ALABAMA HERITAGE
  • Magazine
    • Current and Back Issues >
      • Back Issues 141-150 >
        • Issue 147, Winter 2023
        • Issue 146, Fall 2022
        • Issue 145, Summer 2022
        • Issue 144, Spring 2022
        • Issue 143, Winter 2022
        • Issue 142, Fall 2021
        • Issue 141, Summer 2021
      • Back Issues 131-140 >
        • Issue 140, Spring 2021
        • Issue 139, Winter 2021
        • Issue 138, Fall 2020
        • Issue 137, Summer 2020
        • Issue 136, Spring 2020
        • Issue 135, Winter 2020
        • Issue 134, Fall 2019
        • Issue 133, Summer 2019
        • Issue 132 Spring 2019
        • Issue 131, Winter 2019
      • Back Issues 121-130 >
        • Issue 130, Fall 2018
        • Issue 129, Summer 2018
        • Issue 128, Spring 2018
        • Issue 127, Winter 2018
        • Issue 126, Fall 2017
        • Issue 125 Summer 2017
        • Issue 124, Spring 2017
        • Issue 123, Winter 2017
        • Issue 122, Fall 2016
        • Issue 121, Summer 2016
      • Back Issues 111-120 >
        • Issue 120, Spring 2016
        • Issue 119, Winter 2016
        • Issue 118, Fall 2015
        • Issue 117, Summer 2015
        • Issue 116, Spring 2015
        • Issue 115, Winter 2015
        • Issue 114, Fall 2014
        • Issue 113, Summer 2014
        • Issue 112, Spring 2014
        • Issue 111, Winter 2014
      • Back Issues 101-110 >
        • Issue 110, Fall 2013
        • Issue 109, Summer 2013
        • Issue 108, Spring 2013
        • Issue 107, Winter 2013
        • Issue 106, Fall 2012
        • Issue 105, Summer 2012
        • Issue 104, Spring 2012
        • Issue 103, Winter 2012
        • Issue 102, Fall 2011
        • Issue 101, Summer 2011
      • Back Issues 91-100 >
        • Issue 100, Spring 2011
        • Issue 99, Winter 2011
        • Issue 98, Fall 2010
        • Issue 97, Summer 2010
        • Issue 96, Spring 2010
        • Issue 95, Winter 2010
        • Issue 94, Fall 2009
        • Issue 93, Summer 2009
        • Issue 92, Spring 2009
        • Issue 91, Winter 2009
      • Back Issues 81-90 >
        • Issue 90, Fall 2008
        • Issue 89, Summer 2008
        • Issue 88, Spring 2008
        • Issue 87, Winter 2008
        • Issue 86, Fall 2007
        • Issue 85, Summer 2007
        • Issue 84, Spring 2007
        • Issue 83, Winter 2007
        • Issue 82, Fall 2006
        • Issue 81, Summer 2006
      • Back Issues 71-80 >
        • Issue 80, Spring 2006
        • Issue 79, Winter 2006
        • Issue 78, Fall 2005
        • Issue 77, Summer 2005
        • Issue 76, Spring 2005
        • Issue 75, Winter 2005
        • Issue 74, Fall 2004
        • Issue 73, Summer 2004
        • Issue 72, Spring 2004
        • Issue 71, Winter 2004
      • Back Issues 61-70 >
        • Issue 70, Fall 2003
        • Issue 69, Summer 2003
        • Issue 68, Spring 2003
        • Issue 67, Winter 2003
        • Issue 66, Fall 2002
        • Issue 65, Summer 2002
        • Issue 64, Spring 2002
        • Issue 63, Winter 2002
        • Issue 62, Fall 2001
        • Issue 61, Summer 2001
      • Back Issues 51-60 >
        • Issue 60, Spring 2001
        • Issue 59, Winter 2001
        • Issue 58, Fall 2000
        • Issue 57, Summer 2000
        • Issue 56, Spring 2000
        • Issue 55, Winter 2000
        • Issue 54, Fall 1999
        • Issue 53, Summer 1999
        • Issue 52, Spring 1999
        • Issue 51, Winter 1999
      • Back Issues 41-50 >
        • Issue 50, Fall 1998
        • Issue 49, Summer 1998
        • Issue 48, Spring 1998
        • Issue 47, Winter 1998
        • Issue 46, Fall 1997
        • Issue 45, Summer 1997
        • Issue 44, Spring 1997
        • Issue 43, Winter 1997
        • Issue 42, Fall 1996
        • Issue 41, Summer 1996
      • Back Issues 31-40 >
        • Issue 40, Spring 1996
        • Issue 39, Winter 1996
        • Issue 38, Fall 1995
        • Issue 37, Summer 1995
        • Issue 36, Spring 1995
        • Issue 35, Winter 1995
        • Issue 34, Fall 1994
        • Issue 33, Summer 1994
        • Issue 32, Spring 1994
        • Issue 31, Winter 1994
      • Back Issues 21-30 >
        • Issue 30, Fall 1993
        • Issue 29, Summer 1993
        • Issue 28, Spring 1993
        • Issue 27, Winter 1993
        • Issue 26, Fall 1992
        • Issue 25, Summer 1992
        • Issue 24, Spring 1992
        • Issue 23, Winter 1992
        • Issue 22, Fall 1991
        • Issue 21, Summer 1991
      • Back Issues 11-20 >
        • Issue 20, Spring 1991
        • Issue 19, Winter 1991
        • Issue 18, Fall 1990
        • Issue 17, Summer 1990
        • Issue 16, Spring 1990
        • Issue 15, Winter 1990
        • Issue 14, Fall 1989
        • Issue 13, Summer 1989
        • Issue 12, Spring 1989
        • Issue 11, Winter 1989
      • Back Issues 1-10 >
        • Issue 10, Fall 1988
        • Issue 9, Summer 1988
        • Issue 8, Spring 1988
        • Issue 7, Winter 1988
        • Issue 6, Fall 1987
        • Issue 5, Summer 1987
        • Issue 4, Spring 1987
        • Issue 3, Winter 1987
        • Issue 2, Fall 1986
        • Issue 1, Summer 1986
    • Digital Features
    • Links of Interest
    • Bonus Materials >
      • Adventures in Genealogy
      • Alabama Heritage Blog
      • Alabama Territory
      • Becoming Alabama >
        • Creek War Era
        • Civil War Era
        • Civil Rights Movement
      • From the Vault
      • History in Ruins
      • Places in Peril
      • Recipes
  • Online Store
    • Customer Service
  • About Us
    • Awards
    • Meet Our Team
    • News
    • Writer's Guidelines and Submissions
  • Search
  • Donate
Published by The University of Alabama,
The University of Alabama at Birmingham,
and the Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Heritage Issue 136, Spring 2020
Issue 142, Fall 2021
Buy This Issue
Start Your Subscription
Give a Gift Subscription
On the cover: Alabama writer Mary Ward Brown at her home in Marion. See article page 24.
(Photograph © Jerry Siegel)

