Alabama History & Culture News: September 22 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. Some articles may be behind a paywall. Enjoy!

Atmore author will talk about his book “Alabama Creek Indians” - Mullet Wrapper Mulletwrapper Vickery (pictured) offers a timeless material that helps the reader truly navigate the historical, genealogical and biographical base of the Alabama Creek ...

Huntsville Ghost Walks & Haunted Spots in North Alabama - Rocket City Mom Rocket City Mom Tours begin in front of historic Harrison Brothers Hardware store which is also where you purchase your tickets. There are walking tours, and while no one jumps ...

Alabama small towns: Greensboro Alabama NewsCenter From a civil rights museum to a historic opera house to one-of-a-kind eateries, shops and charming inns, there are many ways to enjoy your time there.

Trail of Tears Ride commemorates dark days in Native American history | WHNT.com whnt.com MADISON COUNTY, Ala. — This weekend, thousands of motorcyclists took to the roads in North Alabama for the Train of Tears Ride, braving the rain, ...

Rick Bragg to Receive Fitzgerald Museum Literary Prize | Alabama News - USNews.com U.S. News & World Report While there's a lot of humor in Bragg's new novel, it also touches on sadness. Bragg's brother Sam, who was a major figure in the book. passed away toward the ...

'Truth-telling has to happen': the museum of America's racist history | Alabama | The Guardian The Guardian He kept being drawn back into American history, and what had happened in his adoptive home of Montgomery. The Alabama capital was the site of the first ...

Remember When: A road of romance in state history - The Andalusia Star-News Andalusia Star-News An interesting article by Rebecca Phillips appeared in The Birmingham News on January 15, 1939. “Montgomery, Ala. – To the lover of Alabama's ...

Historic ASU Residence Hall to Be Renamed for Civil Rights Activist Jo Ann Robinson ... Alabama State University The Alabama State University Board of Trustees voted unanimously on September 17, 2021, to rename one of the campus's historic residence halls in

Grants to library make local history more accessible | Anniston | annistonstar.com Anniston Star Teresa Kiser, director of the library, said the first grant was a $10,000 competitive Alabama Humanities Recovery grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

Meet the local elementary student who's published children's books - Bham Now

Bham Now

Glitter the Unicorn goes from Birmingham to across the pond · Check out Callie's advice for other children with big dreams · Giving back to Children's of Alabama.

Review: 'The Speckled Beauty,' by Rick Bragg | Star Tribune Minneapolis Star Tribune ... rural Alabama driveway and somehow nursed back to health. A former reporter for the New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize winner and the author of 12 books, ...

The inside guide to Muscle Shoals, Alabama's music capital | National Geographic National Geographic UK In case you were in any doubt about its contribution to music history, the plucky studio's hit records have sold a staggering 350 million copies ...

Archaeologists Discover Trove of Artifacts at Site of 19th-Century Alabama Tavern | Smart ... Smithsonian As the museum notes on Facebook, the work was funded by a Historic Sites Grant from the Alabama Historical Commission. Among the artifacts found ...

'We should all come together,' says Birmingham church bombing survivor - al.com al.com In researching that history, Williams learned about how Rudolph survived the bombing that killed her sister. “I could not believe after all my years ...

The stories behind Alabama's murals of Hank Williams - al.com

al.com

She is buried next to Hank in Oakwood Cemetery Annex in Montgomery. To mark the site of their impromptu wedding, artist Wes Hardin painted a mural ...

30 cool indie bookstores across the country that you'll want to check out - 10Best

USA Today 10Best

From improving literacy or helping get books to children in need, ... Alabama, The Haunted Book Shop is an indie bookstore with lots of character.

Artifacts found dating to before Alabama became state - AP News

Associated Press

A state team funded by a grant recently conducted a dig at the northwest Alabama site, which is the site of a museum that focuses on the history ..

After 2020 celebration postponed, FBC Salem marks 175th anniversary - The Alabama Baptist

Alabama Baptist

“It was wonderful to see people come back who had not been there in a while,” he said. During the special service, Babson presented a brief history of ...

