Issue 103, Winter 2012
On the cover: Portrait of William Augustus Bowles by Thomas Hardy. [State Archives of Florida]
Features
Mining Alabama’s Carrara: The Forgotten History of Sylacauga’s Marble Industry
By Ruth Beaumont Cook
Even long-time Alabama residents may not know that the state has an official rock—Sylacauga marble. Indeed, the stone proves valuable to artists and architects alike, and it has been used in everything from statuary to the ceiling of the Lincoln Memorial. This resource’s popularity and availability have often been tied to the place it originates, and Sylacauga’s fate has risen and fallen along with the marble. Ruth Beaumont Cook takes readers through the history of the city’s marble industry and to the current efforts being made to celebrate and preserve this unique natural resource.
William Augustus Bowles: Adventurous Rogue of the Old Southwest
Although born in the American colonies, William Augustus Bowles adhered to his ancestors’ strong sense of British loyalty, and he served with the British during the Revolutionary War. His primary allegiance, however, was to himself, and his adult life was marked by repeated efforts to position himself for personal gain and power. A charismatic and persuasive figure, Bowles enticed followers from many cultures and walks of life. And when he couldn’t earn status, he invented it, even declaring himself the Director General of the Creek Nation—and negotiating with other nations on its behalf. Alabama Heritage Associate Editor Susan Reynolds traces Bowles’s exploits, separating his actions from the many myths that encircled them.
Alabama: Richest in Biodiversity
By Edward O. Wilson
Alabama Heritage is honored to include in this issue the address delivered by distinguished socio-biologist Dr. Edward O. Wilson at the recent induction of the 2011 class of the Alabama Academy of Honor. In his address, Dr. Wilson—himself an Academy member—discusses the unique biological offerings of his native state and outlines necessary approaches to conserving these natural treasures. As an accompaniment to his address, Alabama Heritage Assistant Editor Elizabeth Wade offers a brief overview of the Alabama Academy of Honor, discussing the history of this organization and highlighting some of the members it has recognized over the decades.
“He Means to Have His Way”: Benjamin Sterling Turner, Alabama’s First African American Congressman
Born into slavery in North Carolina, Benjamin Sterling Turner held little hope of a prominent future. However, he subverted the expectations of his time, teaching himself to read and becoming a trusted member of his various owners’ estates. As a child, Turner moved to Alabama, but when Civil War broke out decades later, he knew his loyalty belonged to the side promising his freedom. Turner did not neglect his home state after the war, however, choosing instead to devote the remainder of his life to public service and that service to improving his Alabama home. His approach garnered him unprecedented recognition and helped him win election to the United States House of Representatives—Alabama’s first African American Congressman.
Departments
Portraits & Landscapes
James McCrory: Alabama’s Revolutionary War Hero
By Thomas V. Ress
Although a native of Ireland, James McCrory quickly adopted the allegiances of his new land, enlisting in the Continental Army shortly after his arrival in America. He served as a combatant in a number of significant battles and eventually became entrusted as one of George Washington’s bodyguards. After the war, he and his family helped establish the town of Vienna, Alabama, where he continued to devote his adult life to developing the new nation that had welcomed him when he was a teenager.
Becoming Alabama
Quarter by Quarter
By Joseph W. Pearson, Megan L. Bever, and Matthew Downs
In the latest installment of Becoming Alabama, the authors continue to trace developments at crucial times in Alabama’s history. Joseph Pearson takes us back to early 1812, when settlers flowed into the territory containing what would become the state of Alabama. Excited by the promise of trade and the lucrative cotton market, people came to the territory in great numbers. Not everyone was pleased by the growing population, though, and settlers and native communities continued to negotiate the division of land and resources. In the Civil War era, Megan Bever looks at the Battle of Shiloh, which exacted a ghastly toll on both factions of the conflict. Although the losses were unprecedented at the time, more bloody battles lay ahead. Finally, Matthew Downs revisits the Albany Movement and the tensions brewing among groups with different approaches to civil rights activism.
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.
Recollections
In the Shadow of Burning Crosses
By Gaye Duncan Holman
Although accounts of the civil rights movement abound, few people who witnessed a Ku Klux Klan rally have ever spoken of it on the record. In this special edition of Recollections, Gaye Duncan Holman remembers the night she and a friend left the safety of Birmingham-Southern College to see first-hand what was happening nearby—and how that night changed both Holman and the community around her.
Southern Religion
James H. DeVotie: A Lens into Southern Race Relations
By Christopher Peters
Although marked by a fiery and polarizing temperament in his younger days, James DeVotie matured into a significant and influential figure in the Baptist church throughout Georgia and Alabama. A pastor, editor, and educator who helped found present-day Samford University, DeVotie worked to organize and expand the south’s Baptist population. DeVotie’s life remains particularly compelling, allowing us to consider the way the cultural standards governing race relations were both incorporated into and modified by the church.
The Nature Journal
Tony Joe’s Poke Salad
Alabama Heritage’s resident nature expert Larry Davenport gets to the root of Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie,” a popular song from his childhood. In the process, he takes readers on a tour of linguistic and botanic history, explaining just what makes poke weed song-worthy—and deadly.
AH Update
Reclaiming Our Historic Lands
By Linda Derry, Gregory Waselkov, and Jessica Crawford
Alabama Heritage often highlights significant sites in need of preservation. In this special update, Alabama Heritage revisits Old Cahawba and Holy Ground, letting readers know about the progress that’s been made and the work still to be done.
Reading the Southern Past
The Civil War—Again
In this quarter’s installment of Reading the Southern Past, Stephen Goldfarb discusses several texts that offer new approaches to the Civil War, commenting on Adam Goodheart’s 1861: The Civil War Awakening (Knopf, 2011), Stephanie McCurry’s Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South (Harvard University Press, 2010), Andrew F. Smith’s Starving the South: How the North Won the Civil War (St. Martin’s Press, 2011), and Donald Stoker’s The Grand Design: Strategy and the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 2010).