Alabama History & Culture News: June 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!

Get an inside look at Alabama's 10 Natural Wonders 23 years later Bham Now Bartram's books about his travels around the south in the late 1700s provides us a glimpse of what Alabama and the southeast looked like 250 years ...

Montevallo celebrates community, history and nature through murals Bham Now Montevallo celebrates community, history and nature through murals. Move over Austin Texas. Check out Montevallo, Alabama's newest destination ...

Historic Theatres Among Businesses Damaged During Violent Protest WBHM Cindy Mullins manages the Alabama and Lyric theatres, which were both hit. She said she was not surprised by the reaction of protesters, but she is ...

Journey through black history at these key places in Birmingham

Bham Now

Now, more than ever, is a time to educate ourselves on the history of black Americans, their ... Address: 520 16th St N, Birmingham, AL 35203

Brown releases book about her Bullock County ancestors Union Springs Herald She knew her grandmother had one sister who lived in Montgomery, Alabama, named Arabelle. From time to time, her grandmother mentioned her ...

Davis credits small town for success in business, with best-selling book Wetumpka Herald Davis, a 1999 graduate of Holtville, attended the University of Alabama and began working at McKee and Associates where she was tasked with ...

OU professor's book runner-up for history journalism prize

Athens NEWS

The book covers how the high court overturned a libel suit filed by an Alabama police commissioner against The New York Times, freeing the ...

Winston Groom and Daniel Wallace contribute to 'Alabama Noir'

The Northwest Florida Daily News

But the book “Alabama Noir” stalks a wooded golf course, traipses a rickety roadside attraction, ... “I love the books as a way to explore cities,” he said.

Mark Edwards: Dye's legacy reverberates in Auburn-Alabama annual game The Daily Star-Journal Pat Dye, who died this week, made sure of that. You could make a case that he's the most influential figure in the history of the Auburn-Alabama game — ...

Alabama Theatre needs donations after damages from Sunday night WIAT - CBS42.com BIRMINGHAM, Ala (WIAT) — The historic Alabama Theatre in Downtown Birmingham has been around since 1927, but it's history didn't save it from ...

Auburn Legend, Pat Dye has passed away at the age of 80

Alabama News Network (press release)

... coaches in Auburn football history. His record on the Plains was 99-39-4. Among his achievements was moving the Iron Bowl game versus Alabama ...

The history of Birmingham monuments damaged during George Floyd protest al.com The Alabama Supreme Court in 2019 ruled that the city of Birmingham violated Alabama's monument protection law when it placed a plywood screen ... Mobile's statue: Who was Confederate Adm. Raphael Semmes? al.com As captain of the CSS Sumter and the better-known CSS Alabama, Semmes ... Veterans participated in a formal burial in Mobile's Magnolia Cemetery. The harrowing true story of 'Just Mercy' New York Post ... writes in his 2014 book “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. ... He also said the Alabama Bureau of Investigation threatened the death ... Bubba Thompson of 'Cowboy Way: Alabama' Is a Doting Dad of Two Kids — Meet the TV Star's ... AmoMama ... used the instant and unexpected fame that he got from "Sweet Home Alabama" and published a book addressing how a lady should be treated.

The 1934 Lois Wilson Statue

In March 2015 I posted on this blog about Lois Wilson in the first of a continuing series about film actresses from the state whose careers started before 1960. Although born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1894, Wilson grew up in Birmingham and graduated from what is now the University of West Alabama. In 1915 after teaching for a brief period and then winning a beauty contest that made her the first Miss Alabama, she headed for Hollywood. 

Between 1915 and 1936 Wilson appeared in some 150 silent and sound films, mostly for Paramount. After 1936 she appeared in four more movies before retiring from films for good. She did perform on Broadway and in TV soap operas such as The Guiding Light [January 1954-December 1955] and The Secret Storm [1954]. She died in Reno, Nevada, on March 3, 1988. 

One of six films she made in 1934 was No Greater Glory. Directed by Frank Borzage, the movie is based on the 1906 novel The Paul Street Boys by Hungarian author Ferenc Molnar. The anti-war allegory follows two gangs of boys as they prepare to fight over an empty playground. Wilson plays the mother of one of the boys. Apparently, according to a New York Times article cited in the Wikipedia entry, the film was not a financial success. 

