Issue 135, Winter 2020
On the cover: An unidentified USCT soldier and his
family. [Photo Courtesy Library of Congress]
Features
Alabama’s Antebellum Herbal
Transactions of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, 1851-1855
Though the Civil War was undoubtedly the country’s dominant nineteenth-century conflict, communities within the country had their own internal battles as people sought to establish themselves and their credibility, all while chronicling the bounty of the young nation. Members of one such group, doctors trained at medical schools, struggled to assert their expertise in light of the rise of Thomsonians—practitioners with inconsistent training and commitment to plant-based remedies. To establish their own credentials in this realm, the members of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama spent several years chronicling the state’s plant life, explaining how each specimen offered remedies and treatments for common ailments. L. J. Davenport, Alabama Heritage’s resident naturalist, explores these men and the volumes they produced, offering a fascinating glimpse of medical practice and general health of the young state.
Fighting for Freedom
Alabama’s USCT Soldiers
By Robert S. Davis
Though the existence of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) during the Civil War remains relatively well-known, many of the details of these men’s experiences have long been obscure to the general public, known mainly to scholars. African American men joined the fighting for many reasons, but once enlisted, many of them faced discrimination from officers and even the military establishment. Approximately five thousand of these men hailed from Alabama. Some experienced combat, and others were used in different capacities away from the front lines, but all fought to secure the freedom they so fervently desired.
The Anne Goldthwaite Nobody Knew
By May Lamar
Though lesser-known today, Montgomery’s Anne Goldthwaite established herself as a significant American artist. The Alabama-born visual artist was an etcher, painter, and longtime advocate for equal rights for women. Though she occupied a central position among the artists of her era—befriending Gertrude Stein and exhibiting work in the 1913 Armory Show—much of her life remains unknown to us today. Fortunately, her unfinished memoir and the recollections of a ninety-year-old Montgomery resident help reveal Goldthwaite’s accomplishments, passions, and tragedies.
Correction: In this article we forgot to include the complete caption information for two images from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (mislabeled in the article as “Montgomery Museum of Art”). Here are the corrected credit lines:
- p. 31 Anne Goldthwaite (American, 1869–1944), The Potter—School Study, ca. 1902, etching on paper, 11 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, Gift of Adelyn D. Breeskin, 1982.16.7
- p. 38 Anne Goldthwaite (American, 1869–1944), Southern Pines, ca. 1915, etching on paper, 6 x 7 inches, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, Gift of Richard and Lucy Goldthwaite, 1972.43
The Voyage of Ain’t It ‘Ell
By John S. Sledge
The Great Depression caused a wide range of unusual behavior among Americans, as they struggled to eek out their existence under challenging circumstances. Perhaps one of the more unusual responses to loss of employment came from Charles Wooding Wynn, a Selma resident. When Wynn lost his job in 1931, he made a bold decision: he would take to the water. With his wife by his side, Wynn set off on the Alabama River, living off the land (and water) and experiencing the kindness of his fellow Alabamians who, like him, were struggling to grasp the rapidly changing world around them.
Department Abstracts
Alabama Makers
A Knitted Heritage: Reclaiming an Industry in the Former Sock Capital of the World
By Caitlyn Bell
Though Fort Payne, Alabama, once held the position of America’s biggest sock and hosiery manufacturer, the field declined, and the city lost its major industry. Gina Locklear grew up in a family of sock manufacturers, and she set out to reestablish the industry’s significant place in her hometown. Her success is clear through her company, Zkano, which works closely with small businesses—and whose very existence celebrates Fort Payne’s manufacturing heritage.
Alabama Governors
Robert Miller Patton
By Samuel L. Webb
Like many of Alabama’s early governors, Robert Miller Patton originally hailed from Virginia. However, his early years in Alabama helped shape his identity and his political career. As Alabama’s governor immediately following the Civil War, Patton reflected conflicting post-war circumstances, sometimes standing strongly for practices that only benefited whites and sometimes (likely from pragmatism, and often with some reluctance) advancing more inclusive legislation.
Behind the Image
The Renaissance Men from Tuskegee
By Frances Osborn Robb
A chance encounter with a photograph leads Alabama Heritage’s resident photography expert to discover a fascinating subject, an influential photographer, and the history that united them. The portrait of Louis Rayfield Purnell, a Tuskegee Airman and the Smithsonian Institution’s first black curator, was photographed by Prentice Herman Polk, another influential Tuskegee figure. The men’s encounter offers a compelling glimpse at the history of this institution and the influential legacies it shaped.
From the Archives
The Creators of Life: Creek Women in Early Alabama
By Alex Colvin
During 2020, the centennial of women’s suffrage, the “From the Archives” columns during will focus on the important roles of women in Alabama history. This inaugural installment explores the role of women in Creek communities and illuminates the significance of matrilineal societies. Throughout, it highlights archival materials that help us understand the history of our state’s early inhabitants.
Alabama Treasures
The Naheola Bridge
By Stephanie L. Robertson
Originally created to help ease commuting times for workers traveling between Black Belt counties, the Naheola Bridge was shared by trains and automobiles for a significant part of its history. Though the arrangement was precarious, miraculously no significant accidents took place. Today the bridge is used only by trains, but it still stands, a reminder of the region’s industrial history, the structures that arose from it, and the people at the center of it all.
Adventures in Genealogy
The Seventh-Floor Records Project
By Donna Cox Baker
Many significant records languish, forgotten or abandoned to attics, basements, and other sites ill-suited for preservation. However, when the Tuscaloosa Genealogical Society discovered that such a fate had befallen court records from the city’s early years, they leapt to work. With assistance from county officials, TGS labored to preserve these records and the valuable genealogical information they hold.
The Nature Journal
Columbo’s Viral Voyage
Larry Davenport offers a detailed introduction to one of the state’s significant medicinal plants, columbo (Frasera caroliniensis), in conjunction with his feature article on the Alabama physicians’ compilation of Alabama herbals. Davenport discusses the plant’s characteristics, its medicinal and cultural significance, and even the origins of its name. (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t named for the explorer.)
Article Update
The Mon Louis Island Schoolhouse Renovation Project
By Patricia Crawford
The founder and president of the Mon Luis Schoolhouse Renovation Project, updates readers on the project, reviews the schoolhouse’s history, and corrects some misinformation that has surrounded the structure. This feature was originally published in Issue 131, Winter 2019.
Reading the Southern Past
The Rise and Fall of “Separate but Equal”
This quarter’s installment of “Reading the Southern Past” considers the legacy of Plessy v. Furguson, the infamous 1896 court case. Under review are Steve Luxenberg’s Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation (W. W. Norton, 2019), Richard Kluger’s Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality (2nd edition, Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), and Margaret Edds’s We Face the Dawn (University of Virginia Press, 2018).
