Rooster Bridge 

By Becky Willis

When construction of the nation’s first cross-country highway came to a halt in 1919 at the edge of the Tombigbee River, the citizens of Demopolis, Alabama, went looking for help. They found it in a certain fine feathered friend. Becky Willis tells the story of the Dixie Overland Highway Association’s plan for a road that would stretch from San Diego, California, to Savannah, Georgia, which ran into trouble in Demopolis-a city on the only major waterway east of the Mississippi River where vehicles were still ferried across by boat. To pay for the needed bridge, the citizens of Demopolis sought the help of an imaginative fundraiser named Frank Derby, who came up with a scheme that was just crazy enough to work. Derby planned to “Bridge the ‘Bigbee with Cocks” by holding a rooster auction. Willis describes how the auction turned into a raucous and energetic scene, all in the name of progress gained by the old-fashioned rooster.

Raising Cain: The Resurrection of Mardi Gras in Mobile

By David Harwell

As Mardi Gras approaches, many Mobile revelers might not recall the amount of struggling and strife one dedicated rabble-rouser went through to bring such a celebration back to life after the Civil War. David Harwell explores the origins of Mobile’s legendary Mardi Gras celebration, which he attributes to the almost single-handed work of a Confederate veteran named Joe Cain. In 1866, on Fat Tuesday, “leaving his clerk’s post at the Old Southern Market on Royal Street, Joe Cain went for a ride.” Dressed as the make-believe Chickasaw chief Slacabamarinico, Cain, along with several other ex-Confederates, banged on musical instruments while riding in an ox cart all over city. Their tomfoolery was such a hit that the people of Mobile soon began planning future Fat Tuesday celebrations. Cain’s traditions have been carried on ever since. Harwell explains the development of many Mardi Gras traditions in Mobile, and details how Cain’s story, which faded after his death in 1903, has reemerged to modern party-goers who now celebrate “Joe Cain Day” each year on Shrove Sunday in Mobile.

A Seer in Selma: Edgar Cayce’s Years in Alabama

By Aaron Welborn

Before there was the Psychic Hotline, there was Edgar Cayce. Who knows? There may still be an Edgar Cayce. Aaron Welborn investigates the enigmatic life of America’s most famous psychic, faith healer, and clairvoyant. From his early years in Kentucky, to his eleven-year stay in Alabama, to his eventual death in Virginia, Welborn traces the curious path of the photographer-turned-“psychic diagnostician” whose following has spread around the world since his death. Cayce’s time in Alabama was intended to be a respite from the media attention of his psychic gifts, during which he worked as a portrait photographer.

But when his son was blinded by chemicals in Cayce’s darkroom, Cayce hypnotized himself to diagnose his son’s problem and prescribe a solution in an attempt to save his son’s sight. The attention he gained afterwards convinced Cayce to follow his gift, traveling all over the country diagnosing health problems and devising remedies. Eventually Cayce decided to set up a hospital where his unorthodox remedies would be followed, where he worked until his health faded in January of 1945, when he passed away, never to return to Alabama.

Shiney Moon: From Merchant to Artist

By Lynn Barstis Williams

When the Mobile Museum’s new building is finished, prominent exhibits will include art works from the Dixie Art Colonists, including the paintings of Carlos Alpha “Shiney” Moon. Author Lynn Bartis Williams reveals how this former photographer and businessman became a celebrated artist. In an effort to revive his daughter’s interest in her oil paint set, one day Moon picked up a brush and started dabbling. His work proved incredible and with instruction from well-known Dixie Art Colony leaders Kelly Fitzpatrick and Genevieve Southerland, Moon’s paintings grew bolder. He tended to favor southern scenes in his artwork, but he also began reflecting the increasingly popular styles of modernism and abstraction. Moon found himself winning awards, instructing other painters, and presiding over various art clubs. However, Moon’s early death at age 47 kept him from becoming the best artist that he possibly could.

Recollections

“Business Has Been My Pleasure”: Gleanings From the Letters of Charles Linn

By John Massey

Charles Linn, in writing letters of fatherly advice to his son, Edward, outlined the business sense that led Charles to found one of the South’s largest financial companies. John Massey looks at the life and advice of this man, the founder of one of Birmingham’s first banks.

Nature Journal

Flounders (And Other Flatfishes)

By L.J. Davenport

L.J. Davenport examines the habits and physical configuration of the flatfish, a bizarre fish with its eyes on the same side of its head.