Southerners talk about, and sometimes gloss over, the history of the region. Ultimately, the hosts told AL.com last year, the podcast is about race.

Troy Rotary marks 100th anniversary

Troy Messenger

He recently joined the board of the Pioneer Museum of Alabama. His continuing interest in history and his preparation for the Rotary talk led him to the ...

The Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasis. Look into the details. Press Reality ... book is based on how she spent her childhood in Huntsville, Alabama. She was awarded the John Leonard Award for her very first book, ” The ...

LOOKING BACK: Memories on the hill

Troy Messenger

Anne Walker noted in her book The Story Of The Alabama Baptist Children's Home, “The cottages were soon filled to overflowing. And with the ...

ICYMI: Eureka artist uses quarantine to collaborate on alphabet book Leader Publications Langham, a Eureka High School graduate, now lives in Alabama. Scheer said her daughter's concept was an alphabet book, which would require at ...

WRITING TO REMEMBER: Founder of Trail of Tears Motorcycle Ride pens book News Courier He said most students learn about the Trail of Tears in Alabama through a 30-minute lesson plan. He wants to give students a copy of his book so they ...

Alabama's old bookstores holding on with new strategies, online events Alabama NewsCenter Book sales didn't fall for the Alabama Booksmith in Homewood during Alabama's retail quarantine. Owner Jake Reiss will continue to keep the doors ...

BOOK REVIEW: 'Historic Alabama Bells' and Paul Revere's role

Times Daily

We would be forgiven if we didn't know the role Paul Revere played in Alabama history. Through the tenacious endeavors of Thomas Kaufmann, we ...

Drive-By Truckers release 'Quarantine Together' on Bandcamp al.com The Drive-By Truckers have a long history of performances in Alabama and recorded their breakthrough album, 2001′s “Southern Rock Opera,” in ...

Are you ready for 'Hunger Games' prequel book and film? al.com A new book by Suzanne Collins, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” is set ... Collins, a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, ...

Looking Back: Antebellum author lived off St. Andrew Bay The News Herald The family moved several more times, living in Alabama and Georgia. While in ... She and her husband are buried in St. Luke's Episcopal Cemetery in ... [Caroline Lee Hentz; she & her family lived more than a decade in #Alabama]

Things you might not know about Harper Lee, in honor of her birthday al.com Here, then, are some things you might not know about Harper Lee. Don't Edit. AL.com file photo. FEAR FACTOR. Alabama historian Wayne ...

A look back at typhoid fever Hartselle Enquirer He will be laid to rest in Herring Cemetery. October 15, 1888—Dr. William Gardner Gill, born April 14, 1819, before Alabama ...

Three women blaze the path as the first females to graduate from UAB with civil engineering ... UAB News Sandra CuttsThis Friday's commencement ceremony at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will mark the first time in its history that the School of ...

Alabama's Moon Trees

In February 2019 a blog post at the Atlas Obscura site asked, "Whatever Happened to All the Moon Trees?" And the answer is....

First, let's examine what they were. Moon trees were planted from 500 seeds that spent nine days in space and orbited the moon 34 times on Apollo 14 in 1971. U.S. Forest Service biologists conducted the experiment to see if the seeds would germinate. A canister accident during decontamination after return might have meant disaster, but most of the seeds germinated. By 1976 the 420 seedlings obtained were being planted around the country. 

The trees included loblolly pines, sycamores, redwoods, sweetgums and Douglas firs. Seedlings were sent to state forestry organizations and elsewhere and most planted as part of U.S. bicentennial celebrations. One was planted on the White House Lawn; several were sent to other countries including Brazil, Japan and Switzerland. A list of those planted in the U.S. is here. 

Five were planted in Alabama. You can see photographs of three and more information about them below. A loblolly pine planted August 5 1976, at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama in Troy is listed at the NASA web site documenting living trees, but there is no photo. According to the list at Wikipedia, a loblolly pine  planted October 22, 1976, outside the G.W. Andrews Forestry Sciences Lab at Auburn University has not survived. 

Efforts have been made to document and preserve the trees and their legacy through the Moon Tree Foundation and by Dave Williams at NASA. The Foundation was established by the daughter of Stuart Roosa, the Apollo 14 astronaut responsible for the canister of seeds during the mission. 

You can read about other Alabama trees in Mildred M. Nelson's "Alabama Trees: Chiefly Legendary", Alabama Review April 1953, pp 121-134

This sycamore was planted at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on February 25, 1976

Source: NASA

Loblolly pine on the state capitol grounds in Montgomery
Planted in April 1976

Source: NASA

Loblolly pine planted October 19, 1976, at Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller in Tuscumbia.

Source: NASA

A seed from this tree was planted at Cypress Cove, a forest near Red Bay. The land is privately owned, but there are seven miles of trails maintained for public use. 

Source: Laura-Jean McCurdy, "Cypress Cove: A Place of History, Heritage, and Hope" Alabama's Treasured Forests 39(2): 4-6, spring 2020