One viewer obviously taken with the film was George Bridges, a Birmingham sculptor. Bridges saw the film at a special preview at the Empire Theater and was so impressed by Wilson's performance he created this statue seen below.

Although born in Chattanooga, Bridges  spent much of his life in the Magic City. After World War I service he met and married Birmingham debutante Eleanor Massey. In 1921 the pair built a home in Homewood's Edgewood community that would serve as an artistic vortex for decades. They traveled far and wide from Paris to Greece and Morocco, but they always returned to host the salons at their home. Among other efforts, the city's Little Theatre originated in discussions there. 

Bridges' best known work is the Brother Bryan statue in Five Points South. He also created the monument to Tom Talbot, founder of the International Association of Machinists in Grant Park in Atlanta. Bridges died in 1976. Eleanor, herself a prolific painter, continued as an artistic and civic whirlwind until her death in 1987. Their pink stucco house remains in private hands; you can see many historical photographs of the house and Eleanor and George and their works here. You can read about the recent threats to the house and efforts to save it here.

Lois Wilson is described in the caption as "Birmingham's first picture star" and in "her greatest role in years" in this film. I wonder what happened to the statue?

See below for a bit more about Wilson. 

Source: Birmingham News 4 May 1934 via Newspapers.com

Source: Wikipedia

Lois Wilson in The Truth About the Movies edited by Laurence A. Hughes and published in 1924. Her statement is below.

Source: Media History Digital Library

In 1926 Wilson played Daisy Buchanan in the first film version of The Great Gatsby released just a year after the novel was published. Like so many silent films, this one has not survived but a one-minute trailer does exist. Thus we have an Alabama actress playing a character based on Alabama native Zelda Fitzgerald. 

Source: The Film Daily 1926 via Media History Digital Library

That Time Princeton Came to Marion, Alabama

Before he became Governor of New Jersey and then President of the U.S., Woodrow Wilson served as President of Princeton University from 1902 until 1910. He had graduated from the school in 1879 and received a PhD from Johns Hopkins in 1886. For the next sixteen years he taught at the college level and wrote books on history and political science. 

Wilson was a southerner by birth; born in Virginia, his family spent his early years in Augusta, Georgia, and South Carolina. That background may be why Wilson accepted an invitation that brought him to Marion, Alabama, in 1905. A Marion Military Institute web page tells us

"Woodrow Wilson is responsible for the current MMI colors and mascot. Wilson, then president of Princeton University, was the Government Day Speaker at the Institute in 1905. Following his speech, MMI’s colors were changed to orange and black and the athletic teams were called the “Tigers” in honor of Wilson and Princeton University."

At the time Marion was not the Perry County seat; that change from Perry Ridge  happened in 1909. At the time Wilson spoke the town had a population of about 1700. Marion Military Institute is one of only five military junior colleges in the U.S. and the oldest, founded in 1887. Over 200 graduates have become generals or admirals.

I did not find any more information about Wilson's visit; i assume the Institute's archive might have further information. Local or other newspapers in the state may have covered it. As far as I could determine, Wilson did not visit the state another time. Wilson Dam near Muscle Shoals is named after him, and what is now Linn Park in downtown Birmingham was previously known as Woodrow Wilson Park.

At one point William Howard Taft served as President of the MMI Board of Trustees. Maybe one day I'll cover his visit to Birmingham. 

Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), Class of 1879.
Sidney Edward Dickinson (American, 1890-1980). Oil on canvas, 1929,  Princeton University, gift of William Church Osborn, Class of 1883, and friends. Photo: Bruce M. White

Source: The Presidents of Princeton University

Marion Military Institute in 1907

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History

Marion Military Institute postcard from the 1930's showing another view of the administration building

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

Football team at Marion Military Institute in 1912

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History

Alabama History & Culture News: June 1 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!

Tuskegee Airmen Nurse Second Lt. Irma “Pete” Cameron Dryden Celebrates 100th Birthday News One “The Tuskegee Airmen were not the only ones making history at Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF) in Tuskegee, Alabama, during the 1940s,” read a ...

A Southern Vanguard The Nation Mary Stanton's new book, Red, Black, White: The Alabama Communist Party, 1930–1950, helps recover this history through the story of one of the ...

What do you know about Birmingham's Quinlan Castle? Its history might surprise you. Bham Now By the year 1998, it was included on the Places in Peril list of the Alabama Historical Commission. Beginning in 1999, there were varying proposals of ...

