Thursday, May 20, 2021

Alabama History & Culture News: May 20 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!


Gaddy rolls into retirement
A book he was especially proud of detailed Alabama players who served in World War II. “Paul Bryant Jr. came to me with a book he had gotten of ...

Martha Young's New Book, 'Finding April', is an Empowering Journey of a Girl With a Miserable ...
Martha writes, “Imagine life in a small Alabama town as a little redheaded girl growing up in a family of six where physical and mental abuse from your ...

'The Wonder Years' Reboot First Look Takes a Trip to '60s Alabama
But this time, The Wonder Years follows a Black family in Alabama, and a young 12-year-old boy with a great imagination. Watch The Wonder Years ...

USA TODAY's New “Never Been Told” Project Seeks to Spotlight the Untold Stories of People of ...
USA TODAY's Javonte Anderson, enterprise reporter for racism and history, traveled to Alabama in April to shine a light on Jimmie Lee Jackson's ...

Historic marker recognizes Huntsville's role in women's suffrage movement
The Historical Marker subcommittee of the AWSCC identified and ... 1920, and Dr. Frances Roberts, a driving force in Alabama's historic preservation ...


Real-life Harper Lee mystery chosen for Daniel Boone Regional Library One Read program
Cep's book begins with the story of Willie Maxwell, an Alabama minister suspected of murdering several people — including two wives — in the 1970s ...

Satchel was from Mobile, Alabama, and Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kansas. Both are buried in Kansas City, Missouri. Leroy “Satchel” ...
Attendees learn how to preserve and protect cemeteries to keep history alive | News | selmasun.com
Here in Alabama a nonprofit organization run completely by volunteers is dedicated to just that task – the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance ...
"Independent Bones" By: Carolyn Haines
Don Noble's newest book is Alabama Noir, a collection of original stories by Winston Groom, Ace Atkins, Carolyn Haines, Brad Watson, and eleven other ...

Monroeville, Alabama Elects Its First Black Mayor In City's 121-Year History
Monroeville, Alabama elected its first Black mayor in the city's 121-year history, The Hill reports. Monroeville is a small town with less than 6,000 ...

Forrest Gump True Story: Every Historical Event & How Accurate They Are
Forrest goes on to play football at the University of Alabama, fight in the Vietnam War, meet multiple presidents and found BubbaGump Shrimp. Though ...
DON NOBLE: Book features stories of struggle and survival in a small Southern town
These are also set in Appalachia, the last gasps of it, in a fictional town called Copeland's Crossing, Alabama. From that village one road runs south to ...
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study's Legacy Is America's Continued Abuse of Black Bodies
... Male” was conducted from 1932 to 1972 by the United States Public Health Service at Tuskegee University, a historically Black college in Alabama.
Uniquely Alabama: Baseball Legends From A Football State
BIRMINGHAM, AL — We all know that Alabama is football country, and ... But a deeper look into how well Alabama is represented in the long history of ..

“Selma” a remarkably resonant, revealing and rewarding historical film
Johnson, Tim Roth as Alabama Governor George Wallace, Dylan Baker as J. Edgar Hoover, and Oprah Winfrey (who also served as one of the film's ...
Small town Alabama: Wetumpka
Whether you want to spend a day surrounded by nature, leisurely shopping or exploring history, Wetumpka has you covered. RELATED: Alabama town ...
Alabama Original: Main Street Cafe
The Main Street Cafe in historic downtown Madison. "We look at the book and if it's available then I'll say 'absolutely, I'll be glad to put ...
Alabama remembers the Freedom Rides that happened 60 years ago this month
The Alabama Historical Commision and Alabama Tourism Department are ... Freedom Riders will be available for book signings afterward in the ...
Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department, said he believes ... Welcome Center – is also in the works near the Old Plateau Cemetery.
Donna P. Turner's New Book, 'Navigating the Journey of a Lifetime' Brings an Indulging Narrative ...
Donna P. Turner, an Alabama Native, a successful noted speaker, and educator, has completed her new book, "Navigating the Journey of a Lifetime": ...

Saving America's Amazon
His latest book explores Alabama's unusual biodiversity and aims to inspire residents to help preserve it. Staff photo/ Allison Marlow. Posted Friday, May ...

