Alabama History & Culture News: September 20 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!

Jessica Penot to discuss 'Haunted North Alabama' - The Madison Record

The Madison Record

Author Jessica Penot will discuss her book, “Haunted North Alabama,” on Oct. 11 at Madison Public Library. CONTRIBUTED ...

Pleasant Home Baptist in Andalusia celebrates 125th anniversary The Alabama Baptist Lonette Berg of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission presents a ... Ashley McKathan wrote and presented the history of the church.

'Fifth Little Girl' of 1963 Klan bombing reunites with nurse - Alabama Daily News Alabama Daily News ... girl” in the bombing, until a doctor arrived on that momentous Sunday, as an unforgettable chapter was being etched into the city's history.

Indian Mound Presentation | Shoals Shorts | courierjournal.net Courier Journal ... Florence Indian Mound Museum is collaborating with the Alabama Chapter of ... Although the cemetery is now a certified site along the National ...

U.S. Steel used convict labor in Birmingham. Has it reckoned with its past? BirminghamWatch When U.S. Steel looked to its own history, how did it characterize this ... BirminghamWatch looked at the history of convict leasing in Alabama as ...

Tuskegee gets milestone 700th win in upset over West Alabama - HBCU Sports HBCU Sports “With this being our 700th win in program history, it also shines a light on players who led the way for our university in the past and will hopefully ...

Auburn University's Rural Studio wins prestigious national design award for work in ...

Alabama NewsCenter

... wins prestigious national design award for work in Alabama's Black Belt ... underscores radio's influence on Alabamians and Alabama history.

Book Review: 'Afternoons with Harper Lee' | Opinion | auburnvillager.com Auburn Villager His book offers much more than that. Their friendship began when Lee moved back to Monreville, Alabama, the county seat of Monroe County, ...

Professor Emeritus Flynt embarking on signing tour to promote newest book about Harper Lee Auburn University Auburn University Professor Emeritus of History Wayne Flynt will soon begin ... 6: Avondale Branch, Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, Alabama.

Traveling exhibit, annual luncheon to share history of women in agriculture Auburn University Her address is titled “Cultivating New Ground: The Early Decades of Alabama's Rural Women in Home Demonstration Programming.” “Dr. Beasley's ...

The Abandoned Fort Morgan Battle Site In Alabama Is One Of The Eeriest Places In America Only In Your State Fort Morgan is a historic masonry star fort that, at one time, was considered the best example of military architecture in the New World.

Saving historic Selma voting rights landmarks - Alabama Public Radio

Alabama Public Radio

The voting rights marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma back in 1965 are iconic moments in civil rights history.

Her sister was killed in the Birmingham church bombing. A new book tells their story Alabama Public Radio McNair says she's always wanted to write a book about her experience ... Black lawmakers elected to the Alabama legislature since Reconstruction.

Third Thursday Poetry Series presenting Charlotte Pence - Auburn University Auburn University Her most recent book, Code, won Alabama Poetry Society's 2021 Book of the Year award. She has also published two chapbooks, Weaves a Clear Night ( ...

Georgia Ensemble tells a nuanced 'Alabama Story' Atlanta Journal-Constitution ... city of Montgomery, Alabama, based on actual events involving a controversial illustrated children's book about the marriage of two rabbits, ...

Historic church and cemetery restoration project underway in Russell County - WSFA

WSFA

“We might be able to actually help them list the cemetery that's related to Uchee Methodist Church to the Alabama Cemetery Registry,” said Neely.

3 museums you won't want to miss in Mobile | The Bama Buzz The Bama Buzz MUSEUMS IN MOBILE: Are you a history buff or interested in learning more about Mobile? ... Alabama High School Athletics Associatiions - Sports.

How Alabama got the nickname 'Crimson Tide' - NCAA.com NCAA.com Former sports editor Hugh "Doc" Roberts is credited with giving Alabama its Crimson Tide nickname — but that's not the whole story.

In the Community: Exploring history | Alabama Mountains Spot On Alabama The Alabama Historical Commission celebrated the 186th birthday of Gen. Joe Wheeler on Saturday at the home where he lived near.

Piedmont's Railroad Depot Museum gets grant - Yahoo News Yahoo News The Piedmont Historical Society and the City of Piedmont are moving forward ... a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

UCLA to make history against Alabama State, its first HBCU opponent Los Angeles Daily News When the UCLA football team kicks off against Alabama State at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, the Bruins will remove themselves from a short list of ...

New exhibit in Montgomery highlights 'Alabama Radio Moments' Alabama NewsCenter The exhibit, which runs through May 2023, highlights the history and ... Developed in partnership with the Alabama Historical Radio Society, ...

The history of Mobile--underfoot! | Alabama Public Radio Alabama Public Radio The biggest highway project in Alabama history will be passing through some of the oldest parts of Alabama's oldest city.

Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest: A List

 In July 2016 I wrote a series of five blog posts about a cedar chest full of personal items belonging to my paternal aunt Beulah Vee Wright. She died in 1939 at the age of eighteen, so the items date from the 1920's and 1930's. She and my dad and their parents lived in Gadsden, Alabama. In 2021 I wrote a follow-up post describing our donation of much of the material in the cedar chest to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The actual cedar chest and a small group of items remain in the family.

Below I've gathered links to all the blog posts and two images from each one. Part One gives a lengthy introduction.

Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest, part 1

Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest, part 2

Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest, part 3

Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest, part 4

Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest, part 5 

The archives did not keep the dolls or the cradle [made by Beulah Vee's father, Amos Jasper Wright, Sr.]. They already have an extensive collection of dolls. 

Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest, Coda

That Time Auburn Scored on Sewanee!

I recently watched the 2022 documentary Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899 about that year's football team at the University of the South, a small, private liberal arts college in the Tennessee town. The film is a fascinating look at what is often called the greatest team in college football history. The Tigers played twelve games between October 21 and December 3 that season, including an incredible November road trip of five in six days. No opponent scored on Sewanee except Auburn. Let's investigate. 

College football was a very different sport in those days. The game had evolved somewhat from the ones played in the 1860's and 1870's that resembled rugby. In the 1880's the influence of Walter Camp brought a number of changes still in use today. Camp, who played at Yale and then coached there and at Stanford, introduced the line of scrimmage, the center snap to the quarterback, and the modern day size of the field. 

In 1899 touchdowns and field goals were scored at five points each and conversions [point after touchdown] were a single point. At the time of Sewanee's great season, the forward pass had not yet been invented. The quarterback took the snap and handed off to another player, then becoming another blocker. There were no offensive and defensive squads; players stayed in for the entire game unless injured too badly--which usually required a broken bone. 

Auburn and Sewanee were members of the same conference. As noted by Wikipedia, "The beginnings of the contemporary Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference start in 1894. The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was founded on December 21, 1894, by William Dudley, a chemistry professor at Vanderbilt.^[47] The original members were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Sewanee, and Vanderbilt. Clemson, Cumberland, Kentucky, LSU, Mercer, Mississippi, Mississippi A&M (Mississippi State), Southwestern Presbyterian University, Tennessee, Texas, Tulane, and the University of Nashville joined the following year in 1895 as invited charter members.^[48] The conference was originally formed for "the development and purification of college athletics throughout the South".^[49]"

The coach of Sewanee was Billy Suter, in his first year at that position. He had seven
starters back from the 1898 team, which went 4-0. By all accounts he was a strict
disciplinarian. He coached at Sewanee until 1901, then one year at Georgetown
before leaving the profession for publishing. 

Sewanee's victims in 1899 included Tennessee (46-0), Texas (12-0), Tulane (23-0), 
and LSU (34-0). They outscored opponents 322-10. Although the team had twenty-
one students who played that year, only thirteen made the brutal road trip.

The Tigers from the Plains were 3-0-1 going into the Sewanee game, so the players
were no doubt rested and ready. Auburn had not played a game since November
18 when they tied Georgia 0-0. Earlier in the season Auburn defeated by large
margins three teams, including Georgia Tech and Clemson, that did not score a
point. 

Auburn's coach John Heisman , in his fifth year at the school, had a much different
career. In addition to football, he coached basketball and baseball at various schools.
He coached at Oberlin before arriving in Auburn in 1895; he left there after the 
1899 season. Others stops in football included Clemson, Georgia Tech, Penn and 
Rice. His contributions to the game included an early player shift, the hidden ball
play, and efforts to legalize the forward pass and divide the game time into quarters.

The Sewanee-Auburn contest was played on November 30, Thanksgiving Day, at
Riverside Park in Montgomery. Accounts give the attendance as 3000 or 4000.
I wonder if the site was at or near the current Riverfront Park along the Alabama River.
I did find a description in The Works of Matthew Blue, Montgomery's First Historian,
edited by Mary Ann Neeley, that seems to locate the park there. "The depot was near
the river on the west side of north Court Street. The area extended along the riverbank
and was later known as Riverside Park, where subsequent fairs and events took place." 
[p. 218]. 

An interesting sidelight to this game is the fact that Sewanee had two players from Alabama, both at the halfback position. Ringland F. "Rex" Kilpatrick was from Bridgeport and Henry "Diddy" Seibels from Montgomery. 

Early Auburn football has a connection with another interesting team and game. In 1914 the Carlisle Indians from Pennsylvania made a southern tour during the season and played both Alabama and Auburn. They defeated Alabama, but lost to Auburn. You can read the details here. 

