Alabama History & Culture News: January 18 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!

Greenville welcomes Creek Confederacy Historian

The Greenville Advocate

Alabama historian Dr. Alex Colvin will serve as guest speaker at the Butler County HIstorical and Genealogical Society's quarterly meeting to be ...

Top 5 stories this week including renovation plans for historic Sloss Quarters + reopening of ... Bham Now “Sloss Furnaces is an important chapter in the story of Birmingham—in fact, there will be a documentary of the history on Alabama Public ...

Deadly Alabama tornado travelled a 77-mile path, one of the longest in state history - al.com AL.com With top winds of 150 mph, the storm held together from Mississippi all the way across Alabama and into Georgia.

Film explores descendants of last known U.S. slave ship - Axios Axios State of play: Alabama is one of many states where Republicans are seeking to ... They walk around the cemetery where family members are buried.

Answer Man: Did Lane cake originate in Alabama? - Dothan Eagle Dothan Eagle According to an Encyclopedia of Alabama article, the recipe was first printed ... Wesley Chapel cemetery inducted into Alabama historic registry.

Historical marker honors the fight for voting rights in Pike County - The Troy Messenger

The Troy Messenger

In 1965, African Americans that wanted to register to vote had to pass a literacy test – that was infamously difficult to pass – and pay a “poll tax.” ...

Berman Museum's refocused collection in Alabama showcases more than just historic weaponry Alabama NewsCenter Visitors to the Berman Museum in Anniston are seeing new exhibits, with an expanded view and perspective on world history.

Setting the stage: what made 1963 a pivotal year in Birmingham's history - Alabama NewsCenter

Alabama NewsCenter

As the historic events of 1963 prepared to unfold, the stage had been set to ... through his Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), ...

Did historic Selma's homes, monuments withstand possible tornado? Photos, video of damage AL.com The potential tornado drove through the historic Alabama town from west to east and appears to have done at least some damage to many homes in the ...

Historical society unearths Fort Tombecbe at January event | Community | newsaegis.com St. Clair News-Aegis The Pell City Historical Society will host a noted Alabama archeologist in mid-January. Ashley Dumas is an associate professor at University of ...

Glenn Wills author of "Forgotten Alabama" set to give presentation in Helena

Shelby County Reporter

Glenn Wills, author of “Forgotten Alabama” will feature as a guest speaker of the Helena Historic Preservation and Helena Public Library on ...

Research Rundown: Using the Alabama Media Group Collection - YouTube

YouTube

Digital Assets Coordinator Meredith McDonough will present “Using the Alabama Media Group Collection” to show how to access and use the historical ...

'The Mighty A' — Reliving History Aboard the USS Alabama - Coffee or Die Magazine Coffee or Die Magazine The USS Alabama is the nuclear submarine famously featured in the 1995 Cold War action-thriller Crimson Tide. Starring Denzel Washington and Gene ...

Report: Alabama institutions haven't returned remains of 3,641 Native Americans - CBS 42 CBS 42 In August 2022, the Alabama Department of Archives and History announced it had removed from display some Native funerary items and would return them ...

USACE helps preserve history in Mobile - DVIDS DVIDS Since 2018, the Mobile District Regulatory Division has been working with the Alabama Historical Commission and other stakeholders in its search ...

Jessica Maddox | at The Saturday Evening Post

The Saturday Evening Post

... is an assistant professor of digital media at the University of Alabama. Her first book The Internet is for Cats: How Animal Images Shape our ...

Snowy Terror on Alabama 36

On December 26 this past year Dianne, our son Amos and myself were headed from Pelham to Huntsville. I had read about the chance of snow flurries in north Alabama, but didn't pay much attention to that forecast. Yet by the time we turned off I-65 onto Alabama 36 at the Hartselle exit, a snow event was taking shape. 

We still had some daylight when traffic began to crawl pretty close to our goal, US 231. We needed to go north across the Tennessee River, and then we would near  mom's house. However, as we crawled along, we eventually determined from Google Maps, Twitter and occupants of cars going west that the river bridge was closed. Meanwhile, trucks managed to get through the traffic to drop salt on the road. 

One gentlemen going west advised my son, who was driving, that "They're all morons [back there]; they won't get moving." That wisdom has quickly become a family phrase to go along with "Traffic flowing freely" that we picked up from the AI voice in our rental vehicle on a 1998 visit to England. 

We eventually made our way to the Wavaho gas station at the corner of 36 and 231; I've written about that landmark here. After a much needed restroom break, we slowly crossed the salted river bridge and safely made it to mom's house. The whole event only took ninety minutes or so, but seemed much longer. 

