Alabama History & Culture News: September 1 edition

 

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

Local history: Watertown hosted Booker T. Washington NNY360 Local history: Watertown hosted Booker T. Washington ... about the connection between a historically Black university in Alabama, and a small city in ...

Huntsville sites herald women's suffrage al.com Nevertheless, this mural can serve as a teaser in opening vital community conversations about the true history of Alabama's sexist and racist past.

Monroeville, Alabama, the inspiration for 'To Kill a Mockingbird', has elected its first Black mayor

ABC17News.com

It also garnered national attention with the release of the film and book “Just Mercy” — which tells the story of Walter McMillian, a Black man from ...

'Classic Restaurants of Montgomery' a fun taste of city's past

Montgomery Advertiser

Copies may be ordered through the Old Alabama Town website, www.oldalabamatown.com. Click on “Events” and follow through to find book ...

Montgomery's history includes tasty tales from the culinary trail Montgomery Advertiser For about a hundred years — a period that began just before Alabama and ... King and Pell, who partnered for the new book “Classic Restaurants of ...

Racism denied Auburn's first Black student a master's degree. Then, at 86, he returned.

Washington Post

He'd teach history — at Alabama State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Tuskegee Institute and Talladega College — until his retirement ...

Local author's book selected for national festival

thehomewoodstar.com

The Alabama Center for the Book has selected “The Night the Forest Came to Town,” by Homewood author Charles Ghigna to be featured as the ...

Elba receives Bicentennial Legacy Award for Evergreen Cemetery Summer House

Elba Clipper

The unveiling of Elba's Alabama Legacy Project bronze marker will be held Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 10 a.m., at the Evergreen Cemetery. This will be near ...

Who knew? Oak Mountain State Park could have been a National Park + other fun facts Bham Now “Oak Mountain State Park was going to be Alabama's “Little Smoky ... First, a little bit about Lauren Muncher, who gave me a historical and natural tour ...

Elba City Council gives go ahead to Masonic Lodge #170 for historical marker to be placed in ... Elba Clipper During Monday evening's meeting, Kelley said the Alabama State Archives office had approved the Lodge to receive one of its historical markers.

After her epic debut novel on slavery's descendants, Yaa Gyasi wrote even closer to home

Los Angeles Times

If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from ... to make sense of the traumas of her childhood back in Alabama: the death of her ... Combining them in one book “gave me this rich landscape in which to ...

Pleasant Grove makes history; elects first Blacks to council al.com Pleasant Grove makes history; elects first Blacks to council. Updated 11:23 ... Alabama Rep. Merika ... He tweeted: “In Pleasant Grove AL now. Great to ...

Farmland Detective Finds Grave of Youngest Civil War Soldier? AgWeb (Charles Hay is also on record as an 11-year-old Confederate soldier from Alabama.) “I can't state this as historical record and I haven't been able to ...

Spirit of Steel: music of the Mines, Railroads and Mills of the Birmingham District thehomewoodstar.com The music created during this period of Alabama history provides a glimpse at the lives of the men and their families at this time. All OLLI programs are ...

Alabama Century & Heritage Farm Applications Due Aug. 28 Southeast AgNet The purpose of both programs is to recognize family farms that have played a significant role in Alabama's history. adai. A Century Farm is one that has ...

A guide to Jazz in The Magic City

Bham Now

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Museum. Birmingham, The Carver Theatre, black history The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Museum in the historic Carver ...

Tuscaloosa's Bamastuff Recognized in National Register of Historic Places wvua23.com It was a day for the history books for three Alabama properties. Literally. Three more Alabama properties were recently added to the National Register of ... 'Lovecraft Country' and the dark history of Alabama's 'sundown towns' whnt.com In his 1934 book “Stars Fell on Alabama,” author Carl Carmer described seeing the sign while visiting Cullman. Carmer asked his caddy, Henry, as to ... Art of history: Preserving African American dioramas CBS News The director of the Legacy Museum at Alabama's Tuskegee University, she describes the scene as the moment of emancipation. "It's a moment that is ... History made in Central Alabama as Pell City elects 1st black woman to city council WVTM13 History made across Central Alabama from Tuesday, August 25 elections. Ivy Mcdaniel is the first black woman elected to Pell City's council. She will ...

