Alabama History & Culture News: April 24 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!

Settlement, war and agriculture in West Florida explored in new history | DON NOBLE

Tuscaloosa News

He is the director of Historic Blakely State Park in Spanish Fort and the author of many books and articles on early Alabama.

Freedom Rides Museum unveils newly discovered photo from Civil Rights Movement - WSFA WSFA The historic image features the interracial group of men who traveled for two weeks back in 1947. They were protesting segregated seating on buses ...

Weather History: April 24th, 2010 Intense Tornado Outbreak | WHNT.com

WHNT

Instability, lift, and wind shear created a favorable environment for severe storms to develop. Storms began firing up in northwest Alabama during ...

Alabama author helps revive legacy of forgotten photographer Alabama NewsCenter The result: two books and a website about Korman, which resurrect the photographer's extraordinary catalogue of black and white images that, for a ...

One of Alabama's oldest independent bookstores will host its first book fair featuring local authors AL.com In May, the Little Professor bookshop in Homewood will hold its first local author showcase.

For years, Pearl Buck's daughter was buried in an unmarked grave in New Jersey. One fan ...

Philadelphia Inquirer

(L-R) Patricia Martinelli, 68, curator of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, stands with David Swindal, 69, an Alabama landscape ...

Philip D. Beidler, longtime Alabama professor whose experience in Vietnam influenced his ... CBS 42 Philip D. Beidler, a longtime English professor at the University of Alabama whose own experience in the Vietnam War served as the focus of ...

'Bloody Sunday' Exhibit to Identify Foot Soldiers | Alabama State University Alabama State University Now historians are trying to identify the people who marched into the pages of history. A 30-piece photographic exhibit on display at Britt ...

Alabamian Dan Bankhead earned a place in baseball history - Alabama NewsCenter Alabama NewsCenter In the same year Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, his teammate, Alabamian Dan Bankhead became the major leagues' first Black ...

A civil rights memorial in Alabama expands to document lynching victims' stories - NPR NPR The Equal Justice Initiative addresses America's history of racial violence at a time when state lawmakers nationwide have been trying to limit ...

​ASU Holds Dedication Ceremony for Jo Ann Robinson Hall | Alabama State University Alabama State University The ceremony was held in front of the residence hall, a historic building that was previously named after Alabama's 39th Governor, David Bibb Graves, ...

Alabama gave former slaves rocky land as 'compensation' for their enslavement. A resilient ... CBS 42 Alabama gave slaves rocky land as 'compensation' for slavery. A 'resilient' few made Colony their home.

Guest Opinion: Is Alabama abandoning impoverished folks in the Black Belt for 'Bridge to Nowhere'? AL.com ... issues surrounding historical site questions around Moundville have not been addressed. According to a recent article, “West Alabama Corridor ...

Emotions stirred as Alabama honors a moment in its football history - al.com AL.com Certainly not Mitchell or Wilbur Jackson, the first two Black players in Alabama football history who are now honored with a plaque unveiled ...

Alabama professor's great-uncle survived the sinking of the Titanic - CBS 42 CBS 42 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Julie Hedgepeth Williams remembers how her great uncle, Albert Caldwell, was always smiling.

Hartselle woman publishes book

The Hartselle Enquirer

Special to the Enquirer. Hartselle native Connie Pearson recently published a book titled “100 Things to Do in Huntsville & North Alabama Before ...

Review: Eye-opening historical fiction 'Take My Hand' - ABC News ABC News Being one of the few nurses with her own reliable transportation, Civil is assigned two rural Alabama girls, India and Erica Williams, ...

Review: Eye-Opening Historical Fiction 'Take My Hand' | Alabama News US News Review: Eye-Opening Historical Fiction 'Take My Hand'. Newly graduated from Tuskegee, Civil Townsend takes on her first job as a nurse at a family ...