More comments accompany some of the photographs below. I can only say, be sure to have bread and milk in your car if you encounter any snow on Alabama 36!

I've written several blog posts on other Alabama 36 topics. These include the abandoned 36 Grocery, the towns of Cotaco and Valhermoso Springs and the Lacey's Spring Cemetery. 

Our first sign of the impending doom: Snow around the Cracker Barrel at the Alabama 36 exit on I65 North. 

The road ahead--little did we know....

Fields were starting to get a nice dusting....

Since we were travelling the day after Christmas, signs of the holiday decorated several houses along the route. 

So far so good....

This ghost from Halloween hung around until Christmas.

Another field and a prominent tree...

This house burned sometime in the last year or so.

Driving by woods on a snowy evening....

I have written about Cotaco here. 

This church is featured in the Valhermoso Springs post. 

A sign of things to come...

I've written about this abandoned grocery, gas station and cafe here. 

Even abandoned cars had some snow.

We finally arrived home at mom's house on Green Mountain Road. Police had closed the road just above her house, and many cars were parked in the area. A few remained overnight. 

Son Amos took this photo and the two below when he went for a walk after we arrived at mom's. I wrote about this cemetery in 2014; it seems to have had better care since then. 

Enough snow fell to write in at least! You can't see the "Happy" preceding the year. 

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

Selma Historic Tour of Homes date set for March 17-18 | News | selmasun.com Selma Sun ... historic homes, museums, a church, a business, and art from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. The day ends with a walk through Old Live Oak Cemetery.

Big Creek Baptist in Adger celebrates 175th anniversary The Alabama Baptist Photo courtesy of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission ... led the congregation in singing Christmas carols and shared some church history.

An Alabama blast from the past: original Jack's burger jingle featured in new ad campaign

Alabama NewsCenter

For decades the master tape with the original arrangement was lost to history – until an audio shop owner from Alexandria, Alabama, ...

The Incredible Story of How Alligators Got Moved to Alabama - AZ Animals

AZ Animals

Alligators in Northern Alabama: A Storied History. alligators in alabama The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is located along the Tennessee River, a ...

Alabama night-fishing legend reveals secrets - BassFan

BassFan

You can have that privilege by dropping $3 on a Kindle book by Alabama's Jimmy Yarbrough, who's fished the famed reservoirs of his home region in ...

Biden names Alabama Black Belt a National Heritage Area, opening up funding opportunities AL.com President Joe Biden signed the recognition into law Friday after a bipartisan effort. With the new designation, the historic but impoverished region ...

Historical Displays, Artifacts sought for upcoming Exhibit by Old Autauga Historical Society

Elmore-Autauga News

“OAHS is hosting an historic tour in April during the Alabama Historical Association conference in Prattville. The tour will include Autaugaville ...

New BPL Bookmobile to Be Revealed on Tuesday, January 10 Birmingham Public Library Blog Read this Alabama History blog for background: Alabama Yesterdays: Alabama Library History: Bookmobiles. Bookmobiles are mobile libraries designed ...

Auburn University recognizes 59th anniversary of institution's integration Office of Communications and Marketing - Auburn University Franklin registered for graduate classes that day, making history and ... of Denver and becoming a history professor at Alabama State University, ...

Alabama's Black Belt closer to becoming a National Heritage Area | The Bama Buzz

The Bama Buzz

Keep reading to learn more about the legislation that will preserve the rich history of the region while creating new funding and tourism, ...

Rolling Stone picks 200 top singers: How many from Alabama made it? - al.com AL.com Tammy Wynette is in at No. 127, George Jones is at No. 24, and Little Richard, who's buried at Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery in ...

Verne Collier Candy in Birmingham

Recently when we were in Huntsville Dianne and I made another pilgrimage to Mary's Antiques, Gifts and Beads on Pratt Avenue, which I wrote about in 2019. Dianne purchased a bunch of beads, of course, and I came away with the tin cannister seen below. Since I had never heard of the company, of course I had to investigate.

A Google search led me to a 2020 blog post by the "British Candy Connoisseur" who bought such a tin at an antique mall in Kansas in 2019. The piece includes magazine ads for the candy from the 1960's and 1970's offering the product as a means of fundraising by Boy Scouts, or similar groups. The "Connoisseur" could find little else on Verne Collier and requested any information readers might have.

I found little else myself; even the BhamWiki doesn't have an entry on the company. The Alabama business entity database maintained via the Secretary of State's office has a Verne Collier, Inc, listed in Cullman County, formed 1949, dissolved in 1981, and dealing in cosmetics.