Opinion | Honoring the memory of Harold Alonzo Franklin - Alabama Political Reporter

alreporter.com

Harold A. Franklin graduated from Alabama State College, now University, ... approval of a graduate history program at Alabama State University.

Who Was Joseph E. Pullum?

Sometimes I'm researching something and follow it down a rabbit hole that leads to another rabbit hole. And here we are...

I recently watched PBS' "American Experience" episode on Alabama native Joe Louis and his June 1938 championship fight with Max Schmeling. Well worth watching, by the way. During the program I heard a song from the 1930's about Louis on the soundtrack. Hmm, I thought, I wonder who wrote and sang that ditty. A little time on Google led me to a 2001 New York Times article discussing  the songs written about Louis. In it the author noted that composer and music researcher Rena C. Kosersky has identified over 40 songs about the boxer from the 1930’s & 1940’s. The first was Joe Pullum’s “Joe Louis Is the Man” recorded 27 July 1935 in San Antonio. 

Lo and behold, Pullum was born in Anniston. Let's investigate. 

Wikipedia gives his birthdate as December 25, 1905, but Pullum's World War II draft registration card--filled out by Pullum on October 16, 1940, in Houston, Texas-- gives the date as December 20, 1907 [see below]. That earlier date appears in the California Death Index 1940-1997 [accessed via Ancestry.com]; Pullum died in Los Angeles on January 7, 1964. 

According to the Alabama Select Marriage Indexes, 1816-1942 [Ancestry.com], his parents William Pullum and Dora Ross were both Alabama natives and married in Calhoun County on April 3, 1898. The family moved not long after Joseph's birth, since the 1910 U.S. Census shows them living on Andrews Street in Houston, Texas. In addition to Joseph and his parents, the census lists two older siblings, William Jr. who was ten years old and Carlton, who was six. By the 1920 census, they had moved to Meyer Street and added sister Evelyn, who was eleven, and Mary A. Ross, presumably Dora's mother, to the family group. 

By 1930 only Joseph and his parents were listed in the household at 1211 Arthur Street. The record notes that he could read and write and worked as a presser in a cleaning shop. The 1937 City Directory for Houston has the same trio at the same address, but Joseph is working as a musician. His father was a porter. Brothers William, Jr. and Carlton and their wives are listed at other addresses in the city. 

Pullum made a total of 30 recordings on Bluebird Records between April 1934 and February 1936; most were done in San Antonio. A vocalist, Pullum worked with two pianists on those sessions, Rob Cooper and Andy Boy. In the 1940's he moved to Los Angeles and recorded with another pianist, Lloyd Glenn, for Swing Time Records in 1948. Other than a rumored demo made in 1953, that was the end of Pullum's recording career. 

Pullum appears in California voter registration records at two different addresses  in Los Angeles between 1946 until 1962. Wikipedia notes that although he died in Los Angeles, he was buried back in Houston. I was unable to find him listed in Find-A-Grave. All of his known recordings were reissued in 1995 on Document Records in two volumes available here and here. 

His very first recording was "Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?" on April 3, 1934, at the Texas Hotel in San Antonio. That number would become his most successful; he recorded several different versions including one titled "My Woman". The recording sold well and was covered by a number of other artists. 

Other songs recorded in the San Antonio sessions included "Mississippi Flood Blues", "Married Woman Blues", "Telephone Blues", "Dixie My Home", and "Cow, See That Train Comin'". 

Pullum is one of numerous blues artists whose lives are poorly documented. Questions here include why did the Pullums leave Anniston for Houston? One source quoted by Wikipedia says Pullum performed on a Houston radio station in  the late 1930's, but that station was absorbed by another in August 1932. Did Pullum perform in public venues such as clubs and roadhouses? Why did he move to Los Angeles, did he perform live there and what did he do for a living until his 1964 death? Where in Houston is he buried?

Perhaps some day at least some of these questions will be answered....

