Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Alabama History & Culture News: March 17 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!



"Shaking the Gates of Hell" By: John Archibald
Pulitzer Prize–Winning Alabama Journalist Writes Family Memoir ... In this exploration of family and history, Archibald goes on a quest, after his father's ...

Auburn University and UAB historian, religion scholar David Edwin Harrell dies
Retired Auburn University history professor David Edwin Harrell, who wrote ... He was chairman of the history department at UAB from 1985-87. ... the University of Georgia from 1967-70, University of Alabama in Birmingham, the ...


Huntsville Parks & Recreation: Historic African American Cemetery Earns National ... Glenwood Cemetery, the City's oldest surviving Black burial ground. ... Heights, a historically Black neighborhood near Alabama A&M University.

What's new on the Alabama Bookshelf
In this periodic feature, we highlight books either about Alabama people or events, or written by Alabama authors. Summaries are not reviews or ...

Tallapoosa County School | Encyclopedia of Alabama
From a photo album collected by the Alabama Superintendent of Education, ca. 1913. Courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History.


See the newest inductees into the Alabama High School Hall of Fame
Grammer has an overall record of 633-158-50 (as of last spring), making him the all-time winningest soccer coach in AHSAA history. He won Class 6A ...


Oakwood Cemetery and its annex spans 120 acres. It started in 1819, the same year Alabama became a state. It is the home of over 200,000 burial sites.



In 'Shaking the Gates of Hell,' a preacher's son examines his church's culture of silence on civil rights
Archibald dismisses this assessment in his questioning and questing book “Shaking the Gates of Hell,” a fascinating blend of family memoir and moral ...


Film by UAB alumna on Birmingham's Greek-owned restaurants gets Southern Foodways Alliance ...
“I am so excited to highlight Birmingham's hidden history of Greek ... and is chair of the Alabama Humanities Alliance Young Professionals Board.

AG Gaston Motel, a piece of Birmingham civil rights history, being restored
A.G. Gaston Motel, a piece of Birmingham civil rights history, being restored. Alabama. by: Drew Taylor. Posted: Mar 12, 2021 / 05:33 PM EST ...


She is buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery. According to a 2018 report in Business Wire, the “aftermarket” for replacement wiper blades in ...


An Alabama archive recovers a cookbook and the stories of a Black community
As part of its Black History Month observance last month, the Limestone County Digital Archives in Alabama began digitizing and sharing recipes from ...


Shoals music history inspires Washington, DC man to start nonprofit to fight homelessness with live ...
“I did the tour; I went to FAME, I went to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, then kind of just inspiration struck out of just being ...

“Ways of Seeing” connects Alabama + worldwide artists—why we're drawn to it
Among delving into the history of Linn Park and its monuments, the panel will also discuss the historical account in summer 2020 when Jermaine ...

New book celebrates TROY's relationship with Nall
“Nall at TROY: An Internationally Regarded Alabama Artist Comes Home” highlights the Troy native's decades of artwork, much of which is located in the ...

Alabama's 120-year history with gambling is complicated
On Tuesday, Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh brought a bill to the floor that would tackle the issues of gambling, lottery and gaming in Alabama.

West Florida: The Forgotten 14th Colony
In his new book “Fourteenth Colony – The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South during ... "There was more than one effort to acquire it by Alabama.

Alabama author Patti Callahan explores 'Titanic of the South' in 'Surviving Savannah'
“Years and years ago, he told me about it and gave me an article about it,” says Callahan, the author of 15 best-selling novels (some as Patti Callahan, ...

Book review: 'Shaking the Gates' reckons with a father's failings
That same day, eight prominent white Alabama Christian clergymen published “A Call for Unity,” an open letter that took issue with civil rights ...


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Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Wanda McKay & the 1938 Birmingham Air Show

I first encountered Wanda McKay in one of her three appearances on The Lone Ranger TV show in the early 1950's. Some of us do such things in these days of modern times. I thought she looked familiar, so I consulted Wikipedia and found an entry for her. She wasn't the actress I was thinking about, but lo and behold what did I find--an Alabama connection. See how these things work?

McKay was born on June 22, 1915, in Portland, Oregon, under the name of Dorothy Quackenbush. The family moved to Texas where she finished growing up, and after high school graduation moved to New York City. She did some modeling that included magazine covers and advertisements and billboards for Chesterfield cigarettes before finding a job with Trans World Airlines as a clerk in the Kansas City office as well as occasional model for TWA.

