Issue 79, Winter 2006

Issue 79, Winter 2006

On the cover: Bernardo de Gálvez captured Mobile from the British in the American Revolution. [Courtesy the Foundation for Historical Louisiana]


Features

Defining Moments: In Halls of Ivy

By Alissa Nutting, Clark E. Center Jr., Dwayne Cox, Donald Brown, and Cynthia Beavers Wilson

Join Alabama Heritage in celebrating the landmark anniversaries of four of Alabama’s most prestigious schools! This year, the University of Alabama turns 175, Auburn and Birmingham-Southern turn 150, and Tuskegee University turns 125. To commemorate these events, experts from each school define the three defining moments that shaped the schools into the icons they are today.


The Spanish Conquest of Mobile

By Jim Noles

With Spanish governor Bernardo de Gálvez smashing through the line of British forts along the Mississippi River, Mobile soon stood as the last British stronghold between New Orleans and Pensacola. The old fort was in dismal condition, the defending forces were weary, and Captain Elias Durnford’s options were limited. It seemed their only chance was a speedy renovation of Mobile’s crumbling fort. Working hard under the suspense of impending Spanish forces, Durnford and his troops struggled to maintain hope.


Byron Arnold and the Folksongs of Alabama

By Robert W. Halli Jr.

Shortly after joining the music faculty of the University of Alabama in 1936, Byron Arnold witnessed the passionate singing of an African American congregation in Northport. Nearly ten years later, Arnold petitioned for and received support from the University, allowing him to travel the state and collect folksongs. During the 1945–46 academic year alone, Arnold covered more than two thousand miles and collected 258 folksongs, many of which were featured in his The Folksongs of Alabama (University of Alabama Press, 1950). Arnold would continue his field work for two more years, doubling his catalogue of songs and preserving much of a musical tradition that otherwise might have been lost. 


When Less was More: Alabama’s Classic Modern Architecture

By Alice Meriwether Bowsher

Photography by M. Lewis Kennedy

Alabama contains many important examples of Classic Modern architecture. This style is gaining a new appreciation by historic preservationists for its clean lines and simplicity of form. Classic Modern architecture emerged when American architects adapted the avant-garde International Style. The resulting commercial buildings were minimalist skyscrapers that used geometric form and flowing space, rather than Victorian-era embellishments, as artistic expression. Local examples of this type commercial building are the Waterman Building in Mobile, the Bank for Savings Building and the AmSouth Building in Birmingham. The Isle Dauphin Club on Dauphin Island and the YMCA Downtown Branch in Birmingham display the use of Classic Modern architecture in recreational buildings. The International Style was also adapted for the postwar housing boom. Houses for the new market used joined spaces, open interiors, and connections between outside and inside. Auburn’s Applebee-Shaw house, Birmingham’s Brown-Hughey House, and the Crestwood Subdivision in Birmingham exemplify small-scale Classic Modern architecture. 


Departments

Alabama Mysteries

Williams/Wood Murders

By Pam Jones

On August 4, 1931, Jennie Wood, Augusta Williams, and Nell Williams took a drive along Shades Mountain. There, they suffered an attack that left two of them dead. The ensuing search for the murderer stretched as far as Chicago and almost certainly resulted in the conviction of an innocent man. 


Recollections

Clarence Darrow Slept Here

By Mary Lois Timbes 

In 1927 evolution defense attorney Clarence Darrow, of the famed Scopes Monkey Trial, spent two months in Fairhope, Alabama. There he immersed himself in controversial local affairs, gave speeches, and occasionally ruffled feathers. An unusual and outspoken man, Clarence Darrow’s somewhat abrasive nature served him well in the courtroom, but often offended in social situations. However, the idealist town of Fairhope received him well, and legends of his visit still circulate.

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