Hudson Strode's "Now in Mexico"

As the downsizing of my book collection continues, I'm even letting go of volumes that have Alabama connections. Can you believe it? This post is about such a book and its author.

Strode was born in Cairo, Illinois, on Halloween, 1892. His father Thomas was a native of Huntsville, Alabama. Because Thomas suffered from tuberculosis, the family soon moved to Denver but Thomas died in 1896. By the time Strode was 12 his mother Hope had remarried, and the family had moved to Demopolis. 

He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1913 and received a master's in English at Columbia University. Hudson Strode taught English and creative writing at the University of Alabama from 1916 until retirement in 1963 with various time outs for travel, breakdowns and service at the Pensacola Naval Air Station during World War II. In 1975 he published The Eleventh House, a memoir that covered events in his life until the start of World War II. Strode died on September 22, 1976. The New York Times noted his passing. 

Many of Strode's books relate to his travels to places such as Cuba, Bermuda, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Asia and India and Mexico. He also published a three volume biography of Jefferson Davis and edited Spring Harvest: A Collection of Stories from Alabama. I hope to do a blog post on that anthology at some point soon. 

Strode's greatest legacy is the long list of former students who published more than 50 novels and 100 short stories. Borden Deal alone published more than 20 novels and a number of stories. I've put together this listing from various sources and have included links and a representative--or in some cases only--novel or other publication. Many of these authors were prolific novelists, short story writers, and poets; others published a single book. As far as I know, all of these individuals are deceased except Nancy Huddleston Packer.  

John Mayo Goss, one of his students, won First Prize in the 1946 O. Henry Memorial Award contest given to the best story published in the previous year. Strode was one of three judges that year; stories by Truman Capote, Patricia Highsmith, Eudora Welty and others did not win. This tale has been dissected on the Passing Tramp mystery blog. Two years later Goss published a novel, This Magnificent World. 

STUDENTS [probably incomplete]

Links are given to entries at the Encyclopedia of Alabama or other sources. 

Douglas Fields Bailey, Devil Make a Third [1948]

Babs Deal, The Walls Came Tumbling Down [1968]


Borden Deal, Bluegrass [1976]

Lonnie Coleman, Beulah Land [1973]

John Finlay, Mind and Blood: Collected Poems [1992]

Robert Faucet Gibbons, Bright as the Morning [1943]

John Mayo Goss, This Magnificent World [1948]

Winston Groom, Forrest Gump [1986, also many other books!]

Harriet Hassell, Rachel's Children [1938]

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird [1960]

Helen Norris, Something More Than Earth [1940]

Nancy Huddleston Packer, Old Ladies [2012]

Thomas Hal Phillips, The Bitterweed Path [1950] 

Catherine Rodgers [McLain], The Towers Inheritance [1958]

Elise Sanguinetti, The Last of the Whitfields [1962]

Carlyle Tillery, Red Bone Woman [1950]

Ann Waldron, The Princeton Murders [2003]

Alabama author Alina Stefanescu wrote a blog post in 2009 about Strode's Tuscaloosa home and his life and career. That post includes a partial list of Strode's students with some comments. 

The photos below should give you some idea about the book, published in 1947. I've made comments below a couple of them. 

Full disclosure: no, I haven't read it, and since I'm not likely to, I'm letting it go.  

Hudson Strode [1892-1976]

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama

This copy was purchased at Smith & Hardwick, a legendary book store that operated in Birmingham from 1934 until 2004. I remember visiting its second location in Forest Park before it closed. 

I assume Mrs. Spigener is this lady, and she was married to this gentleman. You can see their modest Tuscaloosa home on Zillow. 

Yes, my copy is signed by the author. 

Some Postings about Alabama Bookstores

One of the things we do when travelling is seek out local bookstores. Over the years I've written a number of pieces on this blog about such establishments in Alabama, past and present, or their ephemera such as bookmarks. Here's a list of ones I've done so far.  

