Alabama History & Culture News: June 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!

"Boys of Alabama" By: Genevieve Hudson Alabama Public Radio “Boys of Alabama” is Genevieve Hudson's first novel but third published book. In each the reader can see the development of a bright, sensitive and ...

Steve Flowers: Why George Wallace said 'no' to US Senate Sand Mountain Reporter This will never be matched again in Alabama history. Indeed, it would be difficult to find any U.S. Senator in history with that resume. In short, Shelby's ...

In historic election, SBC Executive Committee elects first African American chair Alabama Baptist Outgoing chair Mike Stone called for a ballot vote, he said, to mark the historic moment. (BP photo). The Southern Baptist Convention Executive ...

Hoover Historical Society asks Hoover residents to share their pandemic stories

Alabama's News Leader

HOOVER, Ala. (WBMA) — As we know, we're living in unprecedented times. What we're going through will be important for future generations to be ...

Historical home destroyed by fire in Phenix City WRBL (WRBL) – A historic Mansion in Phenix City, Alabama experienced a major fire Tuesday night. The house sits along 20th St. and 9th Ave. Fire crews ...

Here are Alabama's next 10 natural wonders and how you can help protect them Bham Now Can we repeat history? We think so. In this, our third and final installment about Alabama's Natural Wonders, we asked Ken Wills, the AEC staffer who ...

What is Flag Day and what Alabama city is known as the City of Six Flags? Alabama NewsCenter In Alabama's history, many flags have flown over the state. Six of these flags have flown over Mobile, giving the city its nickname, the City of Six Flags.

J. Marion Sims statue: A questionable monument in a questionable place

Montgomery Advertiser

Sims was not from Alabama, and he's buried in New York City, where in 2018 his Central Park monument ... And Harris still had his book to publish.

The Slave Who Went To Congress

WUWF

Gaillard says he first learned about Turner while researching a book on the civil rights movement in Alabama. That research took him to Selma, where ...

Brundidge Historical Society talks fall schedule Troy Messenger The main topic of discussion was the future of the BHS' annual fall events, the Peanut Butter Festival in October and the production of Alabama's ...

Fannie Flagg Proves Age Is Just a Number Looking Gorgeous at 75 — A Glimpse into Her Life AmoMama The Alabama native carved a niche for herself in front of the camera and as a very ... The book was a New York's Bestseller for thirteen weeks.

Alabama Author: Lelias E. Kirby, M.D.

Wandering--so to speak--through my book collection recently, I came across this collection of short anecdotes by Lelias E. Kirby, M.D. Corncobs, issued by the Birmingham firm A.H. Cather Publishing in 1973, was Kirby's first book. Two more came out in 1975, Cotton Pickin' Coon Huntin' Country Boys [also A.H. Cather] and How Me and Amos Won World War I [Commercial Printing Company, also in Birmingham]. More information about that latter book can be found at the end of this post. Since Cather was a printing operation, I presume these books were self-published by Kirby. 

So who was Lelias Kirby? He was born on October 28, 1895, in Etowah County. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.S. and then Emory School of Medicine in 1926. Before college he farmed and coached in high school. On August 19, 1927, he married Jean Harms, and they would have three children, two daughters and a son. The Sayers biographical compilation cited below noted that he was a retired physician-surgeon, a Democrat, a Methodist and had three hobbies: writing a column syndicated to weekly newspapers, speaker at clubs and conventions and making unusual walking canes.

From what I could gather, Kirby had hospital privileges at East End Memorial Hospital, which eventually became Medical Center East. According to the 1940 American Medical Association Directory, Kirby had an office in Birmingham at 5357 1st Avenue North, where his hours were 3-5 pm. That directory, the 1940 U.S. Census and the 1969 compilation all give his home address as 1 North 80th Street. You can see a Google Street View of the house from October 2018 here. 

Kirby cited writing a syndicated newspaper column as one of his hobbies. A blurb on the back of this book written by the editorial page editor of the Birmingham News identifies Kirby as a frequent contributor to the letters-to-the-editor section of that paper. No specific sources of the book's contents are given.

Corncobs contains numerous short anecdotes and tales covering the topics indicated in the contents below. These writings express a fondness for the simplicity of his youth and in a few cases hostility to elements of the contemporary society. You can tell a lot from the titles: "Life Has Its Ups and Downs", "The Stove Wood Box", "The Blacksmith Shop", "The First Christmas" and "Everybody Talks about the Weather".

 In "Mothers-in-Law" Kirby makes a defense of the species, including his own. "Should the Old Terminal Come Down?" is a poem about Birmingham's Terminal Railroad Station, which was demolished in 1969. In 

"The Doctors say 'Phooey on ERA'" Kirby tells us exactly what he thinks about the Equal Rights Amendment: "No, we men like women as they are--we prefer that they use cosmetics and perfume rather than plumber and mechanic's grease to attract the opposite sex." In one of the rare essays related to his medical practice, "Snake Doctor", he recounts an amusing incident when he tried to administer some antivenom to a patient bitten by a rattler. 

