Issue 154, Fall 2024
On the cover: A postcard supporting women’s suffrage. [Palczewski, Catherine H. Suffrage Postcard Archive. University of Northern Iowa. Cedar Falls, IA]
Features
The Tiniest Suffragette: A Kitten for Women’s Rights
By Laura Newland Hill
In 1916, two women left New York City dedicated to a mission: they would drive across the country to promote women’s suffrage. After Carrie Chapman Catt christened their vehicle, nicknamed the Golden Flier, Nell Richardson and Alice Snitjer Burke started their journey, heading south before cutting West en route to California. They made several stops in Alabama along the way, during which they garnered some supporters for their cause and also picked up a black kitten. Christened Saxon, the cat joined the women on the rest of their travels, becoming an unlikely mascot for their cause.
[Public Domain]
Additional Information
- Encyclopedia of Alabama article on Alabama Equal Suffrage Association
- Catherine H. Palczewski Suffrage Postcard Archive: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/suffrage_images/381/
James Holt Clanton: The Chevalier Bayard of Alabama
By Russell W. Blount Jr.
James Clanton was beloved through much of Alabama, despite having a complicated history that included failed leadership as a Confederate officer. Clanton’s political career spanned both sides of the war, and during the Reconstruction era, Governor Lindsay selected him as the attorney handling a critical case between the state and the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad. While attending the federal trial in Knoxville, Tennessee, Clanton was fatally shot during an altercation with a former Union officer. His death reverberated throughout Alabama, causing mourning throughout the state.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Reconstructing the Legacy of Henderson and Daniel Brandon
By Donna Castellano
Many Huntsvillians are familiar with the Harrison Brothers Hardware building, which has stood on courthouse square since the turn of the century. However, parts of the building’s history have just started to come to light, thanks to research by the Historic Huntsville Association. Evidence reveals that Daniel Brandon, a successful Black brick mason with his own family business, constructed the building, which remains the best surviving example of his work. Now that this history has been unearthed, the Association’s focus and commitment has expanded to celebrate how both these families contributed to creating this building and shaping the broader community.
Labor Organization at Avondale Mills
By Laura King
Throughout the twentieth century, James “Donald” Comer navigated different attempts—some from employees, some from external entities—to unionize workers at Avondale Mills. Many workers resisted such attempts, citing the company’s family-like environment and perks such as picnics and other outings; naysayers decried these as signs of a paternalistic leadership style. Though the attempts were never successful, the efforts caused conversation and consternation, sometimes even erupting in violence as stakeholders advocated for their vision of how things should work at the Mill.
Department Abstracts
From the Archives
“I Have a Right to Speak”: The Lilia Bess Olin Morgan Family Papers
By Lizzie Orlofsky
Lila Bess Olin Morgan led a long life that spanned many tumultuous events in the state of Alabama. Her family archives, located at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, chronicles her life as well as her mother’s and her daughter’s, offering an important multigenerational glimpse at the events that affected their lives—sometimes tragically—from the flapper era through suffrage and up through the civil rights movement.
her original kitchen. [Punta Clara Kitchen Archives]
Alabama Makers
Punta Clara Kitchen: Family, Tradition, and a Lot of Sugar
A small family bakery on the Gulf Coast has been tempting locals and visitors with its confections for decades now, earning a loyal following that has remained dedicated throughout environmental disasters, hurricanes, and even the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alabama Governors
Thomas Kilby, 1919-1923
Alabama’s thirty-sixth governor, Thomas Kilby, served a single term, during which he led efforts in prison reform, funding for education, support for children and the mentally ill, and in favor of Prohibition.
Reading the Southern Past
The Lost Cause and Alabama Unionists
Howell Raines, author of Silent Cavalry: How Union Soldiers from Alabama Helped Sherman Burn Atlanta—and Then Got Written Out of History (Crown, 2023), learned about Alabama history firsthand and through extensive research, including conversations with writers such as Margaret Storey, who wrote Loyalty and Loss: Alabama’s Unionists in the Civil War and Reconstruction (Louisiana University Press, 2004).
Alabama Counties
Barbour County
By Katharine Armbrester and Laura Newland Hill
Located in southeastern Alabama, Barbour County combines history and charm. This quarter’s column highlights some of its most notable sights and residents—and even why one of them was referenced in To Kill a Mockingbird.
