Issue 122, Fall 2016

Issue 122, Fall 2016

On the cover: Auburn University head football coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan. [Auburn University Libraries Special Collections and Archives)]

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Features

After leaving the wharf, the Creek delegation walked to America’s first capitol, Federal Hall (above, in a 1797 lithograph of Wall Street), where they greeted members of Congress. They returned to Federal Hall after the treaty was completed, as Pres. George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson signed the treaty before a packed gallery. (Library of Congress)
This lithograph of Hopothle Mico, one of three Creek “kings” in the party, is based on a sketch by John Trumbull. (New York Public Library)
William Bartram’s publisher prevailed upon the author to add a portrait of “the Long Warrior” as a frontispiece to his soon-to-be published Travels to capitalize on public interest in the Creeks’ visit. (A. S. Williams Americana Collection, the University of Alabama)
The visit to Philadelphia included a tour of Gray’s Ferry Gardens on the Schuykill River. (Wikimedia Commons)
Six Creeks were presented with presidential medals under terms of the treaty. The medals were made by New York silversmith Van Voorhis. (Alabama Department of Archives and History)
A letter from Henry Knox to the commander of the US fort on St. Mary’s River. The letter informed the commander of the Treaty of New York and of the treatment to be accorded to McGillivray on his return journey, stating, “The interests of the United States and the Creeks henceforward are proposed to be the same.” Knox instructed the commander to assist McGillivray’s party “in descending the river St. Mary’s and transporting their goods and baggage.” (Alabama Department of Archives and History)

The Creeks Take New York

By Kathryn H. Braund

As a new nation, the United States of America eagerly embraced the actions of an independent country. The first treaty it officially entered into, which established territorial claims between the US and the Creek Nation, involved a level of pomp and circumstance worthy of the occasion. A large group of Creek emissaries traveled across the Southeast and into the Mid-Atlantic, finally descending on New York City, the young nation’s capital, for a series of social and political engagements that culminated in the treaty’s signing. Kathryn Braund describes the journey—and the significant consequences of events it contained.

Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan drew on his love of history and his leadership experiences in World War II for the stories that he told to inspire his players before games. (Auburn University Libraries Special Collections and Archives)
Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan drew on his love of history and his leadership experiences in World War II for the stories that he told to inspire his players before games. (Auburn University Libraries Special Collections and Archives)
Jordan lettered in basketball and football at Auburn, playing center on the football team. (Auburn University Libraries Special Collections and Archives)
Jordan takes a moment from the war to relax with a Superman comic. (Ralph Jordan Jr.)
Jordan is the winningest coach in Auburn football history, compiling a career record of 176-83-6. (Auburn University Libraries Special Collections and Archives)
Jordan participated in four invasions during World War II, the first being Operation Torch in North Africa in 1942. (Ralph Jordan Jr.)

Ralph “Shug” Jordan: A Quiet Heroism

By Leah Rawls Atkins

Although best known for his storied career as a football coach at Auburn University, Ralph “Shug” Jordan never forgot the influential years he spent in the US Army. Jordan’s wartime experiences spanned some of the era’s most influential events, and as a member of the team that helped plan amphibious invasions, he was directly involved in the Normandy invasion. Jordan’s role in the military helped shape his entire person, and he often drew lessons and inspiration from those days in leading the Tigers to numerous gridiron victories.

The Search for John Lehman

By Joey Brackner

Art historians often have a challenging task—not just identifying why a work is artistically significant, but also tracing its provenance and origins. Scholars of southern pottery have had such a task in identifying the works now attributed to John Lehman, a nineteenth-century potter whose biographical details were long hidden by lost or obscure records. Joey Brackner recounts how historians have traced Lehman, piecing together his story and gaining a better understanding of his unique pottery.

This figural jug in the Birmingham Museum of Art is one of three known examples by Lehman, who made sure his craftsmanship would be recognized by stamping his name on the lapel. [Birmingham Museum of Art, photo by M. Sean Pathasema]
Viola looks ravishing in the height of flapper fashion at Judson College, circa 1922. During her senior year, she met her first husband, Oxford Stroud. (Will and Ruth Liddell)
This photograph was used in the 1950 Wilcox High Yearbook, which was dedicated to Viola. (Will and Ruth Liddell)
Viola’s marriage to Will Liddell allowed her the financial security to pursue her writing career. (Will and Ruth Liddell)
Viola and Will’s home on Broad Street in Camden, now known as the Bagby-Liddell House, was photographed for the Historic American Building Survey in 1936. (Library of Congress)

Viola Jefferson Goode Liddell and the Wilcox Round Table

By Tennant McWilliams

In Wilcox County, Alabama, for nearly four decades, Viola Liddell led an group of democratic intellectuals in their own “Round Table,” around which they discussed politics, the arts, writing, and southern life. Notable guests to the Round Table gatherings included authors, photographers, and even—it’s rumored—some Hollywood motion picture professionals, who visited Alabama in preparation for making the film To Kill a Mockingbird. As a writer, Liddell made her own mark on the literary world, publishing both poetry and prose, and remained a central figure of Wilcox County’s intellectual community throughout her long life.