77 years of iconic quarterback Joe Namath al.com Alabama quarterback Joe Namath poses with an Orange Bowl football at practice ... In 1963, Alabama went 9-2, losing to Florida and Auburn by a total of six ... after her husband's funeral at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham on Jan.

DON NOBLE: Children's book shows power of humanitarian spirit The Northwest Florida Daily News Irene Latham is one of Alabama's foremost poets and the author of the novel “Leaving Gee's Bend,” and many picture books for children.

Book Reviews — Alabama missionary Addie Cox 'lit a fire' with stories from China Alabama Baptist She also wrote a book about the history of Woman's Missionary Union — “We've A Story to Tell (125 Years of WMU) Woman's Missionary Union.”.

Book Reviews — Alabama missionary Addie Cox 'lit a fire' with stories from China Alabama Baptist Other books on missionary work. Many more books are available detailing the stories of missionary heroes, including those by Alabama's own Rosalie ...

Can you name Alabama's 10 Natural Wonders? See how a movement was born

Bham Now

Much of the data and research for his book came from his initial work on the Natural Wonders Campaign. Developing Natural Wonders Champions. Yes ...

Lord Remember Me: Archiving Alabama's Folklife YouTube Food for Thought 2012. 2 / 12 Alabama Department of Archives & History · 54:58. Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Alabama in the Civil ...

Public Library Highlights The History Of Nursing In Alabama Patch.com Public Library Highlights The History Of Nursing In Alabama. In the early days of Birmingham, hospitals and infirmaries were being established and so ...

Maigen Sullivan awarded the 2020 Society of American Archivists Innovator Award for Invisible ... UAB News ... preserve and make accessible the LGBTQ history of the Deep South. ... collections of LGBTQ historical documents from Alabama, dating from 1912 ...

"The Cat Man of Aleppo" By: Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha Alabama Public Radio Irene Latham is one of Alabama's foremost poets and the author of the novel “Leaving Gee's Bend,” and many picture books for children. Her co-author ...

ALABAMA CEMETERY LAWS AND LEGISLATION Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance Existing laws concerning the use, care and protection of cemeteries are ... to Alabama's cemeteries, including penalties for desecrating grave sites.

Book review: 'Overturning Brown' Bowling Green Daily News The founding director of the Alabama Civil Liberties Union, Suitts began his career as a staff writer for the Selma Project. A longtime adjunct professor at ...

Journey by the Book: Travel to Alabama and Portugal From the Comfort of Home National Catholic Register Photography books allow readers to visit the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama (clockwise from top left), as well as Fatima ...

Perdido Vineyards the first winery to open in Alabama since prohibition WKRG News 5 PERDIDO, Ala. (WKRG)- Today is National Wine Day and there is one winery in Baldwin County that holds an authentic history. When prohibition ...

Alabama's Pop Culture Museum is a Wonderland of Nostalgia Wide Open Country You can email Hollis1963@aol.com or call 205-648-6110 to book your visit! Featuring old board games, lunch boxes, classic cartoon characters and ...

Mullen publishes first novel West Alabama Watchman “I would place this book squarely somewhere between Southern Gothic, tragedy, coming of age, black humor and satire. The basic premise of the novel ... [Tristan Mullen, "Freddie and Andrew", set in Demopolis

Movies with Alabama Connections: Odds Against Tomorrow

Released in 1959, Odds Against Tomorrow is often cited as one of the last entries of

film noir's classic period that began in the late 1930's. Harry Belafonte, Ed Begley,
Jr. and Robert Ryan star in this dark and gritty piece about a small town bank
robbery. Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame are also in the cast. 

In addition to that great cast and a tight story, the film has a couple of other pluses.
There's a side conflict between Ryan's racist character and Belafonte that adds
even more tension as the plot unfolds. Odds also has a wonderful musical score
written by pianist John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet. In addition to band mates
Percy Heath [bass], Milt Jackson [vibraphone], and Connie Kay [drums], the
orchestration includes the fabulous Bill Evans on piano and Jim Hall on guitar.

The MJQ released a soundtrack album the same year.

This film has a possible Alabama connection and another certain one. The novel
that started it all by William P. McGovern was first published in 1957. I've
explored McGivern's supposed Mobile connections in a blog post. 

