Alabama History & Culture News: July 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!

1000 miles in their shoes: Ogden family biking the Underground Railroad

ABC 4

The family's history trip started in Alabama at the historical site of the Mobile Slave Market and ended at Harriet Tubman's grave in New York. Cadman ...

Slave ship Clotilda at 161: State holiday request, tourism push mark critical date for Africatown al.com The Alabama Historical Commission has been devoted to carrying out their ... The History Museum of Mobile will then need several months to install ...

Veteran prosecutor elected first Black president of Alabama District Attorneys Association al.com A veteran west Alabama prosecutor made history Wednesday when he was sworn in as the first Black president of the Alabama District Attorneys ...

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center: A hub for historic and modern-day rocket power Space.com Marshall is located on the grounds of the U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, a city in northern Alabama about 145 miles (233 kilometers) ...

INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE: John Patterson holds special place in Alabama political history Tuscaloosa News Alabama lost its oldest past governor when John Patterson passed away last month. He died on the same land where he was born in rural Tallapoosa ...

Here's what Little Richard's  marker in  looks likegraveAlabama

al.com

The site where the great Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as rock & roller supreme Little Richard, is  in Huntsville, . “They've come from ...

Colony residents raising funds for cemetery  marker

Cullman Times Online

COLONY — Colony Cemetery was placed on the state of  Cemetery Register in April and now town residents are spearheading a ...

Alabama's Historic

 Black neighborhood added to National Register for  Places

whnt.com

The  Black neighborhood was developed in the 1950's near Alabama  A&M's campus. “It's just an area that had really interesting ..

historically

.

Joseph Ricci on Twitter: "Stumbled upon RAF  in Montgomery, . Most date between ...graves

twitter.com

Training would be my guess... the USA and Canada trained a large number of British pilots during World War II (particularly the first stages of flight ...

Invisible Histories Project tells stories of LGBTQ life in South

Atlanta Journal Constitution

The IHP had its beginning in Birmingham, , and has since ... said Stephanie M. Chalifoux, an associate professor of  at UWG and ...

'I am an American and an Alabamian': Winston County tried to secede from  160 years ...

WIAT - CBS42.com

The state organized  Secession Conference, set for January ... of Winston: A  of Winston County, ,” one resolution resulted in ...

Cholera and COVID: Birmingham's two historic health crises

Alabama NewsCenter

Today, Wooster's  at Oak Hill still draws visitors who want to pay tribute ... and bedding, according to an account in the Encyclopedia of .

James McCrory:  Revolutionary War hero

Alabama NewsCenter

McCrory lived a varied and interesting life before settling in . ... He is  5 miles south of Aliceville in Old Bethany  at the site of ...

Bledsoe releases fourth book

Valley Times-News

VALLEY — “Rocky Shoals,” the fourth  in Lanny Bledsoe's Shoal ... out with a deadly conflict between River Bluff residents on the  side of ...

The forgotten colony

Gulf Coast News Today

Your  teachers had it wrong. There were in fact 15 ... The West Florida Colony, of which  was part of, was number 14. Never heard of it?

Restoration Project Set to Start at  Selma Church

Alabama News Network

From the West  Newsroom–.  Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma — just broke ground on a $1.3 million dollar restoration project ...

Judson College, 1838-2021

On May 6 the Judson College Board of Trustees voted to close the venerable women's school; academic operations will end on July 31. The decision followed months of fund raising efforts that were ultimately unsuccessful and declining enrollment for almost two decades. Only 12 students had committed to attending in fall 2021. The school will also file for bankruptcy. Huntingdon College in Montgomery, which was originally a women's school, has offered to accept Judson transfers. 

The ending is a sad one for the Baptist school founded in Marion in 1838 to educate female students. At the time of this announcement, Judson was the only such institution in the state and the fifth oldest women's college in the U.S. The first session opened on January 7, 1839, with nine students; three were male. The number rose to 47 by May. The state legislature granted an incorporation charter on January 9, 1841, and commencement for the first graduating class was held that July. The school was named after Ann Judson, a Baptist missionary. 

Judson had faced financial crises before but always rebounded. The Alabama Baptist Convention considered merging Judson and Howard College during the Great Depression. The school also faced problems during World War II as many women left to join the military or take jobs left open by men who had enlisted. 