Whispering Oaks, Opelika, ca. 1900.
[Robin McDonald]

Places in Peril 2016: Alabama’s Endangered Historic Landmarks

By Michael W. Panhorst

Each year, Alabama Heritage, the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Alabama Historical Commission highlight significant structures in desperate need of intervention and preservation. This year’s Places in Peril list includes homes, a church, a post office, and even a cave—a natural site in dire need of preservation and support. For more information on how you might help preserve these historic parts of Alabama’s heritage, or to nominate a Place In Peril for 2017, please visit www.alabamaheritage.com/places-in-peril, www.alabamatrust.info, email alabamatrust@athp.org, or call (205) 652-3497.

Departments

Alabama Makers

Scott McQueen and Fayette’s Artistic Legacy

By Curtis Clark

Scott McQueen, a chaplain whose folk art has steadily been making a name for its creator, links his artistic practice to the rich cultural heritage he encountered as a youngster in Fayette. Kentuck’s Curtis Clark explores McQueen’s artistic legacy, tracing his style through the influence of other Fayette folk artists such as Jimmy Lee Sudduth and Rev. Ben Perkins.

Folk artist Scott McQueen’s earliest found materials were old license plates that he cut up for their letters, as in Old Friends. [Robin McDonald]
Hugh McVay by Margaret Whetstone (1938). [Alabama Department of Archives and History]

Alabama Governors

Hugh McVay (August-November 1837)

By Samuel L. Webb

Hugh McVay served as Alabama’s governor for only a few months, limiting the effect of his time in the office. Compounding this lack of influence was a lack of knowledge about several crucial issues being debated in the state at the time—a lack of knowledge some believe was perpetuated by McVey’s fellow politicians, who feared the direction his intervention might take.

Maj. William H. Wood standing outside his tent at Camp Martin Cox (also known as Bearcat Base) in South Vietnam, December 1966. Wood, a captain in the US Air Force, was stationed in Vietnam from December 1966 to November 1967. He was promoted to major in September 1967. [Alabama Department of Archives and History]

From the Archives

Vietnam: The Alabama Experience

By Tracey Berezansky

As Alabama marks an extended commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) highlights a number of archival holdings related to Alabamians’ participation. As part of that commemoration, the ADAH would like to expand its collections documenting the Vietnam era and the lives of Alabamians in those years. Stories of soldiers and nurses; the effects on communities surrounding Fort Rucker, the Anniston Depot, and other military installations in the state; the anti-war movement, especially on university campuses; and life on the home front are all waiting to be told. Help us tell your story to future generations of Alabamians. If you are interested in donating Vietnam-related materials, please contact registrar Sherrie Hamil at sherrie.hamil@archives.alabama.gov or call (334) 353-4726.

Portraits and Landscapes

The University of Alabama Reserve Officers Training Corps: 100-Year Anniversary

By Jonathan L. Goode

Although it is not officially a military school, the University of Alabama (UA) has a rich tradition of students participating in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).  In fact, the UA military cadets program predates the official founding of the United States ROTC. Jonathan Goode, a professor in the UA ROTC program, recounts the program’s history at the university and its role in military conflicts dating back to the Civil War.

: ROTC cadets of both sexes pose on the stairs of Gorgas Library on the University of Alabama campus in 1963. [Courtesy W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, the University of Alabama]

Adventures in Genealogy

Alabama Family History and Heritage Project

By Donna Cox Baker

One recurring challenge faced by many genealogical researchers is the lack of information—or access to it. As Alabama prepares to celebrate the bicentennial of its statehood, however, the Alabama Bicentennial Commission has a solution for this challenge: the creation of a digital database of genealogical and historical records, to be housed at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. This database will facilitate research and discovery, making it exponentially easier for people to learn about their own heritage.

This logo will represent the Alabama Family History & Heritage Project of the state’s bicentennial. [Alabama Bicentennial Commission]

Reading the Southern Past

A Tale of Two Tribes

By Stephen Goldfarb

This quarter’s installment of “Reading the Southern Past” explores the relationship between the United States and the Creek Nation through reviews of several works: William W. Winn’s The Triumph of the Ecunnau-Nuxulgee: Land speculators, George M. Troup, State Rights, and the Removal of the Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama, 1825–38 (Mercer University Press, 2015) and Steve Inskeep’s Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab (Penguin Books, 2015).

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