Alabama History & Culture News: September 27 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!

Bachelorette Hannah Brown Has Changed a Lot Through the Years — See Her Transformation!

Life & Style Weekly

The University of Alabama grad represented her home state as Miss ... There is so much more historical context that I didn't know that makes it so ...

Buffalo soldier history shared in Wellington Leavenworth Times Pettigrew's great-grandfather, Isaac Johnson, a former slave from Alabama, joined the 38th Infantry K. J.R. Bruce, president of the Alexander/Madison ...

Alabama home of MLK's brother gets historic designation The Wilton Bulletin BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama home once occupied by the Rev. A.D. King, the brother of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is being added to ...

Don Noble discusses the legacy of Winston Groom Alabama Public Radio The history books are a part of the permanent record. And I think ... SI: How would you say Groom's writing impacted Alabama? DN: Well, I don't know ...

Mystery emerges from Alabama bayou after hurricane reveals boat long hidden in mud Biloxi Sun Herald The nearly 100-foot-long wooden hull appeared on private property in Saralandnear Mobile after Hurricane Sally brought historic rainfall and flooding to ...

Success of Ginsburg film inspires CNN look at John Lewis Washington Post The footage that made Lewis a part of history, from the 1965 march in Alabama, is of course a big part of the film. Knocked to the ground and beaten ...

99-year-old writer Aileen Henderson publishes early-life memoir Tuscaloosa Magazine Henderson and her daughter will be online with a discussion her new University of Alabama Press book 5-6 p.m. Tuesday, hosted by Ernest and ...

Alabama Nurses Association elects 1st African American president Alabama's News Leader The Alabama Nurses Association elected its first African American president in its 107 year history. The organization named Dr. Lindsey Harris as its ...

Alabama Archives faces its legacy as Confederate 'attic' Martinsville Bulletin Steve Murray, director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, looks through boxes containing archival materials in Montgomery, Ala., ...

Historical society promotes online talk on suffrage centennial Greenville Advocate And we hope to be able to see everyone again in early 2021.” “Shall Women Vote? Alabama's Suffrage Movement 1890-1920” is available ...

Winston Groom, Author of 'Forrest Gump,' Dies at 77 The New York Times “Forrest Gump” tells the picaresque adventures of an Alabama man who stumbles through contemporary American history ... “It's the same damn book.

Made in Alabama 'The Devil All the Time' premieres on Netflix WBRC The movie is based on a book written by Donald Ray Pollock and is described as a dark, gothic thriller. It is set in a rural Ohio town. It was filmed in ...

Winston Groom, author of 'Forrest Gump,' dies at 77 USA TODAY As a proud UA alumnus, Groom also compiled and wrote the massive 2002 University of Alabama Press book "The Crimson Tide: An Illustrated ...

Alabama opera 'Let Us Now Praise Famous Men' makes television premiere Alabama NewsCenter “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,” an original opera by Alabama composer Joseph Landers based on the classic book of the same name by author ...

Winston Groom, Alabama grad and author of 'Forrest Gump,' dies at 77 Gadsden Times As a proud Alabama alumnus, Groom also compiled and wrote the massive 2002 University of Alabama Press book "The Crimson Tide: An Illustrated ...

Joe Louis, longest-reigning heavyweight champ, was born in Alabama al.com Louis died in Paradise, Nev, on April 12, 1981. Martha Jefferson, Louis' third wife, requested special permission for burial in Arlington National Cemetery ...

Winston Groom, Alabama grad and author of 'Forrest Gump,' dies at 77

Gadsden Times

... History of Football at the University of Alabama" and an updated 2010 second version, "The Crimson Tide: The Official Illustrated History of Alabama ...

'Fifth girl' injured in 1963 Klan church bombing asks Alabama governor for restitution Washington Post The explosion killed Rudolph's 14-year-old sister, Addie Mae Collins, and their friends, Denise McNair, 11, Carole Robertson, 14, and Cynthia Wesley, ...

"Quantum Leap" Visits Alabama

I've written blog posts fairly recently about Dr. Who's visit to Montgomery in the 1950's and the Alabama connection in an episode of Granchester, the British detective show. Now it's time to examine visits to the state in some episodes of Quantum Leap. 

