Friday, November 4, 2016

"An American Italy" in Baldwin County

In one of my recent wanderings around the web I stumbled on the March, 1894, issue of The Southern States: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine devoted to the South. Published in Baltimore and edited by William H. Edmonds, the journal included information on business and industry developments around the region, and page 14 of this particular issue had an interesting piece related to Alabama entitled "An American Italy."

The article discusses the recent influx of Italians into the Daphne area in Baldwin County. The article notes that the colony's success is continuing to attract Italians not only to that area but also to Mobile. "These Italians" were described as mostly from northern Italy, or the Naples area, and not like the ones in the "slums of larger cities." I suppose that might include the Italian immigrants in Birmingham, mostly from Sicily. The Catholic church in Daphne today has its roots in the Church of the Assumption built by these immigrants in 1895.

The article is quoted in full below, and gives much detail about these immigrants. After the quote, I've included another quote from the Wikipedia article on Daphne giving some more information about the Italians. 

This book has a few photos of the early Italian immigrants: Harriet Brill Outlaw and Penny H. Taylor, Daphne. Images of America Series. Arcadia Publishing, 2012.


"The Southern States.
MARCH, 1894.



AN AMERICAN ITALY.

By Erwin Ledyard.
The Southern States of the Union have received only a small proportion of the tide of immigration that has flowed into this country during the last half century, and especially during the last twenty-five years, swelling the population of new commonwealths, causing towns to spring up, like Aladdin’s palace, in a night, and giving to cities a growth phenomenal and marvelous. It is not the purpose of this article to inquire why this has been the case; it is sufficient to state a fact that is indisputable. During the past decade the people of these Southern States have turned their attention seriously to the question of attracting immigration, and thus increasing their industrial importance and utilizing some portion of the immense tracts of land now lying idle. Books and pamphlets descriptive of the climate, soil, products, and resources of the different States have been published, conventions have been held, and agents have been appointed. The results of these efforts are now beginning to be seen. The number of foreign settlers in the South is steadily increasing, and the class of immigrants coming into the section is, generally speaking, a most desirable one. They are men of sufficient intelligence to think and act for themselves, and to leave the beaten paths that have been followed by most of their compatriots.
For a number of years the Irish were the most numerous class of immigrants that came to the South. They settled for the most part in the cities, and, as they have done elsewhere, early exhibited great aptitude for politics, and much inclination for municipal offices. For the most part they were useful and patriotic citizens, taking a deep interest in public affairs and thriving in their various vocations. Then came the Germans, also industrious, and more thrifty than their Celtic predecessors. They also, with few exceptions, became inhabitants of cities. Caring less for the machinery and minutiƦ of politics than either Americans or Irish, they devoted a large portion of their leisure time to social relaxation, and to musical and dramatic societies, and taught native as well as foreign born citizens the useful lesson that a moderate use of wine and beer would give much more rational enjoyment than an immoderate use of spirits, and would leave no headache afterwards.
During all this time, extending to some eight or ten years ago, few immigrants coming into the South settled in the country. Some may have realized that “God made the country but man made the town,” but few felt like venturing into what was terra incognita to them, a region where, in their opinion, the negroes were the only people that ploughed, hoed and planted, and where they would be compelled to compete with that class of labor. More is now known about the South, and the fact that white men in that section have for years been working small farms by their own individual labor is now fully recognized, and in Texas and other Southern States citizens of foreign birth have turned their attention to tilling the soil. The tide of immigration no longer spends itself when it reaches the cities.
This fact is especially apparent in the large counties of Mobile and Baldwin in the southern part of the State of Alabama. Some years ago a settlement of Italians was located near Daphne in Baldwin county, close to the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. The colony has thrived and prospered, engaging in fruit and grape culture and agricultural pursuits. A short walk brings its members[15] to the town of Daphne, where they can look out upon a sheet of water thirty miles long and from twelve to fifteen miles wide, which, though not so beautiful as Naples’ famous bay, is still fair to look upon, and glows sometimes with as gorgeous sunsets as those that are reflected by the blue waters of the Mediterranean, while the smoke that rises from its shores is not that of a slumbering volcano threatening devastation and destruction, but of industry and commerce, promising peace, prosperity and happiness.