You can find some of Pullum's recordings on YouTube. "Joe Louis Is the Man" is here. 

Source: Wirz' American Music

Recorded August 13, 1935, in San Antonio with Andy Boy on piano

Source: Wirz' American Music

Pullum's entire recorded output was issued on two CDs in 1995 by Document Records; see links above. 

Source: Ancestry.com 

Alabama History & Culture News: September 12 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. Some articles may be behind a paywall. Enjoy!

Harper Lee travels blurred line between fact and fiction in "Furious Hours" - Columbia Daily Tribune Columbia Daily Tribune Mild spoilers may be included. On Aug. 3, 1970, the Rev. Willie Maxwell's wife, Mary Lou, was found dead in her car beside an Alabama highway. During ...

Copy Shop Near Auburn University Closes After 34 Years | Alabama News - USNews.com

U.S. News & World Report

“He became our loyal customer,” Solomon said. “We've printed his book before it was published so many times.” Behind the Glass owner Donna Young ...

Local medical student writes COVID-19 children's book: 'The Virus That Came to Town' - WRDW

WRDW-TV

Walters says plenty of friends, family, and children helped him pull off this book including an art teacher in Alabama who illustrates it. If you want ..

First Baptist Church Bay Minette celebrates 150th anniversary Alabama Baptist Dalton Campbell of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission also presented a plaque during the service. Share with others:.

Aiming for the Unmediated Response: A Conversation with Brandon Taylor lareviewofbooks BRANDON TAYLOR'S NEW BOOK — his first short story collection, ... A writer, editor, and essayist, Taylor was born in Alabama and studied chemistry ...

Tim Gayle's new book "Cramton Bowl" is an intriguing account of the historical purpose of a ... WFMZ Allentown MONTGOMERY, Ala., Sep. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Tim Gayle, a journalist and native Montgomery sports reporter, has completed his new book ...

Harold Franklin, Auburn University's first African American student, passes away at age 88 Office of Communications and Marketing ... passed away Thursday at his home in Sylacauga, Alabama. ... from the University of Denver and teaching history at Alabama State University, ...

First Black Student at Auburn University Dies at 88 | Alabama News - USNews.com U.S. News & World Report ... the University of Denver and taught history at Alabama State University, ... A historic marker near the university library tells his story, ..

Alabama's Return to the Sea | Hakai Magazine Hakai Magazine Adiel Klompmaker, the curator of paleontology at the Alabama Museum of Natural History, which has owned and excavated a large swath of Harrell ...

This historic hotel is a snapshot of Alabama history - al.com al.com The hotel managed to stay in business in part because it gained a reputation for the “family-style meals served there,” Joyce Burrage wrote in the book ...

Wetumpka becomes tourist mecca for fans of Ben and Erin Napier - Alabama NewsCenter Alabama NewsCenter The historic Victorian home, seen in the 2003 Tim Burton movie “Big Fish,” which was based on the novel by Alabama author Daniel Wallace, sits on a hill ...

Alabama Booksmith book store Homewood Alabama - WVTM 13 WVTM13 Book lovers from across Alabama are flocking to a bookstore in Homewood for a unique, nostalgic shopping experience. WVTM 13's Lisa Crane takes you inside ...

I walked across Selma's Edmund Petus Bridge and saw a synagogue | The Christian Century The Christian Century The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, is known around the world for one thing ... After our bridge walk into history, we climbed back into the car and ...

Alabama's tax credit for historic renovations providing boost to projects - The Business Journals Birmingham Business Journal Alabama's tax credit for historic renovations has provided a big boost for downtown Birmingham. Will the program's extension spread that impact throughout the ...

Books of interest - Atmore News Atmore News Of Smoke and Sand deals with the lives and events surrounding the fictional Badaraque Plantation in Baldwin County, Alabama beginning in 1835 until falling ...

Poet's debut novel tells exhilarating story of Black family | Free | annistonstar.com Anniston Star The book calls to mind the brilliant work of Yaa Gyasi in “Homegoing,” her 2016 award-winning debut novel set in both Ghana and Alabama, though Gyasi's book ...

