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Athena on the Chattahoochee
By Stephen M. Rowe

One of the country’s most impressive privately held collections of unique and rare documents, books, and photographs is located in a beautifully renovated historic storefront in Eufaula, Alabama. This collection—pertaining to Alabama, southern, and American history—has been a labor of love for decades for owner Steve Williams, who acquired much of this stunning treasure with the help of Steven Rowe, who now serves as the collection’s curator and wrote this article for Alabama Heritage. The two-story Eufaula Athenaeum holds the memories of everything from colonial America to the civil rights movement and includes one-of-a-kind photographs, first editions of classics, documents discussing the nation’s founders, documents signed by many of America’s most notable historical figures, and forty-five unique Confederate imprints (of 450 total). Best of all, Williams makes his collection available to researchers, rendering this immense private collection of value to the public.

About the Author
Stephen M. Rowe is currently archivist and curator of the Eufaula Athenaeum. A native of Richmond, Virginia, and a graduate of North Carolina State University at Raleigh, he has been in his present position since 2005. From 1974 to 1977, he was an assistant archivist at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. His ongoing profession since 1983 is that of antiquarian bookseller and appraiser. It was the broadening of the Civil War collection at the Eufaula Athenaeum that brought the Athenaeum’s founder, Steve Williams, together with Rowe. The two men were introduced in 1985 through a mutual friend. Rowe specializes in books and other materials, including photography and manuscripts, relating to the Confederacy. Rowe’s training as a historian and archivist and his long association with Williams brought Rowe to Eufaula in 2005 to oversee the day-to-day operations of the museum and to direct the ongoing cataloging effort.

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“Keep Still”: Booker T. Washington and the Shiloh Church Tragedy
By James L. Baggett

In the early twentieth century, African American intellectual and orator Booker T. Washington always drew a crowd. In 1902 Washington was invited to speak at Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham during a National Baptist Convention. Not surprisingly, the event garnered much attention, and the crowd grew to several thousand on the night of September 19, 1902, packing the room, balcony, outer stairs, and lawn with guests from all over the South. In this article, James L. Baggett describes how a shout misinterpreted as “Fire!” set off a panic, causing a massive stampede that took the lives of 120 people. It was a painful memory for Booker T. Washington and many others, but created such a stir of sympathy in Birmingham that, for one brief golden moment, racial tensions were forgotten.

About the Authors
Jim Baggett is head of the Department of Archives and Manuscripts at the Birmingham Public Library and archivist for the City of Birmingham. He holds an MA in history from UAB and an MLIS from the University of Alabama. He has served as president of the Society of Alabama Archivists and chair of the Jefferson County Historical Commission. Jim is an occasional contributor to Alabama Heritage and the author or editor of three books on Birmingham history, including Historic Photos of Birmingham (Turner Publishing Company, 2006).

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In the early decades of the nineteenth century, Mobile was becoming a thriving port city of the South. However, much of the architecture did not boast of the economic prosperity and growth that was taking place during that time period. John S. Sledge discusses how, in the aftermath of a devastating fire that consumed most of the city, a revival of classical architecture flourished. This revival produced many landmarks that still testify to the spirit of hope and cultural celebration surrounding that generation. The article visits some of these landmarks, including the City Hospital, the main building at Spring Hill College, and the lovely Oakleigh residence, and offers glimpses of the lives of the men who built or helped build them. The blending of architectural styles of the Gulf Coast and classic Western architecture illustrates the unique flavor of the Greek Revival in nineteenth-century Mobile.

About the Author
John Sledge was born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1957 and moved with his family to central Alabama in 1962. He grew up in Montevallo but has deep roots on the Gulf Coast. His mother lived in the Pontalba Building in New Orleans as a child, and his father grew up in Georgia Cottage on Springhill Avenue, home of Victorian authoress Augusta Evans Wilson. Sledge holds a BA in history and Spanish from Auburn University and a master’s degree in historic preservation from Middle Tennessee State University. He is an architectural historian with the Mobile Historic Development Commission, where he has worked since 1985. In partnership with Grand Bay photographer Sheila Hagler, he is the author of three books, Cities of Silence: A Guide to Mobile’s Historic Cemeteries (University of Alabama Press, 2002), An Ornament to the City: Old Mobile Ironwork (University of Georgia Press, 2006), and The Pillared City: Greek Revival Mobile (University of Georgia Press, 2009). In addition, Sledge is books editor for the Mobile Press-Register. He and his wife live in Fairhope.

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