How Jim Crow-Era Laws Suppressed the African American Vote for Generations
By 1910, registered voters among African Americans dropped to 15 percent in Virginia, and under 2 percent in both Alabama and Mississippi, ...

Restored vintage Greyhound bus from Freedom Rides Museum going on tour
The bus will arrive at the Freedom Rides Museum, a historic property of the Alabama Historical Commission. The bus tour carries out the theme of the ...

The Delectable History of Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
But Alabama's regional sauce, with its white, creamy appearance, stands out from the crowd. We have Big Bob Gibson, the pit master behind what ...
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Saturday, May 15, 2021

Carlyle Tillery's One Published Novel

Literature is filled with examples of "one hit wonders", first novels often very successful that are never followed by another work, at least not in the author's lifetime. One of American literature's examples is Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. A youthful novella was published long after her death; manuscripts of some other works were apparently destroyed. Ross Lockridge, Jr.'s Raintree County was the only novel he wrote; just as it became a best seller he committed suicide early in 1948. A film version with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift was released in 1957. Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is another notable American example. Anna Sewall's Black Beauty and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights are two well known titles from England. 

An Alabama example is Red Bone Woman, the only novel published by Carlyle Tillery. Thomas Carlyle Tillery was born in Greenburg, Louisiana, on December 6, 1904. In 1928 he received a B.S. degree from Mississippi State University. For the next decade or more he worked as a statistical clerk in agricultural economics and spent two years as a timekeeper on a Central American banana plantation. 

During World War II he served in the U.S. Army and his draft card, filled out on October 16, 1940, tells us a bit more about him. At the time he was living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and working for the Guaranty Income Life, Inc. company. He listed his weight as 160, complexion light, eyes blue, hair red and his height as 5' 6.5". He was apparently not married at this time, since he listed his sister as the person "who will always know your address." I found his card via Ancestry.com; you can see it below. 

After his service in the military, Tillery next appears in Tuscaloosa, where he studied for three years under famed University of Alabama English and creative writing professor Hudson Strode. Did he come to Tuscaloosa to take Strode's classes? I have found no information about Tillery writing or publishing before or after his one published novel. Tillery apparently did not graduate from UA; I did not find him listed in a 2008 directory of university alumni. 

On July 10, 1949, the following article appeared in the Tuscaloosa News [page 8]: "TUSCALOOSA STORE CLERK SIGNS CONTRACT FOR NOVEL: Carlyle Tillery Is Author Of 21st Book from Strode Class." The article noted Tillery as, "a kindly, quiet man, fortyish ,with rather sparse red hair, a freckled face, and glasses that hit a little farther down his nose than usual. On week days he ambles busily but unobtrusively up and down the aisles of Jitney Jungle Super Market No. 1 where he is employed in the stock room."

The Hoole Special Collections at the University of Alabama Libraries has some material on Tillery "most notably" the galley proofs of his novel. I am indebted to their online description for some of the information above. 

At the time of his death Tillery was married to Ruby Wilson Tillery; you can see her photo below. I did not find marriage info for Ruby and Carlyle. I did find a reference to a Thomas C. Carlyle getting married on June 15, 1952 in Tuscaloosa County. Perhaps that is the date.

Ruby earned a nursing PhD in 1981. She was the author of "Differences in Perceived Relationships of Selected Components of Curriculum Implementation Prior to and Following Graduate Study by Louisiana Nurse Teachers Funded for Master's Level Study"  which was her dissertation at the University of Alabama. 

Carlyle Tillery died on January 23, 1988 in Tuscaloosa. An obituary published the next day in the Tuscaloosa News listed among his survivors wife Ruby, daughter Sarah and son Edward. Ruby died January 10, 2007, also in Tuscaloosa. She was 84, having been born November 23, 1922, in Woodville, Jackson County, Alabama. Memorial services for both were held at Forest Lake United Methodist Church, where they were presumably members. 

As you can read below in the blurbs on the back of the paperback edition, Tillery's one novel received good notices. The "Literary Guidepost" review  by W.G. Rogers [also below] declares, "Tillery is a name to add to the large list of distinguished southern writers." 