One of many questions arising from the closure is what will happen to the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame, located in A. Howard Bean Hall on the campus. The Hall of Fame began inducting significant women in the state's history in 1970.  Bean Hall is a former Carnegie library building. 

You can find more photographs, postcards, catalogs and other materials related to Judson at Alabama Mosaic. The Judson College Legacy Project from 2014 is here. 

Further Reading

 Hamilton, Francis Dew and Elizabeth Crabtree Wells. Daughters of the Dream: Judson College, 1838-1988. Marion, Ala.: Judson College, 1989

Manly, Louise. History of Judson College. Atlanta: Foote & Davis, 1913

[This book is online via Hathi Trust]

Judson College's Jewett Hall, the third building on campus with this name. The first two burned to the ground. 

Source: Judson College

A photograph of the second Jewett Hall taken in 1889, the year it opened. 

Source: Manly's History of Judson College [1913], as noted above

A 1910 postcard of the second Jewett Hall on the Judson campus, built in 1889 and burned in 1947. 

Source: Ward Hall Postcard Collection, Troy University Library

In 1906 Judson College received $12,500 from the Carnegie Foundation to build this library on campus. This postcard dates from 1920 or earlier. The library eventually moved to another building and this one became Bean Hall housing the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame beginning around 1970.

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

This postcard announces the school's Diamond Jubilee to be celebrated in May 1913. The card was mailed in February to a young lady in Maine. 

Source: Wade Hall Postcard Collection, Troy University Library

Judson College seal

Source: Wikipedia

Alabama History & Culture News: July 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!

Camden becomes a tourist draw

The Thomasville Times

And as all of you may know, Wilcox County is not new to discord. We are used to it. We are…comfortable with it one might say. The  society is ...

historical

Local woman in line to undergo first uterine transplant in Alabama

NBC 15 WPMI

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WPMI) — A Mobile woman is making medical . Elizabeth Goldman is in line to be the first woman in  to ...

historyAlabama

 Marker in Opelika Memorializes Four Racial Terror LynchingsHistorical

Equal Justice Initiative

Between 1877 and 1950, white mobs lynched at least 361 African Americans in . At least five Black people were lynched in Lee County.

Alabama

Gallery features quilts, found materials sculptures

Shelby County Reporter

“ has the richest  of self-taught artists in the union,” Barrett said. He explained that both of these artists, as well as others he has worked ...

Alabamahistory

New marker at Talladega College recognizes  first NAACP chapterAlabama's

Alabama NewsCenter

According to Dr. Dorothy Autrey, a Talladega College alum and retired professor of  and political science, Pickens distinguished himself as a ...

history

National Park Service Adds Edmonton Heights to National Register of  PlacesHistoric

City of Huntsville Blog

... grant funding from the  Commission (AHC) to conduct a historic resource survey of Edmonton Heights, which had been identified ...

Alabama Historical

Bachelor: What We Know About Madison Prewett's Upcoming Book

Screen Rant

The  native shared the news of her new project with fans on Instagram and YouTube, including a teaser video with a brief synopsis of what fans ...

Alabama

The last lesbian bars struggle to survive, advocates say, putting landmarks of queer  in dangerhistory

ABC News

When Herz, a lesbian club in Mobile, , opened in 2019, owner Rachel Smallman said she and her wife didn't have a place they could “go to ...

Alabama

Tuscaloosa Civil Rights  Tours Returning in JulyHistory

U.S. News & World Report

On the University of  campus, there were notorious, temporarily successful attempts to block integration, most notably Gov. Wallace's Stand in ...

Alabama

New art  exhibit opens at Harrison Brothers Hardwarehistory

whnt.com

The art show is called Rooted in : Interpreting  Folk Art Traditions, and it was unveiled during a ceremony held this morning at the ...

HistoryAlabama's

Civil Rights Trail  Aims to Make History Easy to DigestBook

Alabama News Network

Civil Rights Trail  Aims to Make History Easy to Digest.  News Network Staff,. Posted: Jun 25, 2021 7:08 AM CDT. Updated: ...

BookAlabama

Selma's  Brown Chapel breaks ground on $1.3 million restorationhistoric

Alabama NewsCenter

Community.  Freedom Riders recall their fight for equal treatment. The event marked the 60th anniversary of the bus rides for racial equality.