I did locate ads such as the British Candy researcher found. Issues of Scouting and a Church of God monthly called Lighted Pathway carried ads for the company's products. As shown below, the company offered Gran-Ma's Vanilla or Lemon flavoring and Gran-Ma's Black Pepper in addition to the "Chocolettes". The black pepper ad even carried a photo of "Mrs. M. Wald, Birmingham, Alabama"--who was she? A satisfied customer? 

These ads are known to have appeared in these two magazines between 1964 and 1974. Ads appear in seven 1969 issues of Lighted Pathway published by the Pathway Press of the Church of God. The first ad promises earnings of "$60 to $600 CASH" but the other ads appearing that year reduced the potential back to "$50 to $500" as it was in the 1964 ad. Four ads appear in 1970 issues of Scouting.

What can these ads and the cannister itself tell us? The tin is 5 inches high, 4 in diameter and held 14 ounces of candy. The cannister top includes a zip code, 35203. Zip codes were introduced by the Post Office on July 1, 1963. Address in the ads is 900 No. 19th St, Birmingham. That location appears to be a parking lot today. The top of the can gives a full ingredients list for the "Chocolettes" and also a public health permit code. 

The British Candy Connoisseur speculated that the main business of Verne Collier, Inc., was to sell products to various organizations that could resell them at a profit. That may be the case, since the company left few footprints...

As seen below, Verne Collier appeared in the Birmingham Yellow Pages in 1961 and 1963. Further research may determine total years the company operated. If you have information about this Verne Collier company, please leave it in the comment section!

Source: Scouting, April 1964

Source: Lighted Pathway February1969, page 21

Source: Lighted Pathway, June 1969, page 19

A very similar ad appeared in Scouting Nov-Dec 1974, page 36

Source: Lighted Pathway July 1969, page 17

Source: Birmingham Yellow Pages May 1963

Source: Birmingham Yellow Pages June 1961

The city seems to have been well supplied with retail, wholesale and manufacturing candy businesses in 1945, but no Verne Collier

Source: Birmingham Yellow Pages 1945

Alabama History & Culture News: January 2 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!

Hank Williams died 70 years ago today: 20,000 attended 1953 Alabama funeral - al.com AL.com A line of thousands filled two-and-a-half city blocks as the funeral procession carried Hank to Oakwood Cemetery. If you purchase a product or ...

Alabama museum to honor 70th anniversary of Hank Williams death on New Year's Day AL.com Hank and Audrey Williams graves. Country legend Hank Williams and his first wife, Audrey Mae Sheppard Williams, are buried in Montgomery.

See Mobile's World War II B-25 plane restored to former glory | The Bama Buzz

The Bama Buzz

Perfect for history enthusiasts, Mobile's USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park has a great collection of military weapons and aircraft.

Bob Penny, bit actor in numerous Hollywood films, dies at 87 - Spectrum News

Spectrum News

An Alabama actor who played small roles in movies including “Forrest Gump” and “Sweet Home Alabama” has died at age 87.

Cullman, Alabama's Ave Maria Grotto is a world of wonders in miniature Alabama NewsCenter Alabama Living. December 29, 2022 ... Brother Joseph Zoettl died in 1961 at 83 and is buried in the Abbey cemetery. He was a monk of the abbey for ...

Signs, signs everywhere there's (quirky) signs in Alabama, AL.com reports | Traffic NOLA.com Covering everything from pork to religion to death, including a cemetery exclusively for coon hounds, quirky and funny roadside signs are ...

Good Hope Baptist in Eclectic celebrates 175th anniversary The Alabama Baptist Photo courtesy of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission ... leading up to the celebration, the church highlighted the congregation's history.

Black Widows, Serial Killers, And More: Revisit Alabama's Murderous History - Oxygen Oxygen Black Widows, Serial Killers, And More: Revisit Alabama's Murderous History. In the new series "Floribama Murders," investigators recount the most ...

New Leeds mural promotes community and transportation history | Bham Now Bham Now There is a new mural in downtown Leeds, Alabama. Honoring the community's transportation history as a stagecoach hub and its association with ...

Clotilda slave ship survivors' story to be told in new Mobile museum - Alabama NewsCenter Alabama NewsCenter The History Museum of Mobile, in partnership with the Alabama Historical Commission, has been working for three years to develop, ...

Montgomery Landmarks Foundation finding new ways to preserve history - WSFA

WSFA

Landmarks has been known in the past for saving historic structures and operating Old Alabama Town, a living history museum in downtown Montgomery ...

