Issue 89, Summer 2008

The cover of the “Alabama Heritage” magazine, Issue Number 89 from Fall 2008, features a captivating illustration. Here’s what I can discern: Foreground Scene: A woman, dressed in traditional attire (including a bonnet), stands in the foreground. She is pouring liquid from a kettle into a barrel. Background Scene: Two men are working behind the woman: One man is chopping wood. The other tends to smoke rising from an outdoor furnace or kiln. The expansive landscape includes trees and open fields under a blue sky with scattered clouds. Text on the Cover: The words “ALABAMA HERITAGE” appear prominently. Additional text reads: “PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS” and “ISSUES AND HISTORY.” The image seems to depict historical activities related to rural life or early industry in Alabama. It aligns with the magazine’s theme of heritage and history.

Issue 89, Summer 2008

On the cover: Detail from “Home and Family Life Begins,” painted by John Augustus Walker. [Photo by Robin McDonald, courtesy Alabama Cooperative Extension System]

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Features

A painting of a Indigenous man dressed in 19th century clothing.
William McIntosh, who sold Creek land for personal profit. [McKenney and Hall, “History of the Indian Tribes,” 1836]

Final Resistance: Creek Removal from the Alabama Homeland 

By Christopher D. Haveman

Starting in the 1820s, the removal of Creek Indians from their territory threatened to destroy their nation and, for many Creeks, their lives. After the Creek War ended, the Creeks lost substantial territory to the U. S. and in the decades following were further squeezed and driven out by squatters and corrupt land schemers. In 1836, President Jackson authorized the forcible removal of Creeks from Alabama, effectively dissolving the Creek Nation’s presence in the state. 

Patriotism Over Propriety: Confederate Nurse Kate Cumming 

By Jessica Fordham Kidd

An upper class lady from Mobile, Kate Cumming challenged social convention by joining the Confederate cause as a nurse, traveling throughout the Southeast from 1862 to 1865 to care for the wounded. Cumming detailed her work experiences in a diary, chronicling the war years from a unique perspective of a woman dedicated to the care of troops. Complete with horror, vehemence, and tenacity, Cumming’s story illustrates the complexity of a nation at war with itself.

The image appears to be a portrait of an individual. The person wears a dark dress with small dot patterns and decorative elements down the center. An earring is visible on one ear. The background is plain.
Kate Cumming. [Alabama Department of Archives and History]
The image depicts a person wearing a black suit with a white shirt, standing. The background features an artistic, possibly vintage-style illustration or painting with various figures, stars, and swirls. To the left of the central figure, there’s another figure resembling a soldier or guard.
John Augustus Walker perfected a variety of styles and media. [John A. Walker]

John Augustus Walker and the Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture 

By Bruce Dupree

As America’s involvement in World War II became imminent, Alabamians found much-needed distraction in the 1939 State Fair and its Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture. Featuring ten colorful paintings by Mobile native John Augustus Walker, the exhibit highlighted the prosperity and promise of Alabama’s agricultural pursuits. The paintings illuminated many aspects of agrarian Alabama, from the livestock contributions of Spanish explorers to the advent of new technologies like tractors and electricity.

The Oasis: German POWs at Fort McClellan

By Daniel Hutchinson 

During World War II, Fort McClellan, Alabama, housed over three thousand German POWs. Through the ingenuity of the prisoners and the generosity of their captors, the camp became a model facility for the humane treatment of enemy soldiers. During their captivity, the prisoners performed labor services for the Americans and participated in sports and the arts in their leisure time. The POW experience at Fort McClellan reveals a true oasis of humanity in a war often without mercy.