FEATURE  ABSTRACTS


Poarch Creek Chief Calvin McGhee
“Finding” Clotilda: Now What Happens?
By Stacye Hathorn and James P. Delgado
​
Though the importation of enslaved persons had been outlawed in 1807, Capts. Timothy Meaher and William Foster decided to flout the law by importing enslaved persons on the Clotilda in 1860. Many who entered Mobile on the ship settled in an area they called Africatown, where some of their descendants remain today. The ship’s whereabouts remained unconfirmed for well over a century, though some locals believed they know where it had been abandoned. When an unauthorized exploration claimed to have located the remains of Clotilda, experts from the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) stepped in to determine the truth. The AHC worked with strategic partners, including the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the National Park Service (NPS), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the Slave Wrecks Project (SWP), and SEARCH, Inc., a private cultural resource management firm. Thanks to their expertise and effort, the team verified the actual remains of Clotilda, shedding light on a long-shrouded mystery.
 
About the Author
Stacye Hathorn is the Alabama State Archaeologist with the Alabama Historical Commission and the project manager
for the Clotilda investigations. Hathorn is an archaeologist and sociolinguist with over two decades of experience in field archaeology, preservation, and public archaeology with practice in archaeology of the southeastern United States and early Christian Ireland. Hathorn’s research interests include cultural persistence in terms of both material culture and language. A native of Southside, Alabama, and daughter of a millwright and homemaker, Hathorn now lives in Tallassee, Alabama, and is mother to two daughters.

James P. Delgado is the Senior Vice President of SEARCH, Inc. and has led SEARCH’s work on Clotilda since the beginning of the project. A maritime archeologist who has worked around the world on over a hundred maritime archaeological projects and wrecks, his specialty is nineteenth-century ships and shipping. He is the author of over thirty books and is the lead author (with Deborah Marx, Kyle Lent, Joseph Grinnan, and Alex De Caro) of the soon-to-be published Clotilda: A Mid-Nineteenth Century Schooner Wreck in the Mobile River (University of Alabama Press).
​

Additional Information
  • The Smithsonian Institution’s article on Clotilda: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/clotilda-last-known-slave-ship-arrive-us-found-180972177/
  • Encyclopedia of Alabama article on Afticatown: http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1402 

Back to Top

Picture
Mary Ward Brown: A Writer’s Life
By Wayne Flynt
 
Perry County native Mary Ward Thomas Brown arrived late to her writing career, but once there, she gained substantial acclaim. Brown published her first short story at age thirty-eight, and success came slowly, but it did arrive. The publication of her collections, Tongues of Flame and It Wasn’t All Dancing, was gratifying, but her most proud achievement was the inclusion of one of her stories in The Human Experience, an anthology of prominent Russian and American writers. Brown’s close friend, Wayne Flynt, chronicles her life and legacy in this tribute to one of Alabama’s own literary geniuses.
 
