Cover: Inspired by the Halo
of the Virgin in Mexico City's Museo de Arte Religioso, Spratling made
this bib necklace in the '30s and '40s (From the collection of Phyllis
and David Goddard. Photo by John Lewis Photography, www.JohnLewisPhotography.com).
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Article Abstracts and Supplements
Good for Man or Beast: American Patent Medicines from 1865 to 1938
by Michael A. Flannery
In these days of revolutionary advances in both our medicine and in our understanding of the nature of disease, it is easy to forget that less than one hundred years ago, germ theory was in its infancy, the Food and Drug Administration was merely a glint in FDR's eye, and trips to the doctor were likely to make patients sicker than they were in the first place. On the other hand, we are also in an age when more and more people are turning to alternative medicines, so perhaps the world of patent medicines--and the motivations behind their use generations ago--is not all that difficult for us to fathom.
Demopolis, City of the People
by Stuart Flynn and T. J. Beitelman
Alabama's Black Belt was once awash in cotton, and every fall the planters who grew it would come to town to do business. In the Black Belt, town often meant Demopolis. Situated at the confluence of the Black Warrior and Tombigbee rivers, Demopolis has had a storied history, one that arcs and dips with that of the society and economics of the region around it, and it thrives today, thanks to a committed, unified group of people.
William Spratling
by Wayne Greenhaw
Budd Schulberg, author of the classic novel What Makes Sammy Run? and the screenplay for On the Waterfront, described his friend William Spratling this way: "He was not only My Most Unforgettable Character, buy My Five Most Unforgettable Characters." He was getting at the multifarious talents and pursuits of a man who spent his formative years in Alabama dealing with the tragic loss of both his parents. Spratling would go on to great success in New Orleans and, ultimately, Mexico, where he single-handedly revived an ancient but struggling industry in the sleepy little village of Taxco. Wayne Greenhaw takes a closer look at the life and times of William Spratling in this issue of Alabama Heritage.
Missing in Action: the Story of Ray Davis
by Sam Duvall
Ray Davis' story is like those of thousands of other American boys sent off to fight for democracy and freedom in the greatest war of the twentieth century. Born and raised in a small town--Fort Deposit, Alabama--he quit his job at the railroad in 1943 and volunteered to fly planes over Germany. He fought hard, he fought well, and he paid the ultimate price, going down with his plane in a ball of fire over Stotzheim, Germany just as the war was turning for good in 1944. But members of Davis' family did not know the truth behind their loved one's demise until fifty years after the fact. Sam Duvall, in this issue of Alabama Heritage, examines the anguishing process the Davis family went through to find information about their son, who was reported missing in action for over a year before the Army officially declared him dead.
DEPARTMENTS
RECOLLECTIONS - "Boom Town" by Juanita Weems Hinton
NATURE JOURNAL - "Trapdoor Spiders" by L. J. Davenport
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