Two descriptions of the game can be read below. Sewanee managed to win by one point even though Auburn gained 323 total yards to their 82. On December 4 a long article about the game appeared in the Birmingham Post-Herald under the title "Coach Heisman Scores Officials". Heisman was critical of the officiating, to say the least. 

Savannah Morning News 1 December 1899

Source: Chronicling America

Birmingham Age-Herald 1 December 1899

Source: Chronicling America

The 1899 Sewanee football team, known as the "Iron Men". Twenty-one different students played on the team. Not shown are the two black men who served as trainers, giving massages to exhausted players including during the famous road trip. Their story is included in the 2022 documentary. 

Source: Wikipedia 

Auburn's 1899 team

Source: Wikipedia

Alabama History & Culture News: September 8 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!

Diving for the Clotilda Virtual Event on International Archaeology Day 2022 Archaeological Institute of America In Diving for the Clotilda: The Archaeology, History, and Legacy of the ... infamous slave ship discovered in 2019 in the Mobile River in Alabama.

Life Growing Up on a Pig Farm in the Alabama Mountains: Nasty, Brutish, and Short Literary Hub Life Growing Up on a Pig Farm in the Alabama Mountains: Nasty, Brutish, and Short ... Which Big Fall Book Should You Read?

The scariest Alabama spiders that can't actually hurt you - al.com AL.com Spitting spider. Spitting spider with eggs. Photo courtesy of W. Mike Howell and Ronald Jenkins, from their 2004 book "Spiders of ...

Gus Mitchell historic site marker | | selmasun.com Selma Sun This sign marks the site of the Gus Mitchell Store, recognized as a historic site by the Alabama Historical Commission in 2020. Image provided.

Legacy of Tuskegee Airmen honored at Red Tails Classic - WSFA WSFA Attendees of the redtail classic came out to support their teams and celebrate the history behind the name of the annual game.

Comprehensive survey of African American history makes statewide debut at Auburn ...

The Alabama Weather Blog

On Aug. 23, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University became the first venue in Alabama to present “The Kinsey African American ...

How this Alabama-based author sold a million books - al.com AL.com Cover art for Alabama author Robert Bailey's book "Rich Blood." (Courtesy Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing). “Rich Blood,” published by Thomas ...

Birmingham literary program to host citywide discussions of Imani Perry's book 'South to America'

AL.com

Weeks later, the African American Studies Department at University of Alabama at Birmingham hosted Perry for a discussion of her book “May We ...

Local boxing legend, Earnie Shavers, dies at 78 - The Greenville Advocate

The Greenville Advocate

It was one of the worst years for crops in Alabama history. The man the elder Shaver bought the mule from came to their home and wanted his money ...

ADAH to debut Alabama Radio Moments Sept. 10 - The Cullman Tribune The Cullman Tribune The Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) will open its new ... partnership with the Birmingham-based Alabama Historical Radio Society ...

Fire Destroys Historic Church, Congregation Eyes Rebuild - Alabama News Network

Alabama News Network

The historic Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in the Freetown community ... Fire destroys a historic west Alabama church — however the church ...

This TikToker is shining a light on Alabama's urban legends - al.com AL.com Name an Alabama ghost story, urban legend or haunted destination, ... “There's so much history packed in that should be told, and somebody needed ...

Alabama Photos of the Day: Sewing & Such at Bryce in 1916

During the most recent Women's History Month in March I ran across an article by Liana Kathleen Glew, "Stitching Time: Women and Fiber Art in Psychiatric History." Low and behold, two illustrations she used have an Alabama connection. These two photos are from a Bryce Hospital album and were taken around 1916. 

In the 1840s American mental health crusader Dorothea Dix visited state legislatures--including Alabama's--attempting to improve the care of the mentally ill. The state responded with a law in 1852 establishing the Alabama Insane Hospital. Some 326 acres in Tuscaloosa were purchased as the site of the hospital; the facility opened in 1859 with Peter Bryce as the first superintendent. Eight years after he died in 1892 the institution officially became Bryce Hospital.

For decades the patients at Bryce, as at so many similar places around the country, were involved in work that helped sustain the hospital in the face of chronic underfunding. These programs also seemed to help many of the patients. However, by the end of World War II Bryce was so overcrowded and poorly funded that conditions reached a crisis. In 1972, a ruling in a federal court case changed psychiatric institutions around the country and many including Bryce eventually closed. The University of Alabama now owns the property and preservation and redevelopment efforts are continuing. 

The article by Glew cited above addresses the roles fiber arts played both inside asylums and in the wider culture outside. Sewing, knitting, weaving, crochet and needlecraft provided a way to keep female patients busy and contributed to the asylum budgets. She includes several examples of self-expression in these activities as well. 

A sewing room at Bryce

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives and History

Industrial art room

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives and History