About the Author
​
Wayne Flint has lived in and shared his lover’s quarrel with Alabama for most of his 81 years. He has lived in Sheffield, Gadsden, Anniston, Birmingham, Dothan, and Auburn, and taught at Samford University for 12 years and Auburn University for 28. He also was Eudora WeltyVisiting Scholar at Millsap College. His 6,000 students included 68 MA and PhD graduates. He served as president of the Alabama and Southern Historical associations, received numerous awards for his 15 books, and was elected to the Alabama Academy of Honor. His most cherished awards were the Hugo Black Award (University of Alabama), the C. Vann Woodward/John Hope Franklin Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, and the Governor’s Award for the Arts. He was visiting professor in Hong Kong and lectured abroad in the United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and the People’s Republic of China.
 
Additional Information
  • Encyclopedia of Alabama article on Brown: http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1615
  • Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame entry on Brown: http://www.awhf.org/brown.html

Back to Top

William Berney
Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment: The Many Lives of a Huntsville Landmark
By Stephanie L. Robertson
 
Today, Huntsville’s Lowe Mill is a vibrant arts center, but the structure has an extensive history dating back to the state’s mid-nineteenth-century textile industry. The mill incorporated at the turn of the century, just one of Huntsville’s many textile mills. The structure changed hands many times over the decades, but it became a mainstay of the community, offering its employees and their families cultural opportunities such as a village with schools, a YMCA, stores, and other businesses. After changes in the industry rendered the factory obsolete, the mill’s structure was revitalized by the introduction of artists into the space. Today, the organization has become the “largest privately owned arts facility in the South,” complete with artists and artisans who create new kinds of artwork in a classic space.
 
About the Author
Stephanie L. Robertson grew up behind her parents’ general merchandise store, Jachin Grocery, in Jachin, Alabama. She graduated in human environmental science at the University of Alabama in the 1990s and moved to North Alabama, where she now lives with her husband, Jim, and their daughter, Elizabeth. Robertson produces social media content for Central Valley Church of Christ and has been published in local newspapers and magazines. She writes about southern life at www.sweetgumlife.com and plans to self-publish her dystopian novel in fall 2022. Her self-published novella, The Black Box, is available on Amazon.
 
Additional Information
  • Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment: https://lowemill.art/
  • Huntsville History: http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2498

Back to Top

Alabama suffragist Harriet Hooker Wilkins
Remembering Jimmy Hatcher: A Showman of the South
By Tim L. Pennycuff

Known to admirers as Alabama’s “Mister Theater,” Enterprise native Jimmy Hatcher made an indelible mark on Birmingham and the state. He began his performing career as a student at Birmingham Southern College, and he moved on to become a full-time theater instructor, spending decades as a theater professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Throughout, he nurtured and trained generations of thespians, working with everyone from Fannie Flag to Leonard Nimoy.
 
About the Author
Tim L. Pennycuff is the University Archivist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and holds a faculty appointment in the UAB Libraries as an associate professor. His most recent publication, Fifty Years of Dreams and Discoveries: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (2019), is a coffee-table photo book co-authored with Charles Buchanan and created by a host of UAB staff to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of UAB. While he never knew the subject of this article, for his entire two-decade-long career at UAB, Pennycuff has lived with Jimmy Hatcher—more accurately with Hatcher’s archival legacy in the various collections of the UAB Archives, including the Hatcher and Lily May Caldwell manuscript collections and the archival records of Town and Gown Theatre. Pennycuff would like to thank Jennifer Beck, archival associate at UAB, for her assistance.
 
Additional Information
  • Virginia Samford Theatre: https://www.virginiasamfordtheatre.org/theatre-info/history/
  • Town & Gown Records from UAB Archives: https://library.uab.edu/locations/archives/collections/university-records/record-group-45


Back to Top

DEPARTMENT  ABSTRACTS


Picture
Letter from the Director
​After nearly two decades as Alabama Heritage’s Editor, Donna Cox Baker announces her retirement.
 


Back to Top

Picture
Portraits and Landscapes
The Emancipation of John Bell

By Carlie Anne Burkett

After being purchased and enslaved by Alabama politician William Rufus King, John Bell was relocated to Alabama, where he spent many years at Chestnut Hill, King’s plantation, as well as time in France when King was appointed as a minister to that country. Upon King’s death, Bell experienced a complicated path to emancipation, one circumscribed by the state’s laws and the whims of King’s surviving relatives.
 
