Alabama History & Culture News: August 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!

Project named for man killed in 1947 Alabama lynching gets federal funds al.com Multiple other sites in Alabama received grants through the program, including historic Black churches and sites linked to the civil rights movement. Note ...

Birmingham's Jordyn Hudson premieres documentary on youth and civil rights history Alabama NewsCenter Houston Brown, former presiding judge of the 10th Judicial Circuit of Alabama. Former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington. “Youth have always ...

"The Heathens" By: Ace Atkins Alabama Public Radio Ace Atkins Novel Features Dangerous Road Trip ... Don Noble's newest book is Alabama Noir, a collection of original stories by Winston Groom, Ace ...

Answer Man: What is the origin of the state's name, Alabama?

Dothan Eagle

A: According to an article on the Alabama Department of Archives and History website, Alabama was the name of a southern Native American tribe in ...

Civil Rights Institute calls for increased security after historic marker destroyed

al.com

“With the support of Alabama Power, BCRI has made a commitment to work with the Alabama Historical Commission Preservation Office to replace ...

COLUMN: Old Recording Reveals Alabama Soldier's Lost WWII Stories Patch.com Tuscaloosa Patch Founder and Field Editor Ryan Phillips shares a personal tale about family stories that were thought to be lost to history.

Birmingham Public Library: Book Review: "The 5th Little Girl: Soul Survivor Of The 16th Street ...

Patch.com

Find out what's happening in Birmingham with free, real-time updates from Patch. Let's go! I feel we should celebrate Black History and ...

Group launches fundraising campaign for film about Alabama's voting rights activism alreporter.com Transform Alabama wants its storytelling project to connect today's activists to the state's long history of movement foot soldiers. By. Micah Danney.

Army base unveils historical marker honoring Black soldier who was lynched on base 80 years ago NewsChannel5.com Felix Hall, whose body was found hanging in a ravine at the base on March 28, 1941. The Army Times reports that Hall grew up in Alabama and joined ...

Hunting 80-million-year-old shark teeth in Alabama's Black Belt al.com ... of the ocean,” said Allie Sorlie, education outreach coordinator for the Alabama Museum of Natural History, which organized the fossil hunting trip.

Throwback Thursday: 1926 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs. Washington

Bama Maven

Throwback Thursday: 1926 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs. Washington. Alabama's first appearance in a bowl game resulted in its first national championship ...

Grant awarded to preserve historic Lowndesboro school Lowndessignal This grant is one of 53 projects in 20 states (including 7 others in Black Belt Alabama) that the NPS will fund to help preserve sites and history related ...

Floyd Cooper, illustrator of Black life for children, dies at 65 Daily Press ... a celebrated children's book illustrator who explored African American experiences in stories rooted in history, like one about a boy in Alabama in ...

Plans move ahead on Helen Keller, Rosa Parks statues for the Alabama State Capitol grounds

Alabama NewsCenter

It's not clear whether two women from Alabama who made history ever met. But it won't be long before Helen Keller and Rosa Parks – or, rather, their ...

That Time a Tree Fell in Mom's Back Yard

On Saturday afternoon, June 19, my 91 year old mother Carolyn Shores Wright  was sitting peacefully in the sunroom on the back of her house in Huntsville. Suddenly she heard a loud crash and soon realized a huge pecan tree in her back yard had fallen completely over. Luckily the tree fell more or less between the house and a garden shed; as shown below, only minor damage to the roof of the house occurred. 

On the following Wednesday Eager Beaver Tree Removal, which had been out the previous week removing another tree for mom and several for a neighbor, returned to do their thing. This time they brought a huge crane. 

More details below some of the photos. 

Here's a view from behind the root ball of the tree; mom's house is on the right. Visible is the screened porch and a chimney. That white siding is on the sunroom where mom was sitting. 

Two closer views of the tree against the house.

Another view of the tree in the yard. 

Here's the corner of the sunroom on the back of the house. Mom was sitting on a couch close to that window when the tree fell. 

This view was out the basement back door; you can see the top of the garden shed behind the treetop. 

This photo was taken on the morning of the removal. Those green leaves behind the roof are the downed pecan. 

Oh, boy, the crane has arrived! I wish my three-year old grandson Ezra had been there to watch this big machine in operation. 

Clearing the top part of the tree out took several hours. Then the crane work began!

Finally the roof damage was clearly visible. 

Several of these giant pieces were lifted over the house. The entire tree was reduced to sawdust by another giant piece of equipment the tree service brought along. 