Movies with Alabama Connections: The Sin of Nora Moran

If I followed the Alabama connection in this film into other movies, I would never have to find other topics for this blog. Late in his career Henry B. Walthall, a major star in silent films, appeared in this 1933 crime drama. Walthall was a Shelby County native and made dozens and dozens--and dozens--of films between 1909 and 1936. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

As The Sin of Nora Moran opens we learn that Nora, lover of a married Governor, sits on death row convicted of a murder that the District Attorney, the Governor's brother-in-law, helped her cover up. She has refused to tell the truth about the crime in order to save people she loves. We can sympathize because she had killed a man who raped her. We eventually learn she claimed to have murdered him to cover the accidental death actually caused by her lover--the Governor. Got that?

Early in the film we follow Nora as she unsuccessfully looks for a job until she's hired as the assistant to a circus lion tamer. He eventually rapes her, and Nora leaves the circus for New York City. Before that we get to see an incredible wrestling match between the tamer and one of the lions.

This film is a strange amalgam of scenes set in the present as Nora awaits her fate and flashbacks--and flash forwards within those flashbacks-- to various periods as we learn about her earlier life. There are visions of the dead and from the soon-to-be-dead. District Attorney John Grant narrates the tale to his sister, the wife of Governor Dick Crawford, who is Nora's lover. There are also interesting tracking shots,  montages, and at one point a rather lingering focus on the backsides of some young ladies in a chorus line.

Zita Johann who plays Nora was an Austrian-American actress with some credits in Broadway productions and a few films. In addition to this one, she's also remembered for her role in the classic 1932 horror film The Mummy. 

Walthall has a small role as Father Ryan, who has known Nora since her days as a little girl in his orphanage. By this time, three years before his death, Walthall was acting in smaller roles but many of them. He finished his final film only three weeks before he died of an intestinal illness at age 58.

We can find Walthall listed in the 1880 U.S. Census at age two. His parents, Junius L. and A.M. Walthall, were living on their farm near Harpersville with young Henry, an older sister, and his father's mother. By 1900 they were living in Columbiana, and Henry, then 22, was a deputy sheriff. He had been educated mostly at home, but attended Howard College for six months. Walthall served in the military during the Spanish-American War, but caught malaria and was not deployed overseas before the end of hostilities. 

At some point he left Alabama for New York and began a career on the stage. By 1909 he had made his first film for D.W. Griffiths' Biography Studios. His role in Griffith's infamous 1915 film Birth of a Nation made him a star. I'm planning a blog post on Walthall in the near future and will explore his career on the stage and in the movies.

You can read appreciations of the film here and here. Nora Moran was the product of Majestic Studios, a Poverty Row outfit that operated from 1930 until 1935. This crisp 65-minute film is a strange one, but well worth watching. You can find it online at the Internet Archive.

This film is known as a pre-code Hollywood film, meaning it was made before the implementation of strict content rules for motion pictures rigidly enforced from 1935 until the mid-1950's. The rules are widely known as the Hays code after the man who developed them. I've written about another pre-code film with Alabama connections, the very strange--and I mean very--1934 production, Murder at the Vanities. 

More comments are below some of the images. 

One of the film's original posters, designed by Alberto Vargas. This same image was used on the 2013 DVD release. 

Born in Peru, Vargas moved to the U.S. as a young man after art studies in Europe. He soon began poster designs for the Ziegfield Follies and then Hollywood studios. He is most famous for the many pin-up paintings he did for Esquire during World War II and later for Playboy. 

We learn that Nora was a resident at the orphanage run by Father Ryan. She was adopted by a couple who are soon killed in a car wreck.