So what happened? Where did Tillery's literary impulse come from and where did it go after publication of Red Bone Woman? Did he continue to work at Jitney Jungle until retirement? Perhaps one day a descendent will enlighten us. 




Source: Find-A-Grave 



Source: Find-A-Grave

Presumably this photo comes from the same college yearbook, different year, as the one below. 




Centenary College of Louisiana Yearbook 1924

Source: Ancestry.com






The hardback edition was published in 1950 by the John Day Company in New York City, founded in 1926 and operated until purchased by the Thomas Y. Crowell Company in 1974. 

The publisher's original description:

When Tempie's family came out of the bayou swamp in southeastern Louisianan, the neighbors called them "Red Bones"-though seldom to their faces. But the eye of one neighbor, a lonely, widowed farmer, was caught by Tempie's stately figure and her youthful vigor. Tempie is an original in fiction and this is her book. She grows in humanity, in stature, in reality until at last she wins us wholly.





This paperback edition was published in 1951 by Avon. 









Source: Corsicana [TX] Daily News 6 April 1950





Tillery's World War II draft card, which shows his employer as the Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company in Baton Rouge. He was living at 5046 Clayton Drive in that city. Google Maps does not show a structure currently at that address. He listed a sister as one "who will always know your address."

Source: Ancestry.com 








Ruby Wilson Tillery [November 23, 1922-January 10, 2007]

Source: Find-A-Grave







Note: 14 Sept 2023

I was going through some files recent and came across this Birmingham News article by Karl Elebash from March 25, 1983. The article describes a two-day celebration honoring Hudson Strode held at the University of Alabama and attended by more than 200 people. Carlyle Tillery can be seen in the photograph between Borden Deal and Wayne Greenhaw. 





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Thursday, May 13, 2021

Alabama History & Culture News: May 13 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!


WWII secretary to Wernher von Braun dies in Alabama
Insight by Carahsoft: Explore use cases for edge computing and approaches for taking advantage of it by downloading this exclusive e-book.

Tuskegee native, pastor of historic Tulsa church, leads call for reparations for 1921 Race Massacre
He was 18 years old, a freshman at the University of Alabama, a young man from historic Tuskegee who would soon make history in Tuscaloosa as ...

National Votes for Women Trail adds new Alabama markers
(WIAT) — On Wednesday, the Alabama Women's Suffrage Centennial Committee announced the dedication of new historical markers for the National ...

Anniston to honor 60th anniversary of Freedom Rides in Alabama with 2-day celebration
General Jackson, owner of the soon-to-open History Making Coffee Shop on Anniston's historic West 15th Street, talked about the importance of marking ...

Set in stone: Family gathers to celebrate Brindley Cemetery rehabilitation
Just by the roadside about a mile north of Alabama Highway 69, drivers fly past a little family cemetery that preserves a big part of local history.
Hot new Southern books put the sizzle in summer 2021
Set in 1980s Montgomery, Alabama, Gin Phillips' new novel explores the mentor-mentee relationship between Lucia, a lawyer who specializes in ...
Former Birmingham police chief makes history as first Black US Army Reserve lieutenant general
Decades later, my Dad marched as a Foot Soldier during the civil rights struggle in Birmingham, Alabama, so this promotion is really about them and ...

Design team selected for Africatown Welcome Center
Studio 2H oversaw the planning for tHistoric Bethel Baptist Church and the Carver Theater/Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in Birmingham. The design team ...

91 runs, 65 walks and nearly 5 hours: The craziest game in Alabama high school softball history
91 runs, 65 walks and nearly 5 hours: The craziest game in Alabama high school softball history ... Sidney Lanier and Park Crossing combined for 91 runs ...
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Breaks the Mold with Her Debut Novel
... was awarded the Harper Lee Award for Literary Distinction for an Alabama ... She goes on to attend a graduate program in history at a fictional North ...