And a third piece of equipment was used to reduce the stump to sawdust.

Here's all that was left of that tree when the job was finished. Amazingly, there was no other damage to the yard. 

Luckily there was no serious damage to the roof and the roofing company was able to repair it pretty easily and even matched the twenty year old tiles pretty closely. 

Alabama History & Culture News: August 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!

Southern Literary Trail highlights Alabama authors Alabama NewsCenter A display about Lillian Hellman and “The Little Foxes” at the Marengo County History and Archives Museum in Demopolis. The dress, a re-creation of ...

'Through Her Eyes' Is A Must See Summer Movie Humanizing A Moment In Civil Rights BET ... Summer of 2021 Movie Picks,Through Her Eyes is the latest Civil Rights-era historical drama to take place in Selma, Alabama, following 15-year-old ...

Birmingham man begins long process of cleaning up neglected cemetery

WVTM13

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —. A Birmingham cemetery with a long history of neglect continues to deteriorate.

Alberton Baptist Church, Kinston, celebrates 125 years of serving community Alabama Baptist The Joe Farris Family, Billy Chamblee and The Old Country Church Choir provided special music. Ellen Dewberry of the Alabama Baptist Historical ...

First Baptist Church, Trussville, celebrates 200th anniversary Alabama Baptist Lonette Berg, executive director of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission, and Michael Ethridge, director of operations for Birmingham Metro ...

Alabama state archives announces new exhibit on women's suffrage

WKRG News 5

Entitled “Justice Not Favor: Alabama Women & the Vote,” the new exhibit, presented by the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH), will ...

Over $2.8 million awarded to preserve historic sites in Alabama related to civil rights Alabama's News Leader Over $2.8 million awarded to preserve historic sites in Alabama related to civil rights. by Sumner Harrell. Sunday, August 1st 2021. AA. 16th Street ...

'The Epicureans' latest novel by Dothan native Dothan Eagle And like his first two books – Pulitzer-nominated “Land O'Goshen” and “Pickett's Charge” – the book has its roots in Alabama. “I have tried to write a book ...

History of Iron Man statue Hartselle Enquirer It was originally placed in a pasture owned by Howard James at the intersection of Alabama Highway 36 and Forest Chapel Road, but it was then ...

Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, Centre, celebrates 125th anniversary Alabama Baptist ... Baptist Association and a commissioner for the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission, presented the church with a plaque in a later service.

National Parks Service grants funds for Civil Rights history preservation in Selma Selma Sun Specifically, the Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church Selma AL Legacy Foundation Inc. has received $500,000 to complete re-roofing of gabled and ...

$2.8 million awarded to Alabama historic sites

Alabama Today

$2.8 million awarded to Alabama historic sites ... Birmginham's historic 16th Street Baptist Church. Rep. Terri Sewell announced Wednesday that over ...

Alabama NewsCenter — Green Acres Is the Place to Be for Wings and a Side of History alabamawx.com This iconic eatery is a popular draw in the middle of Birmingham's Fourth Avenue Historic District, which grew out of the city's segregationist past and ...

Historic AG Gaston Motel restoration will 'shine a light' on civil rights history

Alabama NewsCenter

After an additional comment period, a final plan is expected to be unveiled in spring 2022. Alabama NewsCenter is presenting a continuing series ...

Dr. James McCollum celebrates UAH Romanian connection with book UAH News Dr. James McCollum, a Professor Emeritus with The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, has ...

US Civil Rights Trail companion book a showcase for Alabama history Alabama NewsCenter Decades later, as Alabama's state tourism director, it inspired him to take a state list of African American heritage sites and create the Alabama Civil ... Birmingham's Carver Theatre: 'We're happy to say it's back' Alabama NewsCenter The depth and breadth of Alabama's connection to the history and development of jazz is more extensive than she ever imagined when she started the ...

Carson McCuller's "A Domestic Dilemma"

Carson McCullers' collection The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories was first published in 1951. One of the stories has an Alabama connection.

McCullers is probably best known for two novels, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter [1940] and Member of the Wedding [1946]. She was born on February 20, 1917, in Columbus, Georgia, and died in Nyack, New York, on September 29, 1967, only 50 years old. After high school graduation, she moved to New York City to study music at Julliard. The story "Wunderkind" in this collection, her first published work, is probably autobiographical from that experience. 