The success of this colony is attracting other Italians to Baldwin county, and also to its neighbor across the bay, Mobile county. Quite a number have bought lands along the line of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, on a plateau or table land that begins some twenty miles from the city of Mobile, and which extends to the northern limit of the county. This plateau is from 350 to 380 feet above the level of the sea, and from five to ten miles in width. The Italians who have settled on it have cleared their land for cultivation and have built themselves comfortable houses. They are all putting out fruit trees, principally pears and plums, and grape cuttings of various kinds. The pear trees are mostly what are known as “Le Conte” and “Bartlett,” while the grapes are “Delaware,” “Concord,” “Catawba” and some other varieties. They will probably in time turn their attention to winemaking, and can then make use of the “Scuppernong” grape that grows almost wild in the section of country in which they have located and rarely fails to bear abundantly.
These Italians are a very different class of people from those one meets in the purlieus of the fruit quarters or in the slums of large cities. They are mostly from the north of Italy, although some of them hail from Naples and its neighborhood. They are intelligent, industrious, orderly and law-abiding, and they are so polite and cheery in their manners and demeanor that it is a pleasure to meet them. They seem to regard people of property and position, near whose places they reside, in the light of friends and advisers, entitled to deference and respect. Many good people in this country have formed their ideas of Italians from what they have read of the lazzaroni of Naples or the vendetta-loving inhabitants of Sicily. Others have an undefined notion, gathered from operas and melodramas, that most Italians who are not proprietors of hand-organs and monkeys wear either red nightcaps and striped shirts or tall hats shaped like the old time sugar-loaf, jackets or coats with metal buttons and short coat tails, and leggins composed to a large extent of particolored ribbons. This costume they accentuate with a sash or belt containing a stiletto and a pair of villainous looking horsepistols, and an old-fashioned muzzle-loading gun with a crooked stock. These simple folks would be much surprised if they could see the sons of Italy who have brought their lares and penates to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. They dress as the average American citizen dresses and the only vendettas that they swear are against those birds and animals that injure their crops. Their hope is soon to sit under their own vine and fig-tree in a land truly flowing with milk and honey, and to make their lives bright with the light-hearted gaiety and peaceful content that made existence pleasant even amidst the exactions and privations of sunny, but overtaxed and overcrowded Italy. Already the sounds of music are borne on the evening air as these pioneers in a great movement of their race rest at the close of day from their labors, and rejoice over their freedom from heavy burdens, and in that feeling of independence that the ownership of land gives to foreigners of small or moderate means.
These settlers can truly be regarded as to the advance guard of a race movement that will eventually make of Southern Alabama, Southern Mississippi and a portion of Western Florida an American Italy. The coming of Italians to Alabama can no longer be considered as an experiment. As has been previously stated, the settlement in Baldwin county was made some six or eight years ago. These people can live on less than either Americans or negroes,[16] for they have been accustomed to the strictest economy at home. The great fault of the colored race, and to a large extend of their white employers in the South, is wastefulness. When negroes can make a living on land in the section of country under consideration, Italians will surely be able to do so. They have the utmost confidence in their ability to do so. The negro is not satisfied unless he has meat to eat every day in the year. The workers on farms and in orchards and vineyards in Italy are accustomed to live on bread, fruit and vegetables for weeks at a time. Their repasts often consist of a piece of bread and a bunch of grapes, or a piece of bread and an onion.
That this class of immigrants will greatly benefit the section to which it has been attracted, to use a Gallicism, goes without saying. They will make good citizens, for they would not seek rural life if they were the adherents of any special political propaganda. Experience has fully demonstrated the fact that all foreigners holding extreme opinions in regard to government and social order that come to this country, Russian Nihilists, German Socialists, French Anarchists, Irish Dynamiters, and Italian Red Republicans, make their homes in cities, and generally in large ones. The quiet of country life is distasteful to them. They must live in the midst of agitation and turmoil, and constantly attend gatherings where they deliver or listen to incendiary or socialistic harangues, or existence becomes almost unendurable to them. These settlers in South Alabama, on the contrary, are well satisfied with the institutions of the country to which they have come in search of homes, appreciate the safety and security that are caused by the supremacy of law and order, and look forward to prosperous and happy lives in a land where war is unknown, where the balance of power does not trouble the souls of statesmen, and where no immense armaments are maintained by imposing heavy and grievous burdens on the people. They have come to stay, and many will follow in their footsteps. The region to which they have betaken themselves has for years been a market garden for the West. It will now also become an orchard and a vineyard. We are living in an age of progress, and wonderful changes and developments are ahead of us."







