Between a Nation and a Country: The Muscogee Nation, the United States, and the Life of James Moore

By Matthew Robinson

In the years before Alabama’s statehood, James Moore arrived, married a Muscogee Creek woman, and thus secured his place as one of the first white settlers of Tallapoosa County. His life story offers compelling insights into relationships between settlers and Creeks during the era in which Alabama moved from territory to state, even as it reveals how the state’s recorded history celebrates some individuals while largely forgetting others. 

Operation Needle: The 1953 Polio Epidemic in Montgomery County

By Keith Krawczynski

When a catastrophic polio outbreak swept through Montgomery County in early 1953, panicked parents sought any way possible to protect their children. Social events ceased, consigning families to pass nights and weekends isolated at home. Eager to protect the county’s young population, enterprising medical officials secured a promising new resource: gamma globulin, which was believed to protect against paralytic polio. Over the course of four days, officials inoculated over thirty thousand young people—and then the city held its collective breath, waiting to see if the remedy worked.

Sammy Younge and the Rise of Modern Southern Activism

By Justin Rudder 

In 1966, Marvin Segrest’s murder of Sammy Younge Jr., a Tuskegee student and a Navy veteran, sent shock waves through the community, causing protests, sit-ins, and other local reactions. However, the effects of Younge’s murder also reverberated across decades, thanks to a number of activists who have shaped national events in the intervening years. These activists include Younge’s friend and schoolmate Gwen Patton as well as Mab Segrest, a relative of the murderer. 

Southern Footprints: Exploring Mobile’s Colonial Past

By Greg Waselkov

The area under a Mobile highway overpass may not seem particularly promising, but to archaeologists conducting a dig at the site in 2014, it revealed numerous historical artifacts, as well as important information about the area’s history. Dr. Greg Waselkov and other experts from the University of South Alabama unearthed the remnants of a rice field dating to the 1700s, along with glass beads, tableware, and a pipe. Perhaps the most noted discovery, however, were the footprints of those who tended the rice fields centuries ago. Though their names are lost to history, they literally left their mark on the land for which they cared.

Alabama Makers

Mosaics: The Power of Art and Community

​By Katharine Armbrester

Mosaic artist Linda Muñoz has left her mark across Alabama—and beyond—as she creates meaningful works of art that reflect ties to their location. Her mosaics (some created with Rhys Greene) grace the Mal and Charlotte Moore Center at Caring Days, Christ Episcopal Church, and the Kentuck Center for the Arts, and the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center, all in Tuscaloosa County; as well as the DeSoto Falls steps and the Church Center for the United Nations. Throughout all these locations, Muñoz seeks to express her love of history and to inspire others to pursue their own artistic identities.

Alabama Governors

William J. Samford (1900-1901)

By Colin Rafferty

Alabama’s thirty-first governor, William Samford, served only briefly before his death in office. A Confederate veteran and seasoned politician, Samford’s time in office, while brief, offered several lasting contributions. He called the convention that led to the state’s 1901 Constitution, still in use today, and he added his signature to a law that created the Alabama Department of Archives and History, one of Alabama Heritage’s publishers. 

From the Archives

A Tale of Two Surveyors: The Story and Lives Behind Alabama’s Plat Maps

By Amelia H. Chase

The Alabama Department of Archives and History contains many plat maps, documents that outline the features, including boundaries, of a section of land. Among those who created such maps in Alabama, surveyors Thomas Freeman and John Coffee stand out for their contributions to this profession and to the state’s history generally. Though both were officially appointed surveyors, Coffee expanded his sphere of influence in some suspect ways, including sharing advance information about land sales with powerful friends. A current project aims to digitize the many plat maps held by the ADAH, making them more accessible to people worldwide.