The other Alabama connection appears about midway through the movie. Robert
Ryan goes into a bar for a drink, and a soldier and his girl are horsing around. Ryan
takes offense and the final result is a fight in which the soldier ends up on the floor.
The soldier is played by none other than Wayne Rogers. 

He was born in Birmingham on April 7, 1933. After graduating from Princeton and a
stint in the Navy, Rogers began appearing in small roles in Hollywood. His debut was
auspicious, although credited only as a main character's "tennis opponent" in the
Alfred Hitchcock classic 1951 Strangers on a Train. His IMDB credits show a gap until
1959, when he made appearances on the TV soap opera Search for Tomorrow and
as that guy in the bar in Odds. In the 1960's he had numerous roles in TV shows
ranging from Have Gun Will Travel to Gunsmoke and Honey West. He even appeared
with fellow Alabama native Jim Nabors on Gomer Pyle USMC. 

Of course, Rogers went on to great fame in the popular M*A*S*H TV show where 
he was a regular for three seasons 1972-1975. He continued acting in
films and TV movies and shows until 2003. In one of those roles he played Alabama
native and attorney Morris Dees in the 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi. 

Rogers died on New Year's Eve 2015.

Here are the three leads: Harry Belafonte, Ed Begley, Sr., and Robert Ryan

Robert Ryan and Wayne Rogers are about to mix it up in the bar scene.

Alabama History & Culture News: May 25 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!

The most courageous white man in B'ham history and how he changed our city, state, and nation al.com He eventually graduated from Alabama (1950), from the University's law school in 1951, and earned a Master of Laws degree from George Washington ...

"After Sundown: A Novel" By: Linda Howard and Linda Jones Alabama Public Radio Is this a complaint about books like “After Sundown”? ... Don Noble's newest book is Alabama Noir, a collection of original stories by Winston Groom, ...

Fannie Flagg: A Modern Literary Voice of the South Wide Open Country Flagg, born Patricia Neal on September 21, 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama, ... The book version stayed on the New York Times bestseller's list for 36 ...

Book Picks - The Open Door Bookstore WAMC "Boys of Alabama: A Novel" by Genevieve Hudson "The Silent Treatment: A Novel" by Abbie Greaves "Love Poems for Anxious People" by John ...

The Shoals is rich in musical heritage, but that's not all Atlanta Journal Constitution Native American history, world-class architecture and natural beauty also abound. Nestled in northwestern Alabama along the banks of the Tennessee ...

Little Richard's deep, slightly complicated Alabama roots al.com The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, whose real name is Richard Penniman, will be buried at Oakwood Memorial Gardens Cemetery, in a 11 a.m. May 20 ... Rock 'n' Roll Legend Laid to Rest - TMZ Full Coverage

UPDATE: Little Richard buried at historically black university in Alabama

Atlanta Journal Constitution

... at Oakwood University to pay their respects, many wearing face masks and standing a few feet apart at the outdoor service at the school's cemetery.

Take a virtual journey with the Freedom Riders on Wednesday and Thursday Montgomery Advertiser It just isn't an art form, it is a reality of our history.” ... Thanks to grants from the National Park Service to the Alabama Historical Commission, new ...

Montgomery teen on track to be youngest lawyer in Alabama history WBTV After Seth graduated high school, he went on to receive his bachelor's degree in history and a minor in political science from Huntingdon College at 16 ...

This New Book Highlights Local Ties to World War II Heroes Mainline Today It was 1941, and segregated Alabama wasn't a safe place for any black person. Bailey was there to join the nursing staff that cared for the Tuskegee ...

Book Review | Shedding Light on Forgotten Southern Jewish History Jewish Exponent She tracks down Jews whose lives and heritage challenge Northern Ashkenazi norms, from a peanut farmer in tiny Eufaula, Alabama, to a South ...

Event captures memories of Freedom Riders' heroic journey between Anniston and Birmingham Bham Now It was one of the darkest moments in Alabama history. On Mother's Day, May 14, 1961, Freedom Riders, peacefully demonstrating against segregation ...

Montgomery teen on track to be youngest lawyer in Alabama history WSFA Their youngest is studying for the ACT at just 10 years of age. After Seth graduated high school, he went on to receive his bachelor's degree in history ...

Take a Driving Tour of These 14 Historic Birmingham Buildings StyleBlueprint A proud Magic City resident, University of Alabama alum, and self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, Taylor enjoys exploring the 205 and sharing the ...