Alabama History & Culture News: October 3 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!

Arkansas-born novelist Greene dies at 86 Arkansas Online She attended several colleges -- the University of Alabama, Memphis State ... In 1973, "Summer of My German Soldier" was a National Book Award ...

Watch trailer for 'The Witches,' starring Octavia Spencer and set in Alabama

al.com

This isn't the first time Dahl's book has been adapted for the screen. A 1990 film version of “The Witches” was directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring ...

Harper Lee's love letter to teaching Chalkbeat Colorado In April 1949, just after Lee dropped out of the University of Alabama, her ... When I started on my book, I already knew that Lee had worked for The ...

Black Belt Bounty book earns awards at Regional Outdoor Media Conferences Selma Times-Journal An Alabama Black Belt Adventure Association book won three awards at a pair of regional outdoor media conferences last week. Black Belt Bounty ...

Developers revitalizing Huntsville cotton mill to add food, beverages, stores al.com One of Huntsville's historic cotton mills is being redeveloped to include food, beverage and retail businesses, developer Crunkleton Commercial Real ...

Alabama's governor apologizes to survivor of 1963 Klan bombing of Birmingham church

Washington Post

The bombing on Sept. 15, 1963 “was one of the darkest days in Alabama's history,” Ivey (R) wrote in a letter to attorneys for Sarah Collins Rudolph, ...

The colorful history behind a timeless Alabama restaurant al.com Not that anybody around St. Clair County or neighboring Talladega County needs any help finding The Ark, a local institution with a national reputation ...

Historic Fairhope cemetery damaged by crews after Hurricane Sally News Break FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WKRG) – Trees and limbs fell across Tatumville Cemetery in Fairhope during Hurricane Sally, but much of the damage at the site ...

McClellan action completes consolidation of Army post cemeteries Gadsden Times These cemeteries will be operated by Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo. Anniston Army Depot Chief of Staff Phillip Trued, right, and Steven ...

City of Smiths Station receives grant from Alabama Power Foundation Opelika Observer “We are appreciative of the Alabama Power Foundation's selection of this project, one that will preserve our history for generations to come.” Christian ...

A look back: Auburn and the 1918 pandemic The Auburn Plainsman ... magazine published by The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Save the Alabama: Pandemic Threatens to Close Birmingham's Historical Theaters Over the Mountain Journal Photo courtesy Alabama Theater. Mountain Brook resident Frank Falkenburg has personally seen the rise, fall and resurgence of the Alabama Theatre ...

New book examines Birmingham's checkered history with professional football al.com Q: How did the fact you went to UAB rather than Alabama or Auburn help you gravitate more toward pro football than college? A: “Originally, growing up, ...

“The World through the Dime Store Door: A Memoir” By: Aileen Kilgore Henderson Alabama Public Radio She has published four books for children, a nonfiction work on Alabama ... This short and pleasant book tells the story of one little girl in Tuscaloosa ...

These Alabama authors made list of 'most banned' books

al.com

These Alabama authors made list of 'most banned' books. Posted Sep 29, 2020. Banned book authors. Novels by (from left) ...

Now You Can Stay in the Former Home of Scott Fitzgerald Outlook India ... one of Montgomery's oldest and historic neighbourhoods. There are many plaques dotting the neighbourhood indicating its historical associations.

Unique Alabama monument honors woman struck by meteor al.com She ended up donating it to the University of Alabama. Today, it is on display in the Museum of Natural History. In an odd twist, a farmer who lived ...

Stubbs publishes hometown love story Wetumpka Herald It was this belief that led me to share the mark Wetumpka has made in Alabama's history books. Pride of place is very much a part of my own story,” ...

Historic Jones Store in Smiths Station receives historic designation

Opelika Auburn News

The Alabama Historic Commission voted recently to add the city of Smiths Station's historic Jones Store to the Alabama Register of Historic Places.

Black Belt Bounty racks up awards at Regional Outdoor Media Conferences alreporter.com ... Alabama Black Belt Adventure Association's stunning coffee table book ... It was also awarded third place in the Outdoor Book Category by SEOPA.

DuBois' debut historical novel now available The Marshall Democrat-News Read LOUISA- The Wilds of Alabama (Book One of the Louisa Saga) and become enchanted. DuBois graduated from Marshall High School in 1973.

DuBois' debut historical novel now available The Marshall Democrat-News Elizabeth DuBois' debut historical novel “Louisa” casts a spell from the ... as she travels from Laurens, S.C., to the Wilds of Alabama during 1818-1819.

Movies with Alabama Connections: Symbol of the Unconquered

Oscar Micheaux was born on a farm in Illinois in 1884, the fifth of thirteen children in the family. By the time of his death in 1951 he had written seven novels, and between 1919 and 1948 he also wrote, directed and produced 44 silent and sound films. He created the first black-owned film company and is considered the most important black filmmaker in America in the first half of the 20th century.

Only three of his 24 silent films are known to survive, the one discussed here released in 1920, Within Our Gates [1920] and Body and Soul [1925]. Symbol was restored a few years ago from the only known surviving print, but some of it is still missing. The film is available on a five-disc set, Pioneers of African-American Cinema. I saw it recently on Turner Classic Movies. I've also written a blog post on one of Micheaux's sound films, Birthright [1939], which was based on Alabama author T.S. Stribling's novel The Store. 

Symbol opens as Eve Mason leaves her home in Selma, Alabama, and heads to the Pacific Northwest. She has inherited property from her grandfather and thus has become a part of the Great Migration of blacks out of the south into other areas of the country that lasted from about 1916 until 1970. Most moved to urban areas, but Eve moves to property outside a small place, Oristown.

Eve soon meets her neighbor, a young prospector named Hugh Van Allen. He helps her get settled and comes to her rescue when she needs him. The film is a mix of themes: a "white-skinned" black [Eve] trying to fit somewhere, land thieves, a black man who hates all members of his race, and the good man [Hugh] who becomes wealthy, and the couple in love [Eve and Hugh] finally together in the end. There's even a nighttime raid by a Northwest version of the KKK, the Knights of the Black Cross. A more detailed summary of the story can be found here. 

This film is worth watching for several reasons, not the least of which is the all-percussion musical score composed for the restored version by legendary jazz drummer Max Roach. In Symbol as in his other films Micheaux tries to tell an interesting story with a variety of black characters who are not stereotypes. In the two I have seen, he succeeded. This film, released November 29, 1920, was filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the center of the American commercial film industry until everything moved west. 

Some more comments are below. 

Newspaper advertisement for the film

Source: Wikipedia

That subtitle may have been included to gather attention, since the surrogate Klan group is not really a major presence in this film. The Klan did appear in Oregon in the early 1920's as the group began it's "second wave" resurgence. 

Neighbor Hugh Van Allen helps Eve get settled in the tiny cabin on her grandfather's land. 

Just above the bed in the cabin is a portrait of Booker T. Washington

Eve Mason and Hugh Van Allen declare their love for each other by the end of the film. 

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