Early in the collection is "My Most Unforgettable Character", which refers to the Reader's Digest long-running article series, "The Most Unforgettable Character I Have Ever Met." In Kirby's case he wrote about Dr. George H. Denny, President of the University of Alabama from 1912 until 1936. Kirby gives several examples of Denny's kindness to him as an undergraduate in the early 1920's. 

Kirby died on October 5, 1977, and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. His wife Jean died in 1985 and is also buried there. 

Sources for this post include Ancestry.com and the book Who's Who in Alabama, Volume 2 [John W. Sayers, comp., 1969, p. 244]. A picture of Dr. Kirby, described as a "1977 press photo" is currently for sale on eBay. 

Published in 1975, this book describes the experiences of Kirby and his brother in World War I. Read more about it in this essay by Mary Anne Ellis. 

Source: Find-A-Grave

When the Circus Came to Town

In an October 2018 issue of our local Pelham Reporter newspaper I found an ad for a one-day appearance November 3 in Columbiana by the Loomis Brothers Circus. You can see it near the end of this post. As fate would have it, I had watched a two-part "American Experience" documentary about the circus in the U.S. on Alabama Public Television not long before that. Somebody was trying to tell me something, so here we are.

In January 2017 the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus made its final appearance in Birmingham. That circus had come through the city for many years; we took our young children to see it at the BJCC in 1988 and 1991. Sample tickets are below. On May 21, 2017, the circus ceased operations after some 146 years of touring under various names and owners. Declining attendance and high operating costs brought an end to one of America's--and the world's--classic entertainments. Much smaller circuses continue to tour the U.S., but an era seems to be winding down. I remember taking our kids once or twice to see one of those smaller outfits at the Riverchase Galleria back in the day. 

The modern circus dates from 1768 when Philip Astley began trick horse shows near London. Two years later he hired acrobats, jugglers, a clown and tightrope walkers to fill the time between the shows. On April 3, 1793, a Scotsman named John Bill Ricketts opened the first circus performance in the U.S. in Philadelphia. George Washington attended a performance. 

The glory years of the circus in the U.S. were roughly the 1830's until well into the 1950's. In the 1830's the first American to operate a major circus was Victor Pepin. In 1825 Joshuah Purdy Brown began the use of a large canvas tent for a circus. P.T. Barnum began touring a freak show with William Cameron Coup, who developed the multiple ring circus and circus travel by train.. Dan Rice became the most famous circus clown during this period. 

Thus by the Civil War most elements of the traditional circus were in place. After the war numerous circus organizations large and small toured America and much of the world for decades with their combinations of human and animal entertainment. Since the 1970's many groups with a different circus aesthetic, such as Cirque du Soleil, have developed. China, Russia and other nations have contributed to circus development and variation as well. Human desire for spectacular entertainment being what it is, the circus will no doubt survive in some form.

Written and other resources on circus history are vast. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress has put online oral histories from circus workers both inside and outside of the big top; you can find more information here and here. Steph Post's essay on great sideshow cons is here. A web site devoted to circus history is here. Susan Salaz has written about Peru, Indiana, the "Circus Capital of the World."

This blog post is by no means a history of the circus in Alabama; that remains to be researched and written. However, I do want to cover a few random things I've come across recently on that topic. Perhaps I'll return to it in the future.

You can find other photographs related to circuses in Alabama here. George Singleton's 1972 essay about a circus crossing the Alabama River at Claiborne in 1908 is here.

Source: The Daily Ardmoreite [Oklahoma] 26 January 1906, p. 3

The BhamWiki.com site has an entry on this circus/sale, but the story is different. According to that version, the circus ended its run in Sylacauga and wintered in Birmingham. Show receipts were stolen, and the management was forced to schedule an auction. James Bailey of Barnum & Bailey offered $150,000 for everything, and the auction was cancelled.

Montgomery Advertiser and State Gazette 26 Dec 1860

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History 

Circus by Zelda Fitzgerald

This oil on canvas painting, completed in 1938, is in the collections of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. By this time Zelda was deep in the depths of her clinical depression and round-robin stays in various sanitariums. Perhaps the image is based on a memory of Zelda's about seeing the circus as a child in Alabama.

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama

A circus parade on the square in Huntsville in 1913. In the left background is the First National Bank building supposedly robbed by Frank and Jesse James in 1876.

Source: Huntsville-Madison County Public Library

Legendary circus clown Emmett Kelly during a visit to Birmingham in 1955

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History

Ringling Brothers Circus at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery January 1958

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives and History

Window of the New Idea Barbershop in Birmingham in 1937 as photographed by Arthur Rothstein. I've written a blog post about this photo here.

Gunther Gebel-Williams and his tigers with the Ringling Brothers Circus in Birmingham on February 10, 1979. He worked with the circus as an animal trainer from 1968 until 1990. 

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History

Red Skelton in Birmingham at the Barnum Circus 10 February 1979

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History

Elephants in the Dixie Circus performing at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery 29 May 1970

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History

Here's that ad I mentioned above for the Loomis Brothers circus. According to their web site, the circus has been touring for more than 20 years. 

Source: Pelham Reporter 31 October 2018, p. 1B

Remember those visits with the kids to the Ringling Brothers circus at the BJCC I mentioned?  I've got the ticket stubs. Dianne was pregnant with Becca during that first one in 1988.

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