New exhibit at Alabama monument recalls Freedom Riders
... PBS's history series, “American Experience.” Intended to test implementation of court orders outlawing racial segregation in interstate transportation, ...
5 Alabama ghost towns to put on your bucket list | The Bama Buzz
The Old Bellefonte Cemetery also remains with gravestones dating back to 1826. 3. Old Cahawba, Alabama. Old Cahawba Old Cahawaba offers ...
University of Alabama Alumni & Author Publishes Important Memoir of Black History
While at Alabama, Mr. Pernell and four other students became the first five black players to walk-on to the historically segregated University of ...

Alabama Legislature endorses 5-year extension of incentive to restore older buildings
The Pizitz Food Hall in downtown Birmingham, Ala., is an example of how the state historic preservation tax credit has been utilized to restore an aging ...

Historical Markers and War Memorials in Autauga County, Alabama
(Front): Daniel Pratt CemeteryFinal resting place of early Alabama industrialist Daniel Pratt, 1799-1873, and wife Esther Ticknor Pratt, 1803-1875.

Vintage Greyhound bus is restored to commemorate the Freedom Rides' 60th anniversary
"History happened here. Preserving this place helps bring to life a critical part of the civil rights story, and the role Montgomery and the state of Alabama ...
AL: The story of how the Freedom Riders revolutionized American travel, transit 60 years ago
On the 60th anniversary of the Riders sojourn from Washington D.C., the Freedom Rides Museum and Alabama Historical Commission unveiled a ...
Alabama museum unveils restored Greyhound bus for Freedom Rides' 60th anniversary
The Alabama Historical Commission on Tuesday officially unveiled a restored Greyhound bus as part of a 60th anniversary exhibit commemorating ...

Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Department of Tourism, said he ... in 2023, will be located across from the Old Plateau Cemetery and will be in the ...


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Thursday, May 6, 2021

A Visit to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Dianne and I recently visited the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on a wonderful spring day with blue skies and temperatures in the mid-sixties. This visit was our first one in many years. Since we arrived around noon, the first thing we did was eat lunch outside at the Gardens Cafe. The shrimp and grits and soups were excellent. Then we began to explore. 

Below are some of the photos I took and some commentary. The Gardens are made up of more than 30 specific areas, such as the Rose Garden, Japanese Garden and the Conservatory. The three broad categories are Collections, Nature and Culture. The Gardens also have an art gallery, a library and a plant information center. 

One thing we missed because I didn't think of it was the Moon Tree, an American sycamore. That's pretty embarrassing since I've written a blog post on "Alabama's Moon Trees". Sheesh. Maybe next time!

Birmingham Mayor Jimmy Morgan was a driving force behind the Gardens' development; planning began in 1960 and the Conservatory opened in December 1962. Another Morgan project was the Birmingham Zoo.

You can read more history here. A Flickr group with thousands of Gardens photos can be found here. 



We entered here at Blount Plaza, just across from the parking lot and past the gift shop and cafe.



I'm always up for looking at a map. 






Blount Plaza was dedicated in 1988 and this red granite sculpture, "Granite Garden" by Jesus Moroles was installed. Moroles [1950-2015] was known for his large, abstract works in granite. 














What's a botanical garden in Birmingham, Alabama, without a reproduction of Giuseppi Moretti's creation, the largest cast iron statue in the world? This one is part of the "Vulcans on Parade" project that placed various such statues around the community. 








We explored the Conservatory at some length, since we were all alone there for most of our walk through it. The structure was designed by Henry Teuscher, a Canadian glasshouse designer and resembles the one he designed for the Montreal Botanical Gardens. 














The Cacti Collection offers a wide variety of these fascinating plants.






Frank Fleming [1940-2019] was an Alabama sculptor probably best known for his Storyteller fountain at Birmingham's Five Points South.
 









This path to the Japanese Garden is a pleasant, shaded walk. 





The 7.5 acre Japanese Garden was formally opened by the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. in 1967. This location features such elements as a tea garden, bonsai house, koi pond and various meditative spaces. 









The pond at the Japanese Garden has many large and colorful koi and numerous painted turtles. A Gardens volunteer told us their oldest koi was some 25 years old. We also got to see a large soft shell turtle and a large, plain old carp. 






A new raised walkway takes you through the bamboo stand, a quiet place despite being only yards from Cahaba Road.



Ah, what's a bamboo stand without a Southern pine in it? 









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