Actor Scott Bakula has been very active in film and television since 1986. He is currently starring in NCIS: New Orleans, which premiered in 2014. THAT show has an Alabama connection, since one of his co-stars is Decatur native Lucas Black. Another high-profile role for Bakula was Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise, which ran 2001-2005. From 1989 until 1993 Bakula starred as physicist Sam Beckett in the time travel series Quantum Leap. 

The premise of that show involved an experiment that sent Beckett leaping back in time into the body of someone living in that period. Beckett spends each episode attempting to correct an historical mistake with help from a friend, Rear Admiral Al Calavicci [played by Dean Stockwell] who appears in the past as a hologram. OK, Beckett's hero Albert Einstein might not buy this idea, but it's the McGuffin that drives the show.

Wikipedia sums up the program: "The series features a mix of humor, drama, romance, social commentary, and science fiction. The show was ranked number 19 on TV Guide's "Top Cult Shows Ever" in 2007.^[1][2]" 

Comments on the Alabama episodes are below. Both involve racial issues; Alabama is often the go-to state for that sort of thing in fiction, films, and television. The Grantchester and Dr. Who episodes also mined that rich and troubled history. 

In "The Color of Truth", the seventh episode of the first season, Sam leaps into the body of Jesse Tyler on August 8 1955. Tyler is the chauffeur for the elderly Miss Melny Trafford, a well-respected member of the community of Red Dog, Alabama. At first Sam doesn't realize Tyler is black; complications ensue.

A fan of the show has chosen "The Color of Truth" as one of the ten best episodes. You can read more about the episode and its cast here. The episode was first broadcast May 3, 1989. 

The Quantum Leap fan podcast about this episode can be found here. 

In the episode "Justice" Sam leaps into Tallawaga County, Alabama, on May 11, 1965. His host Clyde is being inducted into the Ku Klux Klan at that very moment. Sam discovers the Klan is unhappy with Nathaniel Simpson, the son of Clyde's maid who is helping register blacks to vote in the upcoming election. Complications ensue. 

The episode was the fourth of season four, and first broadcast on October 9, 1991. 

The Quantum Leap fan podcast about this episode can be found here. 

TV Guide October 21, 1989

Movies with Alabama Connections: Judge Horton & the Scottsboro Boys

This made-for-television film was first broadcast on April 22, 1976, on the NBC network. Perhaps it received a re-broadcast or two, but it seems to have fallen off the map since then. As noted below, there was a VHS release but that's no longer available in the usual places. Even that bastion of obscure films and television modcinema doesn't have it. The video does turn up in the collections of about 25 libraries. 

I don't think I've ever seen it; I was living in Auburn at the time, working for the university and not watching much television. After all, that was the ancient times before cable and all we received by antenna were a few Montgomery and Columbus, Georgia, stations, and perhaps now and then a fuzzy one from Atlanta. 

Yet the thing seems familiar. That may be due to the presence of two veteran actors I am familiar with, Arthur Hill as Judge Horton and Vera Miles as his wife. Anyway, I thought I would cover this item in my blog series of movies with Alabama connections. Perhaps a future reader has seen it and will comment.

I'm not going to cover the whole Scottsboro Boys event in this post. There are plenty of sources for learning more, including an entry at the Encyclopedia of Alabama and one on Wikipedia. A revised 2007 edition of Dan T. Carter's classic book is also available, as are many other sources. 

This film focuses on on the figure of James Edward Horton, an elected judge on the Alabama Eighth Circuit Court. The first three trials of the nine black "Scottsboro boys" for the rape of two white women took place in that town in April 1931. The trials were quick and the defendants had poor legal representation. The convictions were appealed and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court ordered new trials in a landmark decision about the conduct of such proceedings. Returned to a lower court, the case was given a change of venue and ended up in Judge Horton's courtroom in Decatur.  

Horton was born in Limestone County and spent some of his childhood in Athens. After a false start at medical school at Vanderbilt, he transferred to Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, and earned both a bachelor's and a law degree there. Horton served a term in the Alabama house in 1910-1914 and was elected to a senate seat, but a court position opened, and he accepted the nomination. After a time he left that court and returned to his law practice and farming. Horton eventually ran for a seat on the Eighth Circuit Court and was in his second term when the Scottsboro cases landed in his lap. 