The Wikipedia entry on Daphne has this information about the Italian immigrants to the area in the late 19th century:

Baldwin County saw many distinct immigrant groups moving into the area in the late 19th century, particularly from Western Europe, and Daphne was the site of the first group which arrived in 1888. Alesandro Mastro Valero purchased land in Daphne to locate a refuge for Italian immigrants looking for a more pastoral alternative to the large urban cities of the north.[4] In June, 1895, land was purchased in Daphne for a Catholic church in what is now the center of Old Daphne to be built by the early Italian colonists. Father Angelo Chiariglione, a Scalbrini missionary from Torino, Italy, was the first resident pastor (1898-1909) of the church, known as the Church of the Assumption.[9] This small-town church quickly gained the recognition of the Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, who in 1898 sent a gift of rich vestments, an illuminated missal, a chalice, monstrance, candlesticks and other articles, and all are still on display in the present Christ the King Catholic Church, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1937.[10]

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Veterans Days Past in Alabama

Veterans Day has its origin in "Armistice Day" which in many countries recognizes the end of World War I. A resident of Birmingham, Raymond Weeks, led the effort in the U.S. in the early 1950's to expand Armistice Day to include veterans of all wars. President Dwight Eisenhower formally recognized the change on June 1, 1954.





Veterans Day parade in Huntsville November 1979. The location appears to be along Williams Street downtown.





Governor George Wallace and wife Cornelia at a Veterans Day parade in 1972




Veterans Day services at Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomeryin 1954





Message from Frank W. Boykin published in 1950. Boykin was a U.S. Representative from Alabama from 1935 until 1963.





Raymond Weeks [1908-1985] the "Father of Veterans Day"




Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Susan Hayward, Cleburne County Property Owner

I recently ran across one of those fascinating tidbits of Alabama history worth sharing here. In Wayne Ruple's book Cleburne County [Images of America Series. Arcadia Publishing, 2010] the following information appears on page 9 in the "Introduction":

"The beauty of Cleburne County drew national attention in January 1961, when Hollywood actress and Oscar winner Susan Hayward and her husband, F. Easton Chalkley of Carrollton, Georgia, purchased property along the Tallapoosa River. The couple bought the W. J. Cole home and 600 acres of land and called their new ranch Chalmar. They remodeled the house originally built in 1912 by W. O. Owen, built a new air-conditioned barn, renovated a small outbuilding for a studio, and brought in 200 to 300 cows and a prized $30,000 polled Hereford bull."

Well, let's investigate. 

Hayward's Hollywood career began in the 1930's and lasted until the early 1970's. In the 1950's she was one of the industry's top stars. Nominated five times for a Best Actress Academy Award, she finally won in 1958 for her performance as Barbara Graham, an habitual criminal facing execution. The role exemplified many of the characters she played: strong, feisty women. She continued those roles late in her career as well. Helen Lawson in 1967's Valley of the Dolls is a fading star trying to hang on to the glory. Hayward's performance is almost as spooky as Gloria Swanson's in Sunset Boulevard. Fittingly, Doug McClelland's 1973 biography is entitled Susan Hayward, The Divine Bitch.