According to that Wikipedia entry and her obituary in the Los Angeles Times, TWA sent her to an air show in Birmingham in 1938 as its entry in the Miss American Aviation contest. She won and by the following year had a contract with Paramount Studios in Hollywood. From 1939 until 1957 she appeared in more than forty films and TV episodes. From 1977 until his death in 1981, McKay was married to the great singer and songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. She died April 11, 1996.

So far I've discovered little else about McKay's visit to Birmingham. The air show was apparently the National Air Carnival which was held in the city in September 1938. Further research awaits!


UPDATE 22 March 2021

A bit of research for me by an archivist at one fo the Smithsonian Institution's museums in Washington, D.C. has produced a windfall. These air show images are courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum's Archives Department. Further comments are below. 



Source: Wikipedia









This photo shows an unidentified stewardess sitting on the boarding stairs of a TWA Douglas DC-3. Based on the known photograph of Dorothy Quackenbush below in which she models a stewardess uniform, I think we can conclude this one is also her. 










See the caption below for information about this photograph.








Source: Listal



Source: FamousFix



Source: Pinterest



Source: Wikipedia















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Monday, March 8, 2021

Alabama History & Culture News: March 8 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!



Hundreds risked everything in Selma 56 years ago today. This group is trying to identify them
Debra Barnes Wilson was 8 on "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama. ... her life and why the day is one of the most important in American history.

Author Explores Preacher Father's Silence On Racial Injustice In 1960s Alabama
His father had a pulpit at a critical time and place in American history, 1960S Alabama. John Archibald found his father's old sermons and used them ...


Author Deborah Lamb's new book “Urban Legends of the South” is a spellbinding collection of ten ...
... Deborah Lamb is a compelling compilation of southern ghost stories rooted in historical buildings across Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

EJI Partners with Community to Dedicate Historical Marker in Irondale, Alabama
... the Jefferson County Memorial Project to unveil a historical marker for William Wardley, a Black man lynched in Irondale, Alabama, on December 7, ...


Jefferson County Memorial Project's searing report on Linn Park's racial history
This space has the potential to bring people together across divides while sharing, remembering and taking part of Alabama's and Birmingham's history.”.


New Book Highlights Founding of Alabama State University
alabamanewscenter.com. In the recently released “From Marion to Montgomery: The Early Years of Alabama State University, 1867-1925,” author ...


This 1962 Alabama school cookbook captures Black history, recipes
Trinity High School, which operated in Athens, Alabama from 1865 until 1970, was the only Limestone County school for Black students. The county ...


DON NOBLE: A look at films set in the South from “Gone With the Wind” to “Gump”
Readers cannot help but be astonished by the scope of this book, by the ... Among the Dixie states, Alabama has been the subject and setting for a ...



By the book: Authors bring naval, African-American history into focus
Alabama author Patti Callahan has fictionalized the sinking of the “Pulaski” in her novel “Surviving Savannah.” The main character is Everly Winthrop, ...


Sheila Washington, founder of Alabama civil rights museum, dies at 61
Sheila Washington, who founded an Alabama museum dedicated to the ... Ms. Washington knew nothing of this history when she was growing up in ...


'From Marion to Montgomery' sheds new light on the founding, history of Alabama State University
While assisting an Auburn University graduate student researching Perry County history, Caver was told, “they've got it all wrong over there. … The ...



What an 1870 Race Riot Tells Us About White Supremacy in America Today
Black History Month may be drawing to an end, but The Atlantic's ... project by talking about the historic riots that took place in Eutaw, Alabama in 1870.

Alabama man rebuilds father's race car from the 1930s
LOCUST FORK, Ala. (WIAT) — Alabama has a rich history of racing like Talladega and the Motor Sports Hall of Fame. One part of the state where ...


America's Political Roots Are in Eutaw, Alabama
They know how history can ripple through time; how politicians and private actors bend systems to maintain control; and how racism and white ...


'From Marion to Montgomery' sheds new light on the founding, history of Alabama State University
While assisting an Auburn University graduate student researching Perry County history, Caver was told, “they've got it all wrong over there. … The ...

Alabama Freedom Rider Catherine Burks-Brooks recalls her civil rights journey
“That was part of history. That's the way I look upon it.” Violence in Alabama. The first Freedom Ride rolled out of Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961 ...

More than 50 years later, Sam 'Bam' Cunningham reflects on historic USC-Alabama game
It helped change college football history. In 1970, Alabama's football program had yet to integrate. No Black player had seen playing time on the varsity ...

