Issue 41, Summer 1996

The image features the cover of a magazine or journal titled “Alabama HERITAGE.” Let’s break down the elements: Title: The prominent title “Alabama HERITAGE” is displayed at the top in elegant fonts. Artwork: In the center, there’s an artwork depicting an elderly white woman sitting on an upholstered chair with floral patterns. She is dressed in dark blue clothing and appears to be reading a book. Additional Text: Below the title, there’s more text, but it’s not clear enough to read. The composition suggests a blend of heritage, literature, and mystery.

Issue 41, Summer 1996

On the cover: Former Dixie Art Colony instructor Mildred Nungester Wolfe painted Mississippi writer Eudora Welty in 1988. The painting has been accepted to the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. [Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.]

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Features

The image appears to be a black and white photograph taken outdoors. It features four individuals standing and sitting on a wooden platform. The platform is surrounded by trees, casting shadows on the ground. The people in the photograph are dressed casually, suggesting a warm season. Two wooden Adirondack chairs and a small stool are arranged on the platform. The individuals’ faces are not clearly visible due to the image quality. Overall, the scene exudes a rustic and nostalgic vibe, reminiscent of simpler times spent outdoors.
Having fun was an important part of the colony day. Enjoying a break in the day’s activities are Louise Smith, Karl Wolfe, Mary Katherine Loyancano, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and M. McGauoth.
[Courtesy Mildred Nungester Wolfe]

The Dixie Art Colony

By Lynn Barstis Williams

The ruins of a lone cabin at Lake Jordan are all that is left to commemorate the Dixie Art Colony. This bohemian retreat, founded by local artist J. Kelly Fitzpatrick, helped to instruct and mold many well-known southern artists of the 1930s and 40s. Lynn Barstis Williams chronicles the many struggles involved in creating the atmosphere and mission of the Dixie Art Colony, from its inception to its eventual home near Wetumpka. Williams presents photographs from the colony as well as interviews with colony participants and their letters to fully detail the daily workings and familial atmosphere of this summer camp for aspiring artists. Glimpses into the lives and accomplishments of some of the colony’s most successful participants, such as Warree LeBron, Mildred Wolfe, and Arthur Stewart, accompany this history of the colony.

The image shows a person. They are wearing a light-colored shirt and dark pants, and appear to be seated outdoors with trees in the background. The image is black and white, indicating it might be old or edited to appear that way. A person is visible from the waist up. The individual is wearing a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt and dark pants. They appear to be seated, though the lower half of their body is not fully visible. In the background, blurred trees or bushes are visible, suggesting an outdoor setting.
Kelly Fitzpatrick at the Dixie Art Colony. “He made us feel like kids at a circus,” said one participant. [Courtesy Sally LeBron Holland]

The World of Kelly Fitzpatrick

By Margaret Lynne Ausfeld and Christine C. Neal

One of the South’s most celebrated artists of the 1930s and 40s, J. Kelly Fitzpatrick overcame many personal trials before immersing himself in a world of art and creative growth. The trauma of a gruesome battle in WWI led him to forsake a privileged material life for a spiritual one dedicated to art. Margaret Lynne Ausfeld and Christine C. Neal recount how Fitzpatrick managed to channel his love for art into a public service by taking a large role in creating institutions like the Alabama Art League and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

Man and Mission: E. B. Gaston and the Fairhope Single Tax Colony

By Paul M. Gaston

In the late nineteenth century, E. B. Gaston took his desire for social and political reform to the Gulf Coast of Alabama and founded the single tax community of Fairhope. Only one of many attempts to create a utopian secular society by social reformists at the turn of the century, Fairhope, having lasted over one hundred years, is the most successful of these attempts. Paul Gaston tells how the town’s founder, a man from Des Moines, Iowa, orchestrated and managed this community-owned town and succeeded where so many others had failed. Fairhope has faced many social and ethical problems, from deciding to segregate the colony at its beginning, through the turbulence of the Civil Rights movement, to the lack of community-owned land today that threatens the town’s ability to expand while maintaining its original ideals. Fairhope has evolved in a very peculiar way, from a utopian society that advocated social reform, to a typically conservative southern town.

The image features a person wearing a dark suit with a bow tie. The sepia-toned photo gives it a vintage feel. The individual is holding an object that appears to be a book or magazine. The item has visible text and imagery on its cover. Unfortunately, the person’s face is obscured by a beige-colored rectangular shape, making identification impossible. The background suggests an indoor setting with intricate designs on the wall, adding to the overall aesthetic of the photo.
Believing that unbridled individualism was a curse. Ernest B. Gaston (1861-1937), one of the founders of Fairhope, developed a concept with the apparently paradoxical title “cooperative individualism.” [Courtesy Paul M. Gaston]

General Cleburne and the Emancipation of Slaves

By Mark M. Hull

Determined to put an end to the Civil War, Irish-born Patrick Ronayne Cleburne put forth a proposal that many regarded as treasonous: He proposed that slaves be trained and armed to fight for the South with the promise of emancipation of every slave in the South at the conclusion of the war. Mark Hull explores how this Irish immigrant worked his way up from poor soldier to successful lawyer and renowned hero of the Army of Tennessee. After years of great leadership and heroic assaults, the lack of manpower and excessive loss of life on the Confederate side led Cleburne to draft a proposal that may have changed the outcome of the war. Cleburne’s suggestions were first ridiculed, and then plagiarized, by another Confederate leader to try and mask his own strategic inefficiency. Cleburne’s daring proposal had negative, and eventually fatal, effects on his military career and personal life.

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The image depicts a person from the chest up. The person is wearing what appears to be a military-style uniform. The uniform is adorned with buttons down the front and possibly epaulettes on the shoulders. The image is in black and white, giving it an old or vintage appearance. The background of the image is dark, contrasting with the lighter tone of the uniform.
Irish-born Patrick Ronayne Cleburne (1828-1864), twice voted the formal thanks of the Confederate Congress for his bravery in action, risked his career and reputation to put forth an unpopular proposal. [Courtesy Alabama Department of Archives and History]

Departments

Salamander Description: The main subject of the image is a salamander. It has dark black skin adorned with bright yellow spots along its back and sides. The salamander’s body is elongated, and it has four legs. It appears to be crawling amidst a layer of brown fallen leaves on the ground. The leaves have a dry and crinkled texture, suggesting an outdoor setting, possibly during autumn when leaves typically fall from trees. There’s no indication of human interaction or artificial elements; it’s a snapshot of wildlife in its natural environment. Context: The image captures the beauty of this small creature as it navigates its surroundings.
To get from their winter homes to the breeding ponds and back, spotted salamanders must twice cross Homewood’s Lakeshore Drive. Many don’t make it. [L.J. Davenport]

The Nature Journal

Spotted Salamanders

By L. J. Davenport

There is a hillside in Homewood, Alabama, famous for its amphibians. With the first warm, rainy night of spring, salamanders, frogs, and toads rouse themselves from their winter stupors to wriggle, squirm, and hop downhill. Humans, fascinated by this event, gather below to watch. One of the major participants in this annual spectacle is the spotted salamander. L.J. Davenport examines the habits of this far-ranging amphibian.

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