Issue 81, Summer 2006

The cover of the magazine is titled “ALABAMA HERITAGE.” The title is in large, bold, white letters against a red background at the top of the page. Below the title, there’s additional text indicating the issue number and price: “NUMBER 39, SUMMER 1995” on the left side, and “SIX DOLLARS” on the right side. The main feature of the cover is a portrait of an individual sitting in a chair. The person wears a dark suit with a tie and has their hands folded over one another. The individual’s face is obscured by a pixelated rectangular block for privacy reasons. In the bottom left corner, there’s small print that reads: “PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AND THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY.”

Issue 81, Summer 2006

On the cover: Portrait of Alabama Power Company founder James Mitchell by Danish-born American Impressionist John Christen Johansen (1876-1944).

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Features

Empowering Alabama: The James Mitchell Story

By Leah Rawls Atkins 

Engineer and entrepreneur James Mitchell was passionate about the potential of hydroelectric power. Chronicled here are his efforts to bring reliable electricity to Alabama by exploiting the state’s expansive river system. Mitchell invested much of his career and a substantial portion of his own capital to build hydroelectric dams that would support the new Alabama Power Company. Not terribly interested in fiscal profit, Mitchell succeeded in his greater goal: to leave a legacy—“A new Alabama and a new South.” 

The image appears to be a sepia-toned photograph of a person standing with their arms crossed. The individual is dressed in a dark suit with a vest and tie. Behind the person, there’s an ornate piece of furniture, possibly part of a mantelpiece. The aged appearance suggests it’s an old photograph
James Mitchell [James Mitchell Family]
The image depicts an old, two-story house with a covered porch that extends along the entire length of the building. The architectural style suggests historical or past-era design. The house features multiple windows on both levels, and two chimneys grace either end of the roof. Unfortunately, the house appears to be in a state of disrepair or abandonment, as indicated by the barren branches in the foreground and the lack of visible activity or maintenance. The surrounding area includes leafless trees and overgrown vegetation, contributing to the desolate atmosphere.
The home of Harry Toulmin, now Alumni Hall at the University of South Alabama [University of South Alabama Archives]

Toulmin & Hitchcock, Pioneering Jurists of the Alabama Frontier 

By Philip Beidler

Amid the freewheeling and often lawless atmosphere of Alabama’s territorial and early statehood eras, Harry Toulmin and Henry Hitchcock authored two landmark legal volumes. Toulmin, the son of a noted theologian and a disciple of Dr. Joseph Priestly, wrote A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama, an important legal compendium that would help codify the laws and democratize the state legal system. Henry Hitchcock, a descendent of Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen, authored Alabama Justice of the Peace, a guidebook and courts manual that soon became the standard text for judicial functionaries on the outposts of the frontier. 

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The panoramic painting portrays a captivating landscape scene. In the foreground, diverse groups of people engage in various activities: some converse, others walk or sit, and children play. Lush vegetation surrounds them, including large trees and tropical plants. Notably, a prominent banana tree stands on the left side. The background reveals rolling hills and a water body with sailing ships. Distant structures bear flags, suggesting human habitation or a port city.
This hand-painted wallpaper by an anonymous artist depicts a pastoral fantasy of the mythic Aigleville. [Alabama Department of Archives and History]

Alabama’s Vine and Olive Colony: Myth and Fact

By Rafe Blaufarb

In the legend of the Vine and Olive Colony, a group of French military aristocrats fled to Alabama in 1817 after their Emperor Napoleon was deposed, and tried to cultivate grape vines and olive trees while maintaining their lavish lifestyle in Marengo County. In reality, most of the settlers were refugees from the French Caribbean island of St. Domingue where a bloody slave rebellion had left thousands dead. Congress approved a bill that gave the French settlers ninety-two thousand acres of recently conquered Creek and Choctaw territory before the lands were offered to the general public. Although bombarded with criticism over this generous “gift,” Congress created the land grant as part of a strategy to solidify the United States’ hold on the Gulf Coast by populating the area.

A prime location at the juncture of the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers—navigable rivers that flowed into Mobile Bay—also made the colony important. The struggle for basic survival overshadowed attempts to grow grape vines and olive trees, and by 1831 the colonists were released from obligations to plant the area with vines and olives. Although not a success in viticulture, the Vine and Olive Colony did make a lasting impact on future westward expansion. Congress would never again make a similar grant, so expansion had to be carried out in a more individualistic way. 

