In 2008 the University of Alabama at Birmingham silently set a goal to reach one billion dollars in donations only to go public with the said goal in 2013. According to the university website they ultimately reached their goal in 2018. Most recently The University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a $100 million donation for its Medical School from Marnix E. Heersink a renowned eye doctor. Dr. Heersink notes, “In just five years, the UAB School of Medicine grew its National Institutes of Health research portfolio by $100 million, making it one of only eight schools in the country to do so. This growth catapulted the School of Medicine’s NIH ranking from No. 31 in 2014 to No. 21 among all schools and the top 10 for public medical schools. In addition, 12 departments ranked among the top 20”. The funds would involve expanding not only the UAB School of Medicine but the construction of Marnix E. Heersink Institute of Biomedical Innovation and the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health, the Insititue for Global Health would be named after Dr. Heersink’s wife.
Electricity is by far one of the most important commodities people consume. The nature of our power consumption is constantly evolving. As prices and demand fluctuate for gas or oil, energy providers change how much is produced and how they generate it. Nuclear energy emerged after World War II as a viable source to balance rising energy demand and minimize the cost to consumers. To accommodate changing times, in 1977 Alabama Power opened the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant along the Chattahoochee River.
Keeping culture alive in today’s time is rarer than I hope for. But thank goodness for people like my grandmothers and mother for keeping the culture in me very much alive. Growing up, I would wear my Nani’s (grandmother) crocheted poncho with such pride, telling everyone that my grandma from Pakistan had made it with her own hands. And indeed, it was an actual skill not to use any kind of pattern and create items without any mistakes. It was like a part of Pakistan had traveled to me.
Hank Williams Sr. is one of the most important figures in the history of country music. His influence on the genre can still be felt today nearly seventy years after his passing. His writing style of simplistic language to convey complex emotions garnered him legions of fans, and he pushed country music into the mainstream. Hank Williams Sr. is one of the greatest country music singers of all time and his writing style, vocal performance, and persona helped to popularize country music.
The story of UAB football began in 1989 when the school decided to start an organized club football team. Just three years later, the team moved to NCAA Division III under athletic director Gene Bartow, who was a major supporter of UAB establishing a legitimate football program. The first head coach was Jim Hilyer, who was there from 1991 to 1994. The Hilyer era is considered successful, but in order to move up the team needed a new, more experienced leader.
In the state of Alabama, there are three sports that run deep in the roots of her citizens--college football, auto racing, and professional wrestling. Today professional wrestling continues to grow in popularity in the state. Alabama has served as a host for many major professional wrestling organizations for decades, ranging from World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Impact Wrestling/TNA, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E). With fans gathering at live shows at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham or the Von Braun Arena in Huntsville, or even small rural venues throughout the state, you are almost guaranteed a packed house and an exciting show from the wrestlers. The influence of wrestling in the state has introduced fans worldwide to talent ranging from Mobile’s Hardcore Holly to Birmingham’s Theodore Long, but no Alabamian had a larger influence in the business than Paul Bearer.
The first time I got shot at was in the summer of 2021. Fortunately, I survived. It was all part of a wartime reenactment of U S. Federal Troops facing down a band of outlaws and it proved educational and entertaining for a crowd of enthusiastic onlookers. Military reenactments in the U.S. covers a wide swath of history from the Roman era to the Vietnam war. Thousands of volunteers fill the ranks of soldiers. Not surprisingly, the most popular period of historical military reenactment in Alabama is the American Civil War.
The Civil War holds a place in American history as one of the most important events within the country outside of the American Revolution. One of the major reasons for its importance stems from the difference in conclusion when compared to many other wars, as the ideas held by the losing side remained even after the war concluded. This ties into the propaganda of the war specifically the idea of the “Lost Cause” which presents the confederacy not being in the wrong but simply being overwhelmed. One major piece of work pertaining to this idea is Augusta Jane Evans Wilson’s Macaria; Or, Altars of Sacrifice. Augusta Jane Evans Wilson was born in 1835 in Columbus, Georgia and would eventually move to Mobile, Alabama in 1849. While here she would participate in the Civil War acting as a nurse to Confederate soldiers, during which she wrote Macaria. Macaria centers on the role of women during the war through the perspective of Irene and Electra throughout the lead up and the events of the war. A large part of the work stems from the protagonists’ actions in support of the war, particularly Irene’s actions of nursing soldiers in the war mirroring Evan’s own.
Trussville, Alabama, located fourteen miles from downtown Birmingham, grew out of humble beginnings. Before officially becoming a town in 1947, the “Cahaba Project” attracted families to the area. This building development project began in the late 1930s as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Resettlement Administration (RA.) With the planned construction of 250 homes, this goal would be able to move low-income families from impoverished rural and urban areas into newer, modern facilities. Initially, the homes were designed to be a part of a rural community of small farmsteads, but the prior use of the land prevented that from happening. A 750-acre blast furnace site, active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, left slag heaps all around the proposed building sites. Because of the piles of stony waste, the subdivision born to the Cahaba Project, would come to be known as Slag Heap Village. Fortunately for the townspeople, this name would not last. It would be renamed Cahaba Village for the river with the same name running through the community.
Located in Northeast Alabama and recognized as “The Heart of Sand Mountain,” the City of Albertville is a place characterized by more than 70 years of growth and transformation. Currently, Albertville is a hub filled with 3 industrial parks that house 26 industrial facilities, the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater, and the Albertville Regional Airport, home to the Alabama Aviation College. Additionally, Albertville is also known as the "Fire Hydrant Capital of the World” because of Mueller Hydrants, which established itself from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Albertville in 1975. Albertville is a hub for industrial work but most importantly, it is home to a diverse mix of working-class Americans and immigrants from mostly Latin America. Physically Albertville is a city, however, the place maintains a small-town ambiance through its infrastructure and people.
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Alabama Heritage BLOG
At Alabama Heritage, we owe many of our successes and smooth operations to our fabulous student interns. We hope that with this blog--written mostly by our interns as well as history students from UAB and a few from our own editors--our readers will have an opportunity to get to know the students who bring so much to the table with their enthusiasm, hard work, and expertise! If you're interested in our internship program, check out the details here. Archives
April 2024
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