She's always been a favorite actress of mine from the Golden Age of Hollywood, so I was pleased to find an Alabama connection. But it's a puzzling one. Her Wikipedia entry includes more information on that connection:

"In 1957, Hayward married Floyd Eaton Chalkley, commonly known as Eaton Chalkley. He was a Georgia rancher and businessman who had formerly worked as a federal agent. Though he was an unusual husband for a Hollywood movie star, the marriage was a happy one. She lived with him on a farm near Carrollton, Georgia. The couple also owned property across the state line in Cleburne County, just outside Heflin, Alabama.[7] She became a popular figure in an area that in the 1950s was off the beaten path for most celebrities. ...Chalkley died on January 9, 1966. Hayward went into mourning and did little acting for several years, and took up residence in Florida, because she preferred not to live in her Georgia home without her husband."

Chalkley was her second husband. As noted in Ruple's Cleburne County book, the couple also bought the property near Heflin and developed it extensively. I've been unable to determine if they ever actually lived there or what has happened to the property in subsequent years. Anyone with information is invited to share in the comments.

I did find this photo on Alabama Mosaic, taken in December 1995 and identified as the Owen residence in Heflin. I wonder if it's the 1912 home built by W.C. Owen and remodeled by the Chalkleys that Ruple mentions in his book.



Hayward died of a brain tumor in March 1975 and was buried next to her second husband in Carrollton, Georgia. The Associated Press story below describes the funeral. The feisty lady from Brooklyn, who auditioned for the part of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, had a long, strange trip to her final resting place in a small Georgia town.




In June 1969 Hayward came to Auburn University to watch her son Gregory Baker graduate from the School of Veterinary Medicine. 

Source: Auburn University Digital Library






Studio publicity photo of Hayward in the early 1940's

Source: Wikipedia



Hayward holds the Best Actress Academy Award she won for the 1958 film I Want to Live

Source: Wikipedia



Hayward outside her home in Carrollton, Georgia, in 1959






Associated Press story about Hayward's funeral which appeared in the Tuscaloosa News 17 March 1975



Source: Find-A-Grave


Friday, October 28, 2016

South City Theatre in Pelham

On October 9 Dianne, myself and a friend of ours attended a matinee performance of George Batson's play "Design for Murder" at South City Theatre in Pelham. Back in the winter Dianne and I had seen their production of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap", and we thoroughly enjoyed both of these performances.

South City Theatre has mounted over 150 adult and children's productions since its founding around 2000. In 2015 the non-profit company moved to its current location in Pelham. The venue is small but intimate, and it's nice to have live theater so close to home.

Below are some photos and more information related to the most recent production we saw and to the play itself. 











These two photos show the set for "Design for Murder". 









"Design for Murder" is licensed by the Samuel French Company. Below are a couple of quotes from reviews of earlier productions and the plot summary on the company's web site. Written in 1960, the play is set in the 1930's. Batson seems to have written a number of comedies and light-hearted mystery plays over several decades. Tallulah Bankhead also toured in Batson's final production, "House on the Rocks", according to his obituary in the New York Times


"A swell chiller. A couple of juicy killings and the identify of the culprit well concealed." - New York Mirror 


"A fast moving, highly tensed whodunit." - London Stage


"Tallulah Bankhead toured in this exciting play. The story concerns Celia Granger, her son David and her efforts to maintain the traditions attached to her family and home, a magnificent old mansion on the Hudson River. Suddenly a young maid is killed and Celia finds herself living in a violent present. The detective on the case, a rugged self made man, is revealed to have admired Celia and brings a touch of romance to her life. When the chauffeur who had stumbled upon information linking David and the slain girl is also brutally murdered suspicion falls on every member of the cast. The climax finds Celia alone in the house and the murderer ready to strike again. Comedy is supplied by two women friends who also figure among the suspects."