Both defense and prosecution accepted Horton. However, after the trial and conviction of Haywood Patterson, he made a scathing statement about the state's case. You can read it on Horton's Wikipedia page. As a result, he was removed from the case by the Alabama Supreme Court and then lost his reelection bid the following year. In March 1934 he sold his farm to TVA, and he and wife Anna bought another property and farmed and raised cattle. Horton died age 95 in March 1973. A statue of him was unveiled on the grounds of the Limestone County courthouse in October 2017.

The cases of the nine young men festered for decades. Not until 2013 were final posthumous pardons given to three defendants who weren't previously pardoned or whose convictions weren't overturned. One of the women, Ruby Price, eventually recanted her accusations and testimony; the other, Virginia Price, did not. 

In 2010 the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center opened to document the case and its ramifications. I've discussed a visit my younger brother Richard and I made to the museum in August 2019 here. 

More comments are below. 

 

This film was released on VHS at some point by USA Home Video, but was not available on Amazon or ebay when I checked recently. This paperback based on the screenplay did turn up on ebay. The movie was filmed in Monticello, Georgia. A trailer can be seen on YouTube.

Vera Miles as Anna and Arthur Hill as Judge HortonSource: Famous Fix

Ruby Bates and Virginia Price

Source: The First Scottsboro Trials

The defendants in the Scottsboro trial and their lawyer, Samuel Leibowitz, at a Decatur jail. Standing, left to right: Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Willie Roberson (front), Andrew Wright (partially obscured), Ozie Powell, Eugene Williams, Charley Weems, and Roy Wright. Haywood Patterson is seated next to Leibowitz.

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama

This first edition of Carter's book, published in 1969

Alabama History & Culture News: September 15 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!

Did you know this Alabama singer is on a classic Pink Floyd album? al.com According to the book “Comfortably Numb: A History of 'The Wall' - Pink Floyd 1978-1981,” by authors Vernon Fitch and Richard Mahon, she's also on ...

Alabama author Brandon Taylor's debut novel 'Real Life' named to Booker Prize Shortlist al.com Judges received the books for both the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize in a PDF format, and in April, the awards announced the nominees ...

LAAC to host book signing for Glenn Wills Andalusia Star-News His book, Forgotten Alabama, is a collection of these photographs in celebration of Alabama's 200th year as a state. Gallery assistant Amy Bowers ...

Rosa Parks' house going on display in Italy

al.com

Artist Ryan Mendoza has been campaigning for more than five years to draw attention to the historic value of the home, where Parks lived for a short time ...

'No Trouble Here': Can Mobile, Alabama Own Up to Its Lynching Legacy? Daily Beast “We must know and embrace this history as our own.” As chair of the University of South Alabama's History department, David Messenger recognizes ...

New mural honors west Montgomery and its rich history Montgomery Advertiser Hundreds of people marched past where his studio is located in 1965, headed toward the Alabama Capitol to protest for better voter access to the ...

Thank you, Enterprise, for great memories, better people Dothan Eagle I knew of Enterprise, but had never ventured in this part of Alabama as a kid growing ... Unfortunately, that means I'll be leaving southeast Alabama. ... want to thank Elba's Johnny Dyess, who allowed me to do my first book (book No.

Meet the Alabama man who makes old typewriters new again Opelika Auburn News “There is a percussive quality to writing sometimes, you know,” Hanks told journalist Lee Cowan on “CBS Sunday Morning” when his book came out. “If ...

JF Drake Middle School awarded bicentennial plaque Opelika Observer Drake put together an amazing two-day exhibit that allowed students to really showcase their skills when it comes to sharing Alabama history.” The ...

'I Wish for Gayfers': Memories of beloved Mobile department store surface as redevelopment evolves al.com A plan is in the works to combine historic tax credits, low-income housing credits ... According to Alabama Historical Commission records, the Gayfers ...

Alabama Moon Yahoo Entertainment Alabama Moon is a 2009 American coming-of-age film starring Jimmy Bennett and John Goodman, based on the book Alabama Moon by Watt Key.