Birmingham to commemorate 60 years since the 1963 campaign for civil and human rights Alabama NewsCenter (Alabama Department of Archives and History). Among the events planned in 2023 are a Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing commemoration, ...

The Literary Inspiration Behind Alabama's Official State Cake - Tasting Table Tasting Table The book references a real-life lane cake reportedly made by a woman named Emma Rylander Lane in Clayton, Alabama. However, it was the novel that ...

Alabama's education system was designed to preserve white supremacy. I should know.

AL.com

Alabama Constitution of 1901, Amendment 111. What's the danger of not minding one's history? Come with me, and I'll show you.

What's Coming to the Blog in 2023?

Who knows?

Well, here I am again, at the beginning of another year and another hopeful post describing what I plan to write for this blog. What's that laughter I hear? You know the old joke, if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans. 

Last year's blog post, sans illustrations, is below. As usual, I didn't do so well in completing my proposed entries. No posts about Alabama's psychedelic connections [Humphry Osmond, Timothy Leary, Charles W. Slack]; Henry Walthall, the silent film star born in Shelby County; or the various state natives who appeared on the classic Perry Mason TV series. I did manage to do a post on Harry Townes, the very prolific television actor born in Huntsville who appeared on that show several times. 

I also wrote about people with Alabama connections on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. There are so many I'll have to do a second post on that topic, hopefully this year. Another subject I've wanted to explore is my collection of family ticket stubs from concerts, movies and other events that date back to the 1970s. That topic will have to be divided into several posts.

I have specific plans for a few other posts this year. These include "Roy McCardell and Birmingham", "Some Old Alabama Car Tags", "Old Ads for Alabama Bookstores" and "Anthony M. Rud's 1923 "Weird Tales" Story 'Ooze'", which is set in the state.

We'll see how all this turns out...

Now, let's do the numbers:

2022-89
2021-90
2020-108
2019-110

2018-74

2017-80

2016-99

2015-91

2014-95

A total of 836 blog posts...I'm going to rest now...

Roy McCardell [1870-after 1940]

Source: Wikipedia 

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What's Coming to the Blog in 2022?

You can find this post with illustrations here. 

For several years now I've been writing these "What's Coming" posts. You can read the 2021 post here and earlier ones here. I include a wish list of topics I hope to cover, and look at past lists to see which ones I managed to write and which I didn't. There's more wishing than achievement in these lists, but here we are for 2022. 

One of the topics mentioned last year that I'd like to finally do involves the natives or people with state connections who have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I've actually started this one; naturally, the list turned out to be pretty long. I'll probably have to split it into a couple of posts. And naturally I could follow that piece with ones on people from the state who have won Oscars, Emmys and Tony awards. Dream on.

I hope to complete four other posts in 2022 that I've been pondering for some time. Two of the most important figures in the history of LSD, Humphry Osmond and Timothy Leary, have Alabama connections--one early in his life and the other near the end of it. Henry Walthall was a major silent film star in the U.S., and his career extended into the talkie era until his death in 1936. He was a Shelby County native. Huntsville native Harry Townes became a very busy actor in Hollywood for several decades, especially on television. In 1974 he became an ordained Episcopal minister and returned to the Rocket City after retirement from acting in 1988. Speaking of Townes, I'd also like to do a post on the various state natives who appeared on the classic Perry Mason tv show. Townes acted in several episodes, as did R.G. Armstrong. Louise Fletcher and Cathy O'Donnell also turned up on the show. One day I'll also have to write a piece on all the Alabama connections on the Gunsmoke series. 

I did manage to complete two posts from last year's list. Back in the summer of 2016 I did five posts on "Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest." My dad's older sister died in 1939 just a few months after high school graduation; naturally I never met her. My grandmother Rosa Mae Wright kept a large cedar chest filled with her daughter's memorabilia. Most of those contents were donated to the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery; they form a sort of time capsule of one person's life in Gadsden, Alabama, in the 1920's and 1930's. I wrote a piece to describe that donation process and bring the story to a close.

Another topic I wanted to cover was Truman Capote and Marilyn Monroe. I had already done a pretty bogus post connecting MM and Alabama, but the one I wrote this past year was a bit stronger. You can read it here. 

In 2022 I'm sure I'll do new entries in ongoing series, such as films with Alabama connections, the usual crop of posts on "let's connect [fill in the blank] to Alabama!" and the usual stuff I haven't even thought of yet.

In closing, here are the number of posts I've written each year:

2021-90
2020-108
2019-110

2018-74

2017-80

2016-99

2015-91

2014-95

A total of 747 posts so far....sheesh....makes me tired just thinking about that...