Debut Novel, The Essence Of Nathan Biddle, Earns High Critical Acclaim, Accolades - PR Newswire PRNewswire Debut Novel, The Essence Of Nathan Biddle, Earns High Critical Acclaim, Accolades. Written by Alabama native J. William Lewis, The Essence of Nathan Biddle is ...

Alumnus returns to OU for staged reading of his play 'Alabama Story' - The Oakland Post Oaklandpostonline “I took a lot of theatre and film history classes,” said Jones. “I wanted to be an entertainment writer.” After graduating, he worked as a critical ...

Lucille Times, civil rights figure who fought same driver of Rosa Parks bus, dies at 100 - Newsela

Newsela

Her role in fighting segregation in Alabama reflected a "remarkable, but undiscovered piece of history" that was unknown to many nationwide, said Troy King.

Pearl Harbor soldier laid to rest in Boaz | Free Share | sandmountainreporter.com Sand Mountain Reporter Hundreds gathered at Hillcrest Cemetery in Boaz Saturday afternoon to ... of the Alabama Society of the Sons of the American Revolution dressed in full ...

World War II sailor comes home to Alabama almost 80 years after death at Pearl Harbor ...

Stars and Stripes

Navy Fireman 2nd Class Ralph Curtis Battles, 25, was on board the USS Oklahoma Dec. 7, 1941, and for decades he's been buried as an unknown in the National ...

Auburn's 'Bloody Sunday' history project to receive $189,837 NEH grant - Alabama NewsCenter Alabama NewsCenter “We will be using much of the work that doctors Hébert and Burt did on documenting the historic sites from that period in Selma's history,” Gaddis said. That ...

Booklegger Used Books in Huntsville

For many years whenever my brother Richard and I are in Huntsville together visiting mom, we always try to make it by Booklegger Used Books. Our dad used to visit before his death in 2003; he probably introduced us to it. I've taken my son Amos at least once. 

I have no idea about the history of the place, and have been unable to find any online. Booklegger may be one of the last bookstores in America with no email address, no web site, no Facebook page, no presence on Instagram or Twitter. They do have a telephone, however; you can call them at 256-895-0082. The store also has an address and zip code: 4001C Holmes Avenue in Huntsville, 35816. 

Booklegger also has a vast collection of hardback and paperback books housed in three large rooms. Richard and I usually start at the new arrivals section and branch out from there. There are sizeable sections for Civil War and military history, which Richard spends some time in. I check out the Alabama books and then graze through the biographies, fiction, poetry and even the health section because sometimes an interesting medical history tome will turn up there. 

More comments are below some of the photos. I highly recommend Booklegger where you can spend some quality time with many, many books you might want to purchase. I only wish I could get by there more often. 

I've written several other posts about Alabama bookstores: one in Cullman formerly known as Deb's Bookstore, Books  Etc in Pelham which closed a few years ago, some long gone bookstores in Auburn and an adult bookstore that operated in Birmingham in the 1970's. 

One day soon I'm going to get serious and do a batch of posts from materials I've collected over the years about Alabama bookstores. 

The Booklegger is located in a small retail strip at the corner of Holmes Avenue and Jordan Lane. Interestingly, the building that houses Infinity College Bookstore is right next door. 

And here we are in some kind of nirvana. The photos below are all of different rows of books, or the same row from the other end. Yes, a veritable maze....

Ah, the familiar yellow and black covers of a few CliffsNotes! 

I like to read a western or two each year, and being out I hoped to pick up a couple at Booklegger this time. Unfortunately, I couldn't make up my mind...there is a good selection of paperbacks in the genre. The former Deb's Bookstore in Cullman linked above and now known as Camelot Books & Comics also has quite a few. 

Notice a few Ralph Compton books on these shelves? Let's investigate.

Compton was born on April 11, 1934 in St. Clair County, Alabama; he died September 16, 1998, at the age of 64. Before his death he authored numerous popular western novels. As sometimes happens, his publisher Signet Books has continued issuing titles under his name by other authors. You can see the extensive lists of titles and other authors here and here. 

