Hebertsample
date: 1862

2005.36.156: P.M.B. Young to Father, Dr. R. M. Young, Unknown July 15-16
subject: West Point Military Academy; Cadet Life; Sickness; Politics; Family Matters; Visiting; Cartersville; Georgia; George; Bob; Mom; sister, Dr. R