In this fantasy sequence three men gather around Nora's casket to talk about her execution, which has not yet taken place. Father Ryan is there, along with the District Attorney and the Governor. Her former lover, on the right in the photo below, notes that he doesn't like the way they've fixed her hair. His companion the district attorney replies that they shaved part of it so the current would go through her body. Her lover insists that's not true....Father Ryan remains silent and stoic. 

In another of several fantasy sequences in the film, an adult Nora visits Father Ryan in his office at the orphanage. 

Walthall did make it into the main credit sequence, but his role is rather small. 

Henry B. Walthall [1878-1936]

Source: Wikipedia 

Alabama History & Culture News: August 23 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!

See which character Alabama's Michael Rooker plays in DC's 'Suicide Squad'

al.com

Comic book movie fans got some fun news last year when Gunn revealed the cast of his upcoming sequel “The Suicide Squad. Among the large ...

This  barbecue joint has been smoking since 1942Alabama

al.com

She now co-owns the 78-year-old barbecue joint with her father, Larry Bethune Sr.(Photo by Art Meripol, from the  " Barbecue: Delicious ...

Legendary Liberal US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black was from Alabama

Dothan Eagle

However, during this era of American ,  congressional delegation was one of the most liberal in the nation due to the fact that they totally ..

 Book Store added to National Register of  Places- WBRC

Full Coverage

3  sites added to National Register of  Places

al.com

 architect David O. Whilldin designed it. It is an excellent example of Depression Modern architecture, according to the  Commission.

They were famous—and delivered your mail

National Geographic

“The mailman I saw was Richard Wright, delivering mail before his first  sold,” Obama wrote in his 1995 memoir, Dreams from ... Before Brittany Howard fronted the  Shakes, she was an  rural carrier assistant.

Ernest and Hadley Bookseller stays live, both in-store and online

Tuscaloosa Magazine

At 5:30 p.m., via Zoom, the E&H  Club will feature a visit from recently retired University of  creative writing professor Michael Martone, ...

Steve Flowers:  has six living former governors

Opelika Auburn News

He is the only person in state  to be elected governor as a Democrat and a Republican. Fob is 85 and doing well. He lives primarily in Miami, and ...

 

INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE:  six ex-governors continue to thrive- Tuscaloosa Magazine

"Places in Peril" Nominations open

Union Springs Herald

Since 1994, the  Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation have joined forces to sponsor Places in Peril. The ...

Two Women, Their Lives Connected by American Slavery, Tackle Their Shared History

Smithsonian

His first enslaver was a planter in  named Pickett. Combing through records online, Karen established that Pickett had owned two cotton ...

Here's a fun fact about every  county

al.com

It is run by the Blountsville  Society, which says, “This park has on ...  Department of Archives and  (Chris Pruitt | Wikimedia ...

3 influential Birmingham women and their involvement in women's suffrage

Bham Now

Photo via  Department of Archives and . Nearly 100 years ago, Tennessee became the 36th State to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to ...

Alabama Photo of the Day: A Newsboy in Mobile in 1914

In a previous post I've looked at a photograph Lewis Hine took in Alabama on one of his several trips through the state documenting child labor. This work is another by Hine, made during his October 1914 visit to Mobile. Hine came to Alabama four times; you can see other photos here.

Unfortunately, the collection of Hine's photographs at the Library of Congress gives no details about the subject of this one beyond declaring this youngster to be one of many such newsboys in the state. I've written here about a 1922 report on newsboys in Birmingham. 

The photo itself does tell us a few things, however. The poster at left is for an event at the Lyric Theatre to open on October 24, 1914. Naturally I assumed "The Midnight Girl" was a silent film, but I was only partially correct. The show was actually a Broadway musical that ran earlier in the year from February 23 until May 23. The show, adapted from a German production, apparently went on the road once it closed in New York after 104 performances. A film version was released in 1919. 

The Lyric Theatre opened at 251 Conti Street as a vaudeville house in October 1906 and seated 1200. By the late 1920's the Lyric had become mostly a movie house and remained so until it closed in 1950 and was later demolished. 