Ralph Compton [1934-1998]

The store has a large selection of titles related to films and tv shows--either novels or non-fiction adapted or tie-ins based on particular films and shows. 

Movies with Alabama Connections: Stark Love (1927)

Well, I knew that Fob James, Jr., acted like a monkey while governor, but I didn't realize until recently that his father had actually appeared as the male lead in a silent movie in 1927. Let's investigate.

That film was Stark Love, set in the Great Smokey Mountains where it was filmed near Robbinsville, North Carolina. Directed by Karl Brown and written by him and Walter Woods. the movie was financed by a major Hollywood studio--what is now Paramount Pictures--and intended as a realistic portrait of people in Appalachia. 

To that end the two lead characters Rob Warwick and Barbara Allen are played by non-professional actors, Forrest Hood James, Sr., and Helen Mundy. Director Brown wanted to tell a story about mountain people that would be realistic in a way unseen before in Hollywood films. "Hillbilly" movies had been popular but full of stereotypes. The article about Mundy linked previously has some interesting background about casting and filming Stark Love. Numerous comments about the film can be found here. 

Brown located his two leads in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mundy was a 16 year-old high school student. Filming was done so far in the backwoods a new road had to be constructed. In the story Rob is the son of a harsh father who mistreats his mother. Rob learns to read and wants a better life for himself and the neighbor's daughter he's attracted to, Barbara [Mundy]. After various hardships and the death of his mother, Rob and Barbara escape their isolated community for a better life. Director Brown portrayed stereotypes of his own in his film; he had no direct knowledge of or experience with Appalachian mountain people. 

According to one source, [Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes & Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs. New South Books, 2012, p. 143] the premier of Stark Love took place at the first commercial movie theater in Auburn, the original Tiger Theater, which operated from 1926 until 1928. Owned by Foreman Rogers, the business was located on North College Street in an old storefront. The date was September 21-22, 1927; admission was 35 cents for adults and 15 cents.  In contrast, the IMDB says the film was released on February 28, 1927, and in those days films took time to make their way around the country due to limited numbers of prints, slower transportation, etc. I'm just not sure about the "premier" discrepancy. 

Stark Love was presumed to be one of the many lost silent films until a copy was discovered in a Czech archive in 1968 by film historian Kevin Brownlow. Although still little seen today, it was added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2009. A blurry copy is available on YouTube. 

Neither lead ever appeared in another film. Mundy married, moved to Michigan and died in 1987. 

His Word War II draft card [found via Ancestry.com] tells us a bit about Forrest James, Sr. He was born in Waverly, Alabama, on August 10, 1905, and married to Rebecca Ellington James. He was 5'9" tall, weighed 160 and had brown hair and blue eyes. Karl Brown offered to take James to Hollywood, but he followed his mother's wishes and returned to finish college at what is now Auburn University. James and his twin brother William both lettered in three sports at Auburn. James then taught high school and coached baseball before pursuing a business career. He died July 2, 1973, in Birmingham and is buried in Garden Hills Cemetery in Opelika.

By the way, I can highly recommended Brownlow's massive 1968 book The Parade's Gone By as a wonderful history of silent filmmaking. 

FURTHER READING

Articles by John White:

"Hollywood Comes to Knox County," Kentucky Humanities, Spring 2010: 29-34. Published by the Kentucky Humanities Council.

"Forrest James, Hollywood's Reluctant Star." Alabama Heritage. Number 93, Summer 2009: 44-53. Published by the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

"Myth and Movie Making: Karl Brown and the Making of Stark Love." Film History, an International Film Journal. Volume 19, 1 (2007): 49-57. Published by Indiana University.

This book has a long chapter on the film:

Williamson, Jeremy Wayne. Hillbillyland: What the Movies Did to the Mountains and what the Mountains Did to the Movies. North Carolina: UNC Press Books, 1995.

Source: Spokane [Wash.] Woman 19 July 1928