About the Author
Carlie Anne Burkett is a reference archivist at the Alabama Department of Archives and History who holds an MA in library and information science from the University of Southern Mississippi. 

Additional Information
  • To learn more about William Rufus King, see the Encyclopedia of Alabama: http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1886​

Back to Top

Picture
Alabama Governors
George S. Houston

By Colin Rafferty

As a two-term governor, George Houston led Alabama into more than a century of Democratic leadership. Among his decisions, those with the longest ramifications were overseeing the creation of a new state constitution (a document still used today) and his decision to enact convict leasing (a practice Alabama maintained longer than any other state).
 
About the Author
Colin Rafferty teaches at the University of Mary Washington and is the author of Execute the Office: Essays with Presidents (Baobab, 2021) and Hallow This Ground (Indiana University Press, 2016).

Additional Information
  • For a more complete biography of Governor Houston, please see the Encyclopedia of Alabama website: http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1511
  • To purchase Colin Rafferty’s books, please see Execute the Office: https://bookshop.org/books/execute-the-office-essays-with-presidents/9781936097326 Hallow This Ground: https://bookshop.org/books/hallow-this-ground/9780253019073


Back to Top

Picture
Behind the Image
A Crazy Quilt
By Frances Osborn Robb

A photograph from a Florence, Alabama, photographer reveals insights into the influence of Japanese culture on nineteenth-century America, thanks to the exhibits at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. Held in Philadelphia, the exposition introduced Americans to the ceramic designs that led to “fancy work” and the creation of so-called crazy quilts.
 
About the Author
Frances Osborn Robb is the contributing editor for the “Behind the Image” department of Alabama Heritage. She is the author of Shot in Alabama: A History of Photography, 1839–1941, and a List of Photographers (University of Alabama Press, 2017).
 
Additional Information
  • Shot in Alabama: A History of Photography, 1839–1941, and a List of Photographers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1I7TD
Back to Top

Picture
From the Archives
Threads of Evidence: Investigating the Origins of a Confederate Flag Remnant
By Georgia Ann Hudson and Ryan Blocker

Archivists at the Alabama Department of Archives and History use contemporary tools to uncover more information about a fragment of fabric that it received in 1950. Purported to be a sliver of the first flag of the Confederacy, this fragment’s complete provenance remains unclear, but thanks to collaboration from archival institutions, we now have more information about its origins than ever before.
​

About the Author
Georgia Ann Hudson is communications coordinator and Ryan Blocker is museum collections coordinator at the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

​Back to Top



Picture
Nature Journal
Bluebirds (And Happiness)
By L.J. Davenport

Thanks to the introduction of the invasive European Starling, Eastern Bluebirds have been threatened by loss of habitat. To combat this, John Findlay began constructing bluebird boxes, offering homes perfectly designed for the species. Today, the John Finlay III Bluebird Trail at Birmingham’s Oak Mountain inspires many, including Alabama Heritage’s resident naturalist, who decided to build some bluebird boxes of his own.

About the Author
Larry Davenport serves as Paul N. Propst Professor of Natural Sciences at Samford University, Birmingham.

Additional Information
  • To learn more about birding at Oak Mountain, please see https://alabamabirdingtrails.com/sites/oak-mountain-state-park/
  • To learn more about Eastern Bluebirds, please see https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Bluebird/id


Picture
Reading the Southern Past
“A Republic of Equal Citizens”
By Stephen Goldfarb
This quarter’s installment of “Reading the Southern Past” explores the legacy of the Civil War and civil rights, taking as its topic Eric Foner’s The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution (W. W. Norton, 2019), Michael Vorenberg’s Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment (Cambridge University Press, 2001), and James Oakes’s The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution (W. W. Norton, 2021).


About the Author
Stephen Goldfarb holds a PhD in the history of science and technology. He retired from a public library in 2003.

Additional Information
  • The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution: https://www.amazon.com/Second-Founding-Reconstruction-Remade-Constitution-ebook/dp/B07P769MSX
  • Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment: https://www.amazon.com/Final-Freedom-Abolition-Thirteenth-Historical-ebook/dp/B00174LWPA
  • The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution: https://www.amazon.com/Crooked-Path-Abolition-Antislavery-Constitution-ebook/dp/B08D11TRYT

Back to Top

Online Store
​Customer Service
Meet Our Team
Board of Directors
Corporate Sponsors
News
Join Our Email List

Employment
UA Disclaimer
UA Privacy Policy ​
​Website comments or questions?  

Email ah.online@ua.edu
Published by The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History
​Alabama Heritage
Box 870342
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
Local: (205) 348-7467
Toll-Free: (877) 925-2323
Fax: (205) 348-7473

alabama.heritage@ua.edu