She soon abandoned music and began to study creative writing. Besides the two novels already mentioned and this collection, she published two others novels and a variety of plays, poems and other items. Her relatively short life was characterized by chronic health problems, marriage, divorce and then remarriage to aspiring writer Reeves McCullers, and infatuations with various women that were never consummated. 

Many of McCullers' writings explore the loneliness of her characters and its effects on their lives, and that applies to her story "A Domestic Dilemma". The story first appeared in the magazine section of the New York Post newspaper on September 16, 1951. As the tale begins, Martin Meadows leaves his New York City job for the journey to his suburban home and wife Emily and two small children. When he arrives, he finds the kind of chaos that's become all too frequent in his life. His wife is day drinking more and more, often neglecting the children to the point of problems.

Martin's company had transferred him to New York. "The change from Alabama to New York had somehow disturbed her; accustomed to the idle warmth of a small Southern town, the matrix of the family and cousinship and childhood friends, she had failed to accommodate herself to the stricter, lonelier mores of the North. The duties of motherhood and housekeeping were onerous to her. Homesick for Paris City, she had made no friends in the suburban towns. She read only magazines and murder books. Her interior life was insufficient without the artifice of alcohol."

Emily's husband even hired a maid from Alabama, but that doesn't help. The secret drinking continues, with Emily often calling him at work the next day to apologize for her behavior the night before. She is totally lost in her new environment, and Martin has been unable to help her. 

I wonder if some of McCullers' own experience when she moved to New York just out of high school found its way into this work. "A Domestic Dilemma" is well worth reading, like all the items in this collection. McCullers was a wonderful writer. You can read a more detailed analysis of the story here. 

A film based on McCullers' first novel was released in 1968. Although the work is set in small town Georgia, the movie was filmed in Selma. You can see the Edmund Pettus bridge in the background of this title card below. I'll be doing a future post on the film and novel, both of which are excellent. 

Alabama History & Culture News: July 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!

Fourth Avenue, Civil Rights District transforming amid Birmingham's 150th anniversary Alabama NewsCenter In the Fourth Avenue Business District, the historic center of Black ... re-envisioning of the historic Carver Theatre and Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.

Civil Rights trail keeps Tuscaloosa history alive Alabama Public Radio That includes attractions connected to Alabama's civil rights history, like Tuscaloosa's Civil Rights History Trail. The pandemic shut down these tours in ...

Jesse Owens' granddaughter visits Alabama museum The State Dortch met an English teacher who said that learning about Jesse Owens made her a better teacher, specifically regarding the novel “The Book Thief.”.

Mountain View Baptist Church celebrates 100 years in Phil Campbell

Alabama Baptist

Jimmy Austin of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission and Larry Dover, director of missions for Franklin Baptist Association, presented the ...

Loachapoka has a Walking Trail, 30 Years in the Making Opelika Observer ... years with the financial assistance from the Alabama Historical Commission, Vulcan Materials, Adams Construction, Superior Lawn and Sign World.

Ocmulgee Baptist Church, Selma celebrates 200th anniversary

Alabama Baptist

He presented the church with a certificate, as did Lonette Berg, executive director of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission. A potluck lunch ...

History of Almeria School Building distributed Union Springs Herald "When the Almeria School, closed the State of Alabama deeded the land (2 acres) and building to the officials of the community club (1955).

Company plans to bottle Mineral Springs water Clanton Advertiser Mineral Springs has been a popular spot in the history of Chilton County ... The actual spring is getting attention again as Alabama Mineral Springs ...

Fossil found in Alabama resembles reptile skin, but looks are deceiving, experts say Charlotte Observer A rare fossil that resembles the skin peeled from an extinct creature has been donated to the Alabama Museum of Natural History, and experts say its ...

Heritage House Museum begins construction in Mobile's Africatown neighborhood Alabama Public Radio The Alabama Historical Commission released a request Tuesday seeking a contractor to provide divers who can assess and document the remains of .

Saturday's Market Day offers a new take on slavery in Old Alabama Town Montgomery Advertiser Old Alabama Town has a new take on some of its history, and the tale of it will be a highlight of Saturday's Market Day. Along with the music and many ...

This historic Alabama bridge is one of only a few like it in the world

al.com

A preserved bridge in Alabama is a reminder to locals of terrifying crossings, in which cars, trains and a span raised for barges might cause a collision ...

Telling the story of my granduncle, a priest murdered by the KKK in Alabama in 1921 The Irish Times Despite the gap of more than 100 years from the main action of the novel to the present day, I knew Marcella in her old age. She moved in with us when I ...