Alabama Photos of the Day: Two Auburn Bookstores in 1950

Booklegger Used Books in Huntsville

Bookmarks for Some Alabama Bookstores

Bookmarks for Some Alabama Bookstores (2)

A Visit to Priceville Discount Books

A Visit to Gibson's Bookstore in Owens Cross Roads

Birmingham Photo of the Day (80): Paris Bookstall Protest in 1971

Deb's Bookstore in Cullman [now Camelot Books & Comics]

Elegy for a Small Pelham Bookstore

Alabama History & Culture News: April 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!

UA history course explores queerness in the South - The Crimson White

The Crimson White - The University of Alabama

“To really understand queer history in Alabama, you have to marry it to the history of discrimination against Black Americans.

Historical novel 'Take My Hand' focuses on involuntary sterilization of Black women - NPR

NPR

That's the question that protagonist Civil Townsend, a Black nurse in 1970s Alabama, has to grapple with when the federally funded clinic she ...

Revolutionary War Soldier Remembered with Official Marker on Grave by Old Autauga ... Elmore-Autauga News The church is long gone but the graves of many of the early settlers of ... receives marker at Pea Ridge Cemetery in Autauga County Alabama ...

University of Alabama breaks ground on Bryce Main, Randall Welcome Center Alabama NewsCenter The University of Alabama's Randall Welcome Center will be in the renovated historic Bryce Main building. (contributed).

Muscogee (Creek) Nation returns to Alabama in historic homecoming ceremony | News Tahlequah Daily Press Muscogee (Creek) Nation returns to Alabama in historic homecoming ... want and deserve to know the history of their community,” said Hill.

Legacy Flight Academy: Continuing the Celebration of Black Aviation History - FLYING Magazine FLYING Magazine The event, held at the historic Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, featured another original Tuskegee Airman: Brigadier General Charles McGee.

USS Alabama getting new deck after more than 8 decades | Stars and Stripes Stars and Stripes It was moved to the Alabama coast, and Battleship Memorial Park opened in ... History. USS Alabama getting new deck after more than 8 decades

Alabama Shakespeare Festival Presents World Premiere of "Freedom Rider"

Alabama News Network

ASF is partnering with the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery, an organization under the Alabama Historical Commission, to bring exhibits and ...

A historic release from a Birmingham distillery - WBRC

WBRC

“What the breweries did when they came in really started an evolution in the alcohol manufacturing business in Alabama.” As rules relaxed, Cubelic, ...

Hank Aaron to Jim Tabor: Alabama's 100-homer hitters - al.com AL.com When the Mobile native hit the milestone home run, four of the top 19 home run hitters in history had Alabama baseball roots.

Fossil of prehistoric lobster likened to beef jerky after discovery in Alabama creek - Ledger-Enquirer Ledger-Enquirer Adiel Klompmaker/Alabama Museum of Natural History photo. The remains of a 70-million-year-old carnivorous lobster have been found in Alabama, ...

Across rural Alabama, downtowns are making an energetic comeback Alabama Department of Commerce Atmore has added a stage and green space to a parking lot, and the stage incorporates a box car in a nod to the city's railroad history.

Alabama Photo of the Day: Public Library in Livingston

I've done several posts on this blog related to the history of libraries in the state. You can find a listing of many here. At one time I did some work on a chronology of Alabama library development. So naturally on one of my recent wanderings through Alabama Mosaic this photograph from early in the 20th century caught my eye.

Between 1900 and 1919 money from industrialist Andrew Carnegie built 19 libraries in Alabama. This effort was a small part of the more than 2500 he funded from 1883 and 1929. Most were located in Europe and the U.S., but others were constructed in Australia and other places. 