What else do we find in this photo? Well, of course, the unnamed newsboy. I wonder if he could read that newspaper he's holding? There is a man's shadow in the lower right; is that photographer Lewis Hine? Finally, I've played with the image, trying to read the sign on what is apparently a bale of cotton in the upper right. No luck, except that the second darker word seems to be "Bale". 

Lyric Theatre postcard

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History

Alabama History & Culture News: August 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!

The Birmingham Belles celebrate the Old South in hoop skirts. Some former Belles say it's time to ... Washington Post When each 17-year- Belle is presented at the Arlington  House, gliding down the steps of the Greek Revival-style mansion, an announcer ... oldHistoric

Sculpting Alabama's history: Documentary details Tuscaloosa artist's creative process Tuscaloosa News From prehistoric monsters to the moon,  comprises far more than football and flawed politics. Following the series of 16 bronze high-relief ... Alabama

The story behind the sculptures: Works depict key moments in Alabama's history Tuscaloosa News The 16 bronze high-relief sculptures in Montgomery's  Bicentennial Park, designed by Tuscaloosa artist Caleb O' Connor and cast at the ... AlabamaFlag as irrelevant

Miles College to honor Autherine Lucy Foster, the first Black University of Alabama student

al.com

“We recognize and embrace the significant contribution she has made in America's history, and we believe she embodies the true spirit of a Milean.

Josh Lucas on reuniting with Sweet Home  director almost 20 years laterAlabama Belfast Telegraph Lucas has now reunited with Tennant on the film The Secret: Dare To Dream, based on the 2006 self-help  The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, about a ... book

DON NOBLE: Gaines' debut 'Stay Hungry' worth another read

Tuscaloosa News

Don Noble's newest book is “Alabama Noir,” a collection of original stories by Winston Groom, Ace Atkins, Carolyn Haines, Brad Watson, and 11 other ...

History of Birmingham

UAB Campus Calendar

Join us as History instructor Pam King presents the history of Birmingham, from the city's founding through the civil rights era and up to recent history.

Celebrating 100 years of women's suffrage Dothan Eagle This centennial anniversary is a significant milestone in our nation's . ... Additionally, a group called the  Women's Suffrage Centennial ... AWSCC is set to host several events honoring the many  women who ... historyAlabamaAlabama

Watch the trailer for 'The Devil All the Time,' filmed in Alabama

al.com

If you've read the book, you'll recognize some of the major characters and themes -- such as violence, vengeance, religion, sexuality and guilt ...

The story of Miss Electra, Alabama's golden goddess al.com In his , “ Power Company,” James L. Noles Jr. wrote that praise for the skyscraper came from around the world. “In 1925, a London ... bookAlabama

Rosa Parks, Condoleezza Rice, Coretta Scott King among 10 influential women from Alabama USA TODAY Women in  such as Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King were the ... What started as the final straw in a long  of segregation in Alaska ... Alabamahistory

Artist Trés Taylor brings community mural project to Selma this weekend Selma Times-Journal “ Black Belt is rich with , small businesses, artists, eateries, and natural beauty,” Taylor said. “The route of murals invites folks to come ... Alabama'shistory

Film tells the story of monuments for Alabama's Bicentennial Park Times Daily MONTGOMERY — To celebrate its 200th anniversary of statehood, the State of  created the  Bicentennial Park in the heart of  ... AlabamaAlabamahistoric

Look for  native in HBO's 'Lovecraft Country'Alabama al.com Look for  native in HBO's 'Lovecraft Country' ... So when I was reading Matt (Ruff's) , I understood the Lovecraft references, but didn't feel ... Alabamabook

Meet Alabama's First Female Hall of Fame Inductee

StyleBlueprint

Leah Rawls Atkins built a noteworthy career as a teacher and historian. She taught American and Alabama history at the University of Alabama ...
{Alabama Sports Hall of Fame]