Alabama

Rachel Ann Maples King

Times Daily

She spent years researching the  of LaGrange College, the King Family, the Town of Leighton, , and Leighton United Methodist Church.

historyAlabama

Why you should visit Abbeville,  at least onceAlabama

Alabama NewsCenter

Huggin' Molly's has an -fashioned soda fountain where you can order sweet treats like malts and ice cream floats. It has a menu filled with burgers, ...

old

​​ASU Instructor's New  Based on True Experiences of TriumphBook

Alabama State University

ASU adjunct instructor and alumnae ('07) Deirdre Parker Jackson's new , “On Broken Pieces,” is an autobiographical journey that on broken ...

book

Kresge Library fundraiser features staged reading of ' Story'Alabama

News at OU

The play dramatizes a determined librarian who faces off with a segregationist senator over a children's  in 1959 Montgomery, . The play ...

bookAlabama

 marker for civil rights leader unveiled in CullodenHistorical

Monroe County Reporter

Robinson was arguably the force behind the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, . that made Rosa Parks a household name and helped launch the ...

Ala

The  Barbecue Bucket ListAlabama

al.com

Lilly, who is widely regarded as one of the top pitmasters in America, has led the Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Que team to a  five grand championship ...

record

New book lists major Southern sites from the civil rights movement

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Sentell has spent the last three years visiting that and other sites that were important in the South's civil rights . Sentell, director of the  ...

historyAlabama

Justin Thomas Named First-Ever Olympian in  Men's Golf AlabamaHistory

rolltide.com

Former  men's golfer Justin Thomas has been named one of 60 golfers who will compete for a Gold Medal at the 2021 Olympic Games held ...

Alabama

A Note about Ned Beatty

On June 13 veteran character actor Ned Beatty died at the age of 83. I've always been a fan and wondered if any of his work had an Alabama connection. So I checked his Wikipedia and IMDB entries and found one in his long list of film and television credits. More about that in a moment.

He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and by the age of 19 began appearing in theatrical productions in that state. His first film was Deliverance, and he started his career with a memorable role. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about; if not, I won't spoil it.

Beatty appeared in a television role in that same year and continued to act frequently in both media until 2013. If you are not familiar with him, I urge you to seek out some of his appearances. I especially urge you to watch him in the 1976 film Network. If you've seen it, go watch it again. I watched it last year [probably for the fourth or so time], and the entire movie just gets better and better.

Network focuses on a low-rated  tv network and its attempt to raise ratings by turning the news division into entertainment. The film is a perfect storm of great personnel and casting. Sidney Lumet directed, Paddy Chayefsky wrote the script, and the stars include William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall and Beatrice Straight. Dunaway won a Best Actress Oscar, Straight a Best Supporting Actress one and Chayefsky won for Best Original Screenplay. Peter Finch received a well-deserved posthumous Oscar as Best Actor, playing newscaster Howard Beale. 

Beatty was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Jason Robards in All the Presidents Men, another stellar performance. Beatty's nomination was somewhat unusual; he has only one scene in the movie, which lasts about five minutes. He appears as Arthur Jensen, the CEO of the corporation that owns the network, and who summons Howard Beale to lecture him on how the economic forces of nature work. In his five minute speech, Beatty proves to be a force of nature himself. His delivery has been described as one of the best, and one of the most terrifying speeches in American cinema. Watch and you will understand.

When it was first released, Network was viewed as a well-done but way over the top satire of television and its news business. Watch it today and it seems like a documentary....

Wait, I was supposed to discuss an Alabama connection, right? Two years before Network, Beatty played the priest Father Stafford in a television movie, The Execution of Private Slovik, first broadcast on March 13, 1974. Martin Sheen in the title role plays the only American soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War. The film is based on the non-fiction book by William Bradford Huie, a journalist and author with strong state connections. I've written a bit about his life and work here. 

This piece is the 700th blog post I've done since March 2014. Sheesh...

Beatty at the 1990 Emmy Awards

Source: Wikipedia

William Bradford Huie [1910-1986]

Beatty as Arthur Jensen, CEO, and newscaster Howard Beale's ultimate boss, instructing Beale about the primal economic forces of nature. You can watch it on YouTube but if you haven't seen it, watch the film first. The speech is even more impressive in context. 

Source: American Rhetoric Movie Speeches where you can read the entire speech. Impressive as it is even on paper, it's just not the same without Beatty's delivery.