This small public library in Livingston in west Alabama was not a Carnegie project, but one of many others nationwide that opened during that "Carnegie period". In her 2006 article "Bricks, books, and metaphor: the place of first libraries in Alabama communities", Annabel Stephens included information about this library:

 

Source: Stephens, Annabel K. Bricks, books, and metaphor: the place of first libraries in Alabama communities. Southeastern Librarian 2006 spring; 54(1): 28-35

The ladies of the Primrose Club were lucky to have use of this former office. building. Initial public libraries in other communities in the state were opened in places ranging from hotels to houses to an old pump house. See Stephens article for more details. 

The other photo shows the Livingston public library today. The facility is named for Ruby Pickens Tartt [1880-1974] one of Alabama's greatest folklorists and a Livingston native. 

I wonder what happened to the original building? 

The library ca. 1910

Source: Alabama Mosaic

Source: Ruby Pickens Tartt Public Library, Livingston

Alabama History & Culture News: April 4, 2022

 

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!

Alabama McDonald's 'McWeevil' statue excites some, disturbs others - CBS 42

CBS 42

(WFLA) — An Alabama McDonald's restaurant caused some buzz online after it unveiled a new attraction at its location: a giant statue of a boll ...

Loss of namesake bar and grill hits tiny Alabama community | National News | statesville.com Statesville.com FAUNSDALE, Ala. (AP) — With fewer than 100 residents and only a handful of buildings, this west Alabama community doesn't have much aside from an ...

Explore the Life & History of the Alabama Gulf Coast During the Civil War Gulf Shores During the late summer of 1864, Union forces clashed with the Confederates in what became known as one of the most historic confrontations of the ...

Huntsville seeks to move graves from historic burial sites, make room for new manufacturing facility WAAY TV Reeves said every time a burial site is moved, a part of history is lost. ... and University of Alabama experts will be brought in to help with ...

'I made history': Meet the First African-American female Eagle Scout in Alabama | WKRG WKRG In tonight's What's Working, a huge honor for a Murphy High School senior. Jakayla Armstrong of Troop 283 at Liberty Missionary Baptist Church has ...

Nancy Milford, Biographer of Zelda Fitzgerald, Dies at 84 - The New York Times

The New York Times

Her penetrating book about F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled wife was a best ... During one stay at a clinic in Baltimore in 1932, the Alabama-born ...

'Ladies of the Jury' tells the story of significant event in Alabama history Alabama NewsCenter 'Ladies of the Jury' tells the story of significant event in Alabama history. By Michael Tomberlin Alabama NewsCenter. March 31, 2022. 'Ladies of the ...

Questlove wears Gee's Bend design during Oscar win for 'Summer of Soul' - al.com AL.com The black, mid-length jacket was made as part of an ongoing collaboration between the quilters and artists from the historic Alabama community in ...

Maud McLure Kelly, Alabama's first female lawyer, continues to inspire Alabama NewsCenter She also served as editor of the Alabama Historical Quarterly and drafted legislation that gave the ADAH authority over the state's public records.

Remembering Alabama author Kathryn Tucker Windham Alabama NewsCenter “We always teased her about missing her big national coming out party on David Letterman.” During Women's History Month, Alabama remembers Kathryn ...

Chelsea Area Historical Museum Seeks Items for 70s Decade Exhibit | The Sun Times News

The Sun Times News

The Chelsea Area Historical Museum is mounting an exhibit featuring that ... and the gas crisis, “Saturday Night Fever," to "Sweet Home Alabama.

Birmingham's "Miss Nina" was a tireless pioneer - Alabama NewsCenter Alabama NewsCenter That year was a historic one for Birmingham, with major civil rights demonstrations in addition to a voter-approved change from a city commission ...

"Deep South Dynasty: The Bankheads of Alabama" presented by Kari Frederickson - YouTube YouTube Join us TODAY, Tuesday, March 29 at 12:00 pm CT for an in-person and online book talk! University of Alabama professor of history Kari ...

Explore North Alabama with free historic walking tours in April | News | waaytv.com WAAY-TV Tourism groups and historians across Alabama are offering free walking tours to ... Decatur City Cemetery Tour will be April 16 at the cemetery.