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he image depicts an individual seated on an ornate chair. The person holds a large, open fan with intricate details, possibly made of feathers. Their attire suggests a silky or satiny garment, draping over one shoulder. The monochromatic tone and vintage aesthetic add to the image’s charm.
Lucille Douglass [Birmingham Public Library Archives]

From Tuskegee to Angkor: The Odyssey of Lucille Douglass

By Stephen Goldfarb

In an era when women were expected to be dainty, passive, and entertaining, Lucille Douglass was an exception. Born into the genteel poverty of Tuskegee, Alabama in 1878, Douglass learned the foundations of visual art from her mother and yearned for travel. She graduated college with an art degree at the age of seventeen, and soon moved to Birmingham, where she lived alone for several years as both an artist and art teacher in a loft above the city. There she banded with other female artists to found the Birmingham Art Club—a foundation that still exists today.

In 1909 Douglass turned her childhood dreams of travel into a European odyssey of artistic training, studying with masters like Rene Menard, Lucien Simon, and Alexander Robinson. She spent the rest of her life trotting the globe, working her way from Paris to Shanghai, to Angkor–even to parts of Africa. Everywhere she went, Douglass preserved her encounters as works of art. Through her paintings, etchings, and pastel drawings, she captured the exotic, and made it accessible to those not privileged enough to experience it firsthand. 

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Departments

Alabama Mysteries

Bangor Cave Casino

By Pam Jones

In the summer of 1937, J. Breck Musgrove and fellow investors opened Alabama’s only underground nightclub. This nightclub occupied the front caverns of Bangor Cave in Blount County, and no expense was spared to make it into a lavish (and illegal) destination. Governor Bibb Graves ordered the club, along with other “notorious dives,” closed down. But a few government raids couldn’t keep the Bangor Cave Club from being a huge success. In its heyday, the club attracted dancers, diners, gamblers, and criminals to its secret luxury, but now all that remains is a community of cave creatures and some dim outlines of a bar and orchestra pit.

he black and white photograph depicts an indoor scene. Two individuals stand at a reflective, irregular counter resembling rock. The person on the left holds a purse and wears a coat, while the one on the right appears to be an attendant. Stools are in front of the counter, and the ceiling is rough, suggesting a cave-like setting.
Two patrons at the fieldstone bar in Bangor Cave. [Blount County Memorial Museum]
The image appears to be a portrait of an individual. He has white hair and a beard, suggesting an older age. The person is dressed in a dark-colored suit with a white shirt and a black bow tie. The background is nondescript, painted in muted tones, which directs attention to the figure.
Josiah Clark Nott. [UAB Historical Collections, University of Alabama at Birmingham]

Nature Journal

The Two Faces of Dr. Nott

By L. J. Davenport

Dr. Josiah Nott settled in Mobile in 1837 and quickly established a successful medical practice in that city. Mobile frequently was visited by epidemics of yellow fever, and Nott helped treat many afflicted citizens. In an 1848 article, Nott declared his radical beliefs that yellow fever was different from other tropical fevers and that an insect must be involved in the spreading of the disease. Alas, these findings about yellow fever were not the Nott ideas to be embraced by the public. Instead, the ideas that got the most attention were Nott’s “scientific” theories supporting slavery.

Recollections

A Gold Star Pilgrimage to Flanders Fields

By J. Darren Peterson

Among the 368 graves in the Flanders Field American Cemetery in Waregem, Belgium rests Pvt. William C. Barlow of Ashford— the only native Alabamian buried there. In spite of an attempt to be exempted due to “dependent parents,” Barlow was drafted on April 20, 1918. Newly married, he spent only five days with his bride before being called to duty. Barlow’s widow chose to have him laid to rest close to where he fell instead of bringing his body back to Alabama. In 1931, thanks to the Gold Star Pilgrimages program, Barlow’s mother and sister were able to visit the grave at last.

The image appears to be a black and white photograph taken in an earlier era, possibly the early to mid-20th century. It features a group of individuals standing in front of a large, white, rectangular monument with an arched opening. The monument stands prominently in the background, centered in the composition. The people are dressed in attire typical of that time, and they seem to be posing for the photograph. Around them, there is an expanse of grass, and rows of grave markers or memorials extend into the background on either side of the monument.
Gold Star Pilgrims at the Flanders Field American Cemetery. [Michael Kearney in honor of Thomas Emmett Kearney]
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