    Tuesday, October 25, 2016

    Movies with Alabama Connections (9): Right of the Strongest

    In the early part of the 20th century Frances Nimmo Greene [1867-1937] was a popular Alabama author; today she is probably unknown to all but scholars of the state's literature. From 1901 until 1920 she wrote successful books for both adults and children. Born in Tuscaloosa, Greene was also a teacher, library worker, newspaper columnist and later in life an author of plays. She died in Birmingham.

    In April 1924 Zenith Pictures and David Selznik's Distributing Corporation released the film version of one of her popular novels, The Right of the Strongest. Greene's Encyclopedia of Alabama entry by Dorothy Grimes describes the book's plot: "The story involves a woman caught between two men, a progressive developer and a man of the hill country, and anticipates modern environmental and social issues concerning the use of natural resources." 

    Helen Ferguson played heroine Mary Elizabeth Dale. Actors E.K. Lincoln and George Siegmann starred as John Marshall and Trav Williams. The film was directed by Edgar Davis. All four individuals were veterans of silent film. One of the ads below describes the film as "A tense, enthralling, fast-action melodrama which presents a colorful portrayal of life among the 'hill-billies' and feudists of the Alabama mountains." Another claims that the movie is "one of the greatest melodramas ever filmed."

    The book is available via the Internet Archive. I have been unable to determine the length of the film or whether a copy has survived. Further research might also determine theaters in Alabama where the film played and reactions of state citizens. 






















    This double-page color advertisement appeared in Film Daily 6 July 1924





    E.K. Lincoln in 1919 

    Source: Wikipedia 




    Helen Ferguson [1901-1988]

    Source: Wikipedia 



    George Siegmann [1882-1928]

    Source: Wikipedia





    Friday, October 21, 2016

    Birmingham Photo of the Day (52): Railroad Reservation

    One of the big events in recent Birmingham history was the opening of Railroad Park in downtown in September 2010. The park was created from the Railroad Reservation, an expanse in the middle of the city's street grid that was 1000 feet wide and almost a mile in length. The reservation had been announced by the Elyton Land Company in January 1872 during Birmingham's early development. The train tracks are still active today, but the site is now also the scene of everything from concerts to yoga classes. This development has been important to Birmingham's ongoing transformation.

    The undated photograph below was taken by O.V. Hunt, and shows the Railroad Reservation looking west across the Southern Railroad freight houses. In the near view is the 21st Street or "Rainbow" viaduct, opened in May 1919. The bridge is dedicated to members of the 167th Infantry Regiment, a part of the famed World War I "Rainbow" division. The large building in the distance was the Crane Company's plumbing supply house.  

    The vehicles in the photo would seem to indicate the picture was taken before 1940. 



    Source: Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections




    Tuesday, October 18, 2016

    A Visit to the Dauphin Island Area (4)

    This post is the final one in a four-part series about our recent trip to Dauphin Island. Our hosts were my sister-in-law Lucy and brother Richard. Son Amos joined us from Baton Rouge. Some comments are below.

    Part one is here; part two is here; and part three is here



    The area's history of hurricanes is visible in all kinds of ways.




    Gulf side beaches are one of the glorious sights on the island.




    One of the cannons at Fort Gaines, established on the island in 1821. The fort played a prominent role in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864. 




    Sunset from Fort Gaines can be another natural wonder of the island.







    Also visible from Dauphin Island are some of the oil rigs in the Gulf. 




    Lucy & Richard's house has this drawing that features the Middle Bay Lighthouse. Activated in 1885, the lighthouse was taken out of service in 1967 but still stands in the Bay. The structure is one of five lighthouses that have operated in Alabama. 




    A frequent pleasure of our trips to the Mobile area is a stop for lunch at this establishment at one of the Greenville interstate exits.