Issue 136, Spring 2020
On the cover: Rabbi Abraham Heschel, a friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University]
Features
Montgomery’s Movie Theaters in the Twilight of the B-Western
By Jim Vickrey
Though today even our telephones can stream movies, in an earlier era going to the movies was a major social event, especially for youngsters. In Montgomery in particular, for many youth, the calendar revolved around trips to one or more of the city’s movie theaters. Jim Vickrey offers a look back at the theaters of his youth—including the Strand, the Capri, the Clover, the Charles, the Pekin, and others—as well as the films that graced them and the lessons they instilled. Foremost among those lessons were the mores of the “Cowboy Code,” the ideals embodied by the likes of Gene Autry, William Boyd, Roy Rogers, and Alabama’s own Johnny Mack Brown.
The Rabbi and Dr. King
Though they may have seemed like unlikely friends from the outside, Rabbi Abraham Heschel and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. established a close and formative friendship that helped determine the course of the civil rights movement. King (born in Atlanta in 1929) looked to Heschel (born in Warsaw in 1907) for input and wisdom at key points during the movement. Heschel, who escaped the Holocaust but lost family members during it, may have recognized something of himself when he first responded to King’s efforts in Selma. Despite their different faiths, the pair found many commonalities in their shared struggle, and they remained friends until King’s untimely death.
James Henry Johnson’s Murder, Conviction, and Pardon
“Injustice to the Living Cannot Benefit the Dead”
By Claire Hamner Matturro
After the 1904 murder of A. J. Rollinson, only one thing seemed certain: James Henry Johnson was responsible. His conviction at trial supported this idea. However, in the days that followed, many unusual circumstances surrounded his situation. Eventually, Johnson received an early release from prison to tend to his dying wife, and he was ultimately granted a pardon. Johnson returned to his life and children, and he established himself as a prominent and prosperous member of Dallas County society.
Places in Peril 2019
By Lee Anne Hewett Wofford
Each year, Alabama Heritage, the Alabama Historical Commission, and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation collaborate to promote Places in Peril, which highlights significant endangered historic properties in Alabama. Due to the fact that our Fall 2019 issue was devoted to Alabama’s bicentennial of our early statehood years, we are presenting the 2019 Places in Peril list in this issue. The list includes a number of important properties in urgent need of intervention, from a Native American trade canal to hotel, from a funeral home to an African American school and cemetery.
Department Abstracts
Alabama Makers
Richard Grugel: Giving History New Life
By Courtney Lowery
You might imagine that a NASA scientist who develops experiments for microgravity research aboard the International Space Station would just want to kick back and relax in his off time. But not Richard Grugel! Grugel spends his spare time practicing woodworking, using found or scrap objects to craft unique pieces of furniture. The Decatur artist even finds time to show his work at local festivals. As he nears retirement, Grugel may just have some extra time in his schedule—meaning that Alabamians may have even more locally made items in which to delight.
Alabama Governors
Gen. Wager T. Swayne
By Samuel L. Webb
The man who led Alabama after its twentieth governor was never elected. Rather, Gen. Wager T. Swayne was appointed as a military governor during Reconstruction. A New York native and Brigadier General in the Union Army, Swayne advocated for humane treatment of African Americans, punishing whites who enacted violence against them, and outlawing chain gangs. He was also formative in bringing the Republican Party to Alabama. Though removed by Pres. Andrew Johnson less than a year into his appointment, Swayne offered Alabamians a new way forward after the Civil War.
Portraits & Landscapes
Strawberry Fields Forever: The Legacy of Bruce Kelly
By Jenny Enslen Stubbs
Most people likely recognize—or at least have heard of—Strawberry Fields, the area in New York City’s Central Park that memorializes musician John Lennon. But far fewer know the name of the man who created Strawberry Fields—Bruce Kelly. Kelly, an Alabama native, spent much of his youth in Georgia, where he cultivated a love for gardening and a robust set of opinions about where his mother’s plants should take root. Kelly pursued education and a career in New York City, where he pioneered the field of landscape architecture. His work on Strawberry Fields emerged from his connection to Central Park and its extensive restoration, in which he was instrumental.
Behind the Image
A Tale of a Traveling Man
By Frances Osborn Robb
Sometimes one form of technology can assist in unearthing details about another. Though daguerreotypes may not seem like technology in the twenty-first century, in their own era they offered remarkable advances and are still the object of careful study by photographic historians. They can also reveal important details about the art and culture of their creation. For that reason, when a British historian had a daguerreotype with Alabama connections, he quickly reached out to historians in the American South for information. From that correspondence came this tale of a traveling daguerreotype maker and his time in Alabama.
From the Archives
Geneva Mercer’s “Lasting Tribute” to Julia Tutwiler
By Scotty E. Kirkland
The “From the Archives” columns during 2020, the centennial of women’s suffrage, will focus on the important roles of women in Alabama history. In this installment, archivist Scotty Kirkland explores the importance of Julia Tutwiler and the memorial Tutwiler’s student, Geneva Mercer, created in her honor. That memorial, a marble sculpture created by Mercer, an accomplished artist, now graces the Alabama Department of Archives and History, a lasting tribute to the woman who shaped life for so many generations of Alabamians.
The Nature Journal
Prothonotary Warblers
Avid birders are prone to curious escapades. After all, they are often up before dawn, traipsing through the wilderness in search of that special, elusive species. So when Alabama Heritage’s resident naturalist heard about prothonotary warblers lurking in Alabama’s Ebenezer Swamp, he well, naturally headed off in hot pursuit of the black-and-yellow beauties.
Reading the Southern Past
El Golfo de México (Or the Fishy Sea)
This quarter’s installment of “Reading the Southern Past” explores two different texts focused on Alabama’s oceanfront. Taken together, The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History (University of South Carolina Press, 2019), by John Sledge, and The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea (Liveright, 2017), by Jack Davis, offer a well-rounded picture of the Gulf of Mexico. While Sledge tracks the area’s political history, Davis explores the natural environment of the area.