The image appears to be a black and white photograph taken indoors. It likely depicts a store or service counter. Behind the counter, there are shelves with various items. Three individuals are visible in the scene. Two of them seem to be employees standing behind the counter, while the third person, a customer, is interacting with one of the employees. The customer’s back is facing the camera, and they are wearing a jacket with the letters “PW” visible on the back.
Prisoners in the canteen. [Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies]

Departments

The image depicts a large, two-story house with a white exterior and a red roof. The architectural style appears classical, featuring columns supporting a covered porch that wraps around the front. Symmetrical windows adorn the house, and there’s an upper balcony with railing directly above the porch. A cupola crowns the roof, adding grandeur. The house is surrounded by well-manicured lawns, and a white bench sits in front.
Eufaula’s Kendall Manor. [Robin McDonald]

Southern Architecture and Preservation

Alabama’s Italianate Houses

By Melanie Betz Gregory 

Italianate-style architecture flourished in Alabama from 1850 to 1885, leading to the construction of homes and commercial buildings with features such as cupolas, eaves, moldings, and verandas. Although many of these structures were later destroyed or remodeled, several excellent examples of the architectural style still grace the state’s landscape.

The image depicts a full-length portrait of an individual standing in a landscape. The person is wearing traditional attire, including a feathered headdress, a patterned tunic with embellishments, and red boots adorned with intricate designs. In their left hand, they hold either a staff or a spear. Behind them, there are two teepee-like tents and a small animal lying on the ground. This portrayal seems to represent a historical or cultural figure, possibly from an indigenous community. The clothing style and setting evoke a sense of tradition and heritage.
Osceola in a mixture of Native American and European garments. [Alabama Department of Archives and History]

Alabama Treasures

Osceola’s Garter

By Mary Spanos, Virginia Wimberley, and Amanda Thompson

On the day of his 1838 death, Alabama native Osceola, a leader in the fight for Native American rights, wore a decorative garter. Scholars have begun studying the garter, now held at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, to learn about its composition and what that composition reveals about the everyday lives of Native Americans.

The Nature Journal

The Rise and Fall of Bradford Pears

By Patricia Mitchell 

In the 1930s the communist paper titled Southern Worker was an underground operation that eluded police and vigilantes who tried desperately to shut it down. Printed and edited in Chattanooga and datelined Birmingham, the paper was run by former Daily Workerbeditors Solomon and Isabelle Auerbach who moved to Birmingham from New York City and started the paper with just two hundred dollars. Sold for two cents a copy, the paper gave a voice to the abuse of labourers and the plight of the unemployed in the South. 

The image depicts a close-up of a flowering plant branch. The branch showcases multiple white flowers, each with five rounded petals. In the center, there are stamens with yellow tips (likely pollen) and greenish-to-dark purple pistils.
A Bradford Pear blooms. [W. Mike Howell]
The image depicts the cover of a book titled “Erik Calonius: The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails.” The cover features an illustration of a large sailing ship with multiple sails against a cloudy sky. Below the title, there’s a collage of black-and-white images, possibly representing historical figures related to the story. The book appears to delve into the historical account of the last American slave ship, “The Wanderer,” and the conspiracy surrounding its voyage.
The image depicts the cover of a book titled “Dreams of Africa in Alabama” by Sylviane A. Diouf. The subtitle reads “The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America.” The cover features a sepia-toned photograph of three individuals sitting, facing away from the camera, with their heads and upper bodies obscured by rectangular censor bars. This image is interesting as it appears to be a historical document related to African American history, specifically concerning the slave ship Clotilda, which is known for being the last documented slave ship to bring African captives to America.
The image you uploaded is the cover of a book titled “Hanging Captain Gordon” by Ron Soodalter. The subtitle reads “The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader.” The illustration on the cover depicts a crowd of people from the 19th century, suggesting a historical context related to the subject matter.

Reading the Southern Past

Last of the Slave Trade

By Stephen Goldfarb

Several recent texts explore the slave trade in America. The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy that Set Its Sails (St. Martin’s Press, 2006), by Eric Calonius, follows the journey of one boat as it traveled to America in 1858. Ron Soodalter’s Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader (Atria Books, 2006) chronicles the fate of one slave ship captain, Nathaniel Gordon. The life of an African community is commemorated in Sylviane A. Diouf’s Dreams of Africa in Alabama (Oxford University Press, 2007). Read together, these volumes offer a more complete view of the slave trade and the people involved in it.

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