Issue 145, Summer 2022
On the cover: Irondale Fire Department, Engine No.1, a 1959 American LaFrance–Foamite Corporation cab-forward, open-cab pumper. [Ken Boyd)]
Features
Preserving Historic Fire Equipment in Alabama
Photography and Text By Ken Boyd
For many people, firefighting equipment is something they take for granted—and perhaps hope they never need. But the firefighters on which we rely have worked throughout their history to develop better and better tools, both to serve those in need and to ensure the safety of all involved. Birmingham’s Southern Vintage Fire Apparatus Association (SVFAA) displays a wealth of historic artifacts that represent the history of American firefighting, including an authentic Calamity Jane and numerous other trucks and engines. Author and photographer Ken Boyd offers readers a verbal and visual tour of the collection’s highlights, sure to inspire an in-person visit.
Alice Coachman and the Tuskegee Women’s Track-and-Field Team
By Stanley Keith Arnold
Just after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and well in advance of the Civil Rights Movement, a group of talented individuals at the Tuskegee Institute helped demonstrate that Black women could be premiere athletes. Launched in 1929, the women’s track team featured many stars, though none shone quite so brightly as Alice Coachman. A multi-sport athlete, Coachman excelled at track, becoming the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Stanley Keith Arnold explores the rich history of Coachman and her teammates, who helped paved the way for generations of female athletes who followed.
A Tale of Two Spanish Forts
By Greg Waselkov and Mike Bunn
The Spanish redoubt at “The Village” was a key site in the Revolutionary War, where in 1781 Great Britain and Spain vied for conquest of critical control of the Gulf Coast. The only problem: today no one knows precisely where it was. Archaeologist Greg Waselkov and historian Mike Bunn chronicle the information about “The Village,” exploring the myths, stories, and histories that have surrounded the site for nearly 250 years and shedding light on the facts revealed so far by ongoing archaeological exploration.
A Centennial Celebration
The University of Alabama’s Risk Management and Insurance Program
By William H. Rabel
Nearly a century after its formation, the University of Alabama’s program in Risk Management and Insurance has brought significant international acclaim to the university and its students, all while shaping generations of experts in the field. Dr. William H. Rabel explores the program’s many accomplishments and accolades, highlighting the talent of the program’s faculty and the ways its alumni have helped shaped the practices of their discipline.
Department Abstracts
Portraits and Landscapes
The Unknown Potter
By Jerry Paul Otts
Though pottery has existed for centuries, it has all too often been perceived as an everyday, quotidian object rather than an art form in its own right. Only recently have Alabama potters started to gain the acclaim they deserve. However, some potters have long remained unknown, though their distinctive works have garnered attention. One such potter, James C. “Jim” Humphries, left a rich dual legacy—unique works of clay, and also a generation of descendants who followed his path into creating southern pottery.
Alabama Governors
Thomas Seay (1886-1890)
Alabama’s twenty-seventh governor, Thomas Seay was one of the state’s native sons. Born in what was then Greene County (today part of Hale County), Seay advanced to the governorship, where he served two terms, after serving in the Confederate Army and launching his career as an attorney. Though he tried to pursue politics after his stint as governor, he was unsuccessful.
Behind the Image
Blow that Horn!
By Frances Osborn Robb
Thanks to the massive efforts of the Farm Security Administration (FSA), an organization that documented numerous aspects of life on the home front during World War II, we have a veritable treasure trove of photographs from that era. In this quarter’s installment of “Behind the Image,” France Osborn Robb explores one specific image, taken in Enterprise, Alabama, by John Collier Jr. Through her exploration of this image, Robb offers commentary on wartime trends in Alabama and beyond.
From the Archives
“Into Focus: Images of a Changing Alabama, 1966-2001”
By Sam Christensen, Alex Colvin, and Mary Haynes Furman
A new exhibit of photography at the Alabama Department of Archives and History chronicles significant events from thirty-five years in the state’s history. Photos document important moments in civil rights history, public health history, and international history, and Alabama’s other historical intersections with the nation and world. The exhibit is on display into 2023, offering Alabamians and visitors plenty of time to arrange a visit to Montgomery to experience it first-hand.
Reading the Southern Past
Two Southern Dynasties
This quarter’s installment of “Reading the Southern Past” explores texts on two important Southern families: the Butlers of South Carolina and Georgia and the Bankheads of Alabama. Both books under review— Malcolm Bell Jr.’s Major Butler’s Legacy: Five Generations of a Slaveholding Family (University of Georgia Press, 1987; reissued in 2004) and Kari Frederickson’s Deep South Dynasty: The Bankheads of Alabama (University of Alabama Press, 2022)—explore the ways that a state’s significant figures can influence their communities for good or for gain.
