Summer 1991, Issue 21

Article Abstracts and Supplements

Daughters of the South
By Christine Crafts Neal

Clara Weaver Parrish and Anne Goldthwaite set out to challenge the cultural mold established by the artistic community of the early twentieth century. In a time when women received little support or recognition for their artistic endeavors, these two Alabama women worked to overcome male stereotypes of the time by showcasing their art in New York City and traveling extensively in France and Italy. In the Summer 1991 issue of Alabama Heritage, Christine Crafts Neal shows how these two women, although influenced by different movements, gained the respect and admiration of influential artists of their time and supported other female artists in an attempt to remove the art world’s prejudices against women.



Golden Harvests of Piedmont
By Lewis S. Dean

The southern gold rush that began in North Carolina found its way into Alabama in the 1830s. Despite initial reports of the “motherload,” the expectations of Alabama’s gold miners never quite panned out. Lewis S. Dean recounts how miners were hindered by poor, inefficient mining techniques, local attitudes toward foreign miners, and the new “lawless” mining towns that sprang up throughout Alabama. By the late 1840s, gold mining in Alabama was on its way out, as miners turned their eyes toward new prospects in California.



The 1948 Keller Super Chief: Aero Engineered Auto for Tomorrow
By G. Ward Hubbs and A. R. Gibbons

Hubert P. Mitchell saw the future, and the future was automobiles. Before the Volkswagen ever made it to the American shore, Mitchell had already begun production of an affordable, economy-sized automobile in Alabama, which he called the Keller. G. Ward Hubbs and A. R. Gibbons tell how a former vaudeville performer from Hartselle came within arms reach of being the first in America to produce the economy cars that were in such high demand after World War II. The company changed many hands and took many names but always kept the public interest with the promise of a bright future. When George Keller, the company face, died, Mitchell’s dream of bringing the automobile industry to Alabama came to an abrupt end.