Local author to appear on ESPN's College GameDay to discuss historic Alabama-USC game Tallahassee.com Alabama versus Southern Cal, 1970. It is considered a game that changed college football in the South. “I think it's hard to find projects that have ...

'Mockingbird' stands the test of time Brookings Register Everyone knows the classic book is about the Finch family and centers on lawyer ... It's also a play staged in Monroeville, Alabama, (Lee's hometown).

Historic Alabama theaters launch GoFundMe campaign to stay open Trussvilletribune BIRMINGHAM — The COVID-19 pandemic has hit two downtown Birmingham theaters hard this year. The Alabama Theatre and Lyric Fine Arts Theatre ...

Pioneer Park open for Second Saturdays Auburn Villager ... on the campus that showcase plants and crops related to Alabama history, ... Pioneer Day is sponsored by the Lee County Historical Society and the ...

Alabama History & Culture News: September 10 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!

New museum to highlight Colony's history Cullman Times Online Alexander had the murals created for Alabama's Bicentennial celebration and that project has led her to working on a genealogy and history center for ...

'Without your help, we're history': Alabama, Lyric Theatres in dire need of financial support al.com A pair of Alabama's most cherished historic theaters need help, and fast. Birmingham Landmarks, Inc., the nonprofit organization that owns and ...

Exhibit at Florence-Lauderdale Public Library dives into history of Alabama landmark Supreme ... whnt.com Alabama Bicentennial is hosting the free exhibit which features eight landmark Supreme Court cases that either changed or redefined civil rights in the ...

Hiking with Hailey: Wetumpka Impact Crater WSFA ... is the site of one of the greatest natural disasters in Alabama history? ... “The crater, to me, is like Alabama's Disney Land, and it could be, because ...

Physically closed to audiences, Playhouse bringing 'Alabama Story' online to viewers Oak Ridger Kenneth Jones' play “Alabama Story,” opens with the characters inviting one another to “Tell me a story.” Telling stories is the foundation of theater ...

Clotilda, Africatown efforts poised to move forward

al.com

She praised local activists who served as stewards for the history of ... of the Clotilda, where the Alabama Historical Commission will lead the way.

The history and mystery of Alabama's Sand Island Light al.com A lighthouse located in Alabama's Mobile Bay nearly suffered the fate it was designed to prevent for ships: Slipping beneath the waves and never ...

Gravestone in shape of whiskey bottle in the Clayton Cemetery in Barbour County, Alabama.

Alabama Digital Archives - Alabama.gov

Gravestone in shape of whiskey bottle in the Clayton Cemetery in Barbour County, Alabama. Description, The stone marks the grave of W. T. Mullen, ...

Border Wall Creeps Up On Historic Cemetery With Ties To Underground Railroad Houston Public Media "Nathaniel Jackson and Matilda Hicks, who was born into slavery, came from Alabama in 1857," she said. "They were significant players in the ...

Victory over Japan: 75 years ago, Alabama man witnessed history al.com Victory over Japan: 75 years ago, Alabama man witnessed history. Updated Sep 02, 2020; Posted Sep 02, 2020. Russell Brakefield. U.S. Navy ...

Preservation Society awarded Legend and Lore grant celebrating Hatton folklore Moulton Advertiser A Legends and Lore historical marker will soon be erected to celebrate local folklore and history of the Town of Hatton on Alabama 101 thanks to ...

Everything You Need to Know About Netflix's The Devil All the Time InStyle Though the novel is set in Ohio and West Virginia, the film was shot in Alabama. "It was a challenging shoot just because there were so many locations ...

First Black Mayor Elected in the City of Linden Alabama News Network From the West Alabama Newsroom–. The city of Linden has elected the first black mayor — in the city's 150 year history. Long-time Linden City ...

Former Wenonah football coach Ronald Cheatham has died al.com ... football for 30 years, compiling a 172-136 record from 1989-2018, according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society website. He led ...

Chadwick Boseman's '42,' filmed in Alabama, coming back to movie theaters al.com “I knew the story as like ... a history book text, like this is what you need to know about Black history,” Boseman said during a 2013 interview. The actor ...