Issue 102, Fall 2011
On the cover: Portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette at the time of his Alabama tour. [Alabama Department of Archives and History]
Features
“The Nation’s Guest”: The Marquis De Lafayette’s Tour of Alabama
By Edwin C. Bridges
As a Revolutionary War hero and beloved friend of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette occupied a significant place in nineteenth-century America. When he decided to visit Alabama as part of a tour of the United States, Lafayette set into motion one of the largest-scale celebrations the nascent state had ever staged. In a very special appearance, author Ed Bridges, Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, draws on historic items in the ADAH collection to illuminate the lavish reception accorded to Lafayette—and the tremendous bill that came with it.
Phantoms of the Wiregrass: Tracing the Incarnations of Alabama Folklore
By Nancy Gregory McLendon
Before humans recorded narratives in writing, they told stories as a way to preserve their cultural heritage and crucial information. Although the art of storytelling is less prominent today than previously, stories continue to circulate throughout communities, preserving legends, offering implicit moral advice, and sometimes even instilling fear in listeners. Nancy Gregory McLendon traces the role of folklore through the tale of Huggin’ Molly, an example of the southern ghost story at its finest.
“Martyrs…to a Mock Cause”: Murder, Mayhem, and an Honorable Scrubbing in Tuscaloosa
By B. J. Hollars
After a young white woman was murdered in Tuscaloosa in 1933, several African American men were arrested for the crime. The case attracted national attention, while the accused men drew visits, along with offers of legal support and defense, from members of the International Labor Defense, a northern group with Communist ties. Tuscaloosa’s citizens, skeptical of the perceived intrusion, took matters into their own hands—with deadly results and an image in need of scrubbing. Based on author B. J. Hollars’s book Thirteen Loops: Race, Violence, and the Last Lynching in America, available from University of Alabama Press.
Places in Peril 2011: Alabama’s Endangered Historic Landmarks
By Donna Castellano and David Schneider
Each year, Places in Peril highlights significant historical properties in need of preservation or restoration. This year’s list features a variety of structures throughout the state, from religious sites and historic homes to civic and commercial buildings. In addition, the annual list calls much-needed attention to the plight of historic movie theaters statewide. Each of these places would benefit from the interest and efforts of local preservationists.
In addition to the normal installment of Places in Peril, this year’s list also considers the recent storm damage. The spring tornadoes that ravaged Alabama left a wake of destruction that is still being assessed. Bob Gamble takes a preliminary survey of historic structures damaged or destroyed by the storms.
Departments
Southern Architecture and Preservation
A Victorian Lady Gets a New Start
By James Baños
Most of Birmingham’s private homes from the Victorian era fell to the ravages of disrepair or commercial development, but the house known as the “Twenty Twenty-Eight Building” survived intact into the twenty-first century. Preservationist James Baños details how the combined efforts of people across several eras helped protect this significant structure for future generations.
AH Update
To Kill a Mockingbird Letters
Everyone dreams of going to a yard sale and stumbling on a treasure, but few people actually accomplish this. Tracy Kyser, an Alabama teacher, did just that when he purchased several authentic letters discussing To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the letters came from Harper Lee herself, and it stands as a rare moment when the reclusive author commented on her work.
Becoming Alabama
Quarter by Quarter
By Joseph W. Pearson, Megan L. Bever, and Matthew Downs
This quarter’s installment of Becoming Alabama revisits the burgeoning tensions within the Creek Indian community, the first engagements of the Civil War, and the Massive Resistance aspect of the civil rights movement. In the fall of 1811, traditional Creek life faced many threats—from encroaching white settlers, certainly, but also from more modern-leaning factions of Creeks themselves. In 1861, victory in the Battle of Manassas bolstered the Confederacy’s spirits and renewed its vigor for the war effort. And in 1961, opponents to the civil rights movement formed White Citizens’ Councils to help resist further change.
Editor’s Note: Alabama Heritage, the Summersell Center for Study of the South, the University of Alabama Department of History, and the Alabama Tourism Department offer this department as a part of the statewide “Becoming Alabama” initiative—a cooperative venture of state organizations to commemorate Alabama’s experiences related to the Creek War, the Civil War, and the civil rights movement. Quarter by quarter we will take you to the corresponding seasons 200, 150, and 50 years ago—sometimes describing the most pivotal events, sometimes describing daily life, but always illuminating a world in flux. We will wait for the ultimate outcomes as our forbears did—over time.
Alabama Treasures
The Birmingham Medical College Scanning Project
By Tim L. Pennycuff
Although UAB is acclaimed for its medical school, not many people realize that Birmingham had another medical school at the turn of the century. Founded in 1894, the Birmingham Medical College was one of the state’s two such programs. The school was short-lived, closing in 1915, but thanks to recent support from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, records and archival materials from the Birmingham Medical College are now available in a searchable online database. Archivist Tim Pennycuff explores some of the collection’s treasures.
Nature Journal
The Red Hills Salabration
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of Alabama’s state amphibian, the Red Hills Salamander. Discovered by Leslie Hubricht, the elusive creature remains quite rare and is not sighted often. Larry Davenport recounts a commemorative visit to seek out and celebrate the species.
Reading the Southern Past
Alabama Baseball in Black and White
This quarter, Stephen Goldfarb takes up America’s pastime and explores its Alabama connections. In a review of Allen Barra’s Rickwood Field: A Century In America’s Oldest Ballpark (W. W. Norton, 2010) and Maury Allen & Susan Walker’s Dixie Walker of the Dodgers: The People’s Choice (University of Alabama Press, 2010), Goldfarb traces both the sites and the people that enriched Alabama’s ties to the sport and its fans.