Africantown builds a museum for the slave ship Clotilda
There's a part of the story, but it's a larger story and the History Museum working with the Alabama Historical Commission is creating this exhibit to tell ...



Monroe County Courthouse named National Historic Landmark
MONROEVILLE, Ala. (WKRG) — The iconic Monroe County Courthouse in Monroeville has been named a National Historic Landmark. Fewer than 3 ...


The Alabama State Bar's website still lists Madison as disbarred. The gravesite of Arthur Madison ...


'They're a part of history' | Descendants of last-known slave ship survivors work to keep legacy alive
The Clotilda arrived in Alabama's Mobile Bay in 1860. The ship was later burned and sunk to hide evidence of the illegal transport. The trip was illegal ...


WAAY 31 Black History Month Spotlight: WC Handy
16,1873, in Florence Alabama. Handy's musical interest started in early childhood - but because having musical talents and playing instruments were ...


Alabama's Ann Berry set to be sworn in as first Black secretary of the Senate
The significance of being sworn in one day after the conclusion of Black History Month and on the first day of Women's History Month is not lost on ...
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Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Alabama History & Culture News: March 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!



This 1962 Alabama school cookbook captures Black history, recipes
Trinity High School, which operated in Athens, Alabama from 1865 until 1970, was the only Limestone County school for Black students. The county ...


DON NOBLE: A look at films set in the South from “Gone With the Wind” to “Gump”
Readers cannot help but be astonished by the scope of this book, by the ... Among the Dixie states, Alabama has been the subject and setting for a ...



By the book: Authors bring naval, African-American history into focus
Alabama author Patti Callahan has fictionalized the sinking of the “Pulaski” in her novel “Surviving Savannah.” The main character is Everly Winthrop, ...


Sheila Washington, founder of Alabama civil rights museum, dies at 61
Sheila Washington, who founded an Alabama museum dedicated to the ... Ms. Washington knew nothing of this history when she was growing up in ...


'From Marion to Montgomery' sheds new light on the founding, history of Alabama State University
While assisting an Auburn University graduate student researching Perry County history, Caver was told, “they've got it all wrong over there. … The ...



What an 1870 Race Riot Tells Us About White Supremacy in America Today
Black History Month may be drawing to an end, but The Atlantic's ... project by talking about the historic riots that took place in Eutaw, Alabama in 1870.

Alabama man rebuilds father's race car from the 1930s
LOCUST FORK, Ala. (WIAT) — Alabama has a rich history of racing like Talladega and the Motor Sports Hall of Fame. One part of the state where ...


America's Political Roots Are in Eutaw, Alabama
They know how history can ripple through time; how politicians and private actors bend systems to maintain control; and how racism and white ...


'From Marion to Montgomery' sheds new light on the founding, history of Alabama State University
While assisting an Auburn University graduate student researching Perry County history, Caver was told, “they've got it all wrong over there. … The ...

Alabama Freedom Rider Catherine Burks-Brooks recalls her civil rights journey
“That was part of history. That's the way I look upon it.” Violence in Alabama. The first Freedom Ride rolled out of Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961 ...

More than 50 years later, Sam 'Bam' Cunningham reflects on historic USC-Alabama game
It helped change college football history. In 1970, Alabama's football program had yet to integrate. No Black player had seen playing time on the varsity ...

Africantown builds a museum for the slave ship Clotilda
There's a part of the story, but it's a larger story and the History Museum working with the Alabama Historical Commission is creating this exhibit to tell ...



Monroe County Courthouse named National Historic Landmark
MONROEVILLE, Ala. (WKRG) — The iconic Monroe County Courthouse in Monroeville has been named a National Historic Landmark. Fewer than 3 ...


The Alabama State Bar's website still lists Madison as disbarred. The gravesite of Arthur Madison ...


'They're a part of history' | Descendants of last-known slave ship survivors work to keep legacy alive
The Clotilda arrived in Alabama's Mobile Bay in 1860. The ship was later burned and sunk to hide evidence of the illegal transport. The trip was illegal ...


WAAY 31 Black History Month Spotlight: WC Handy
16,1873, in Florence Alabama. Handy's musical interest started in early childhood - but because having musical talents and playing instruments were ...


Alabama's Ann Berry set to be sworn in as first Black secretary of the Senate
The significance of being sworn in one day after the conclusion of Black History Month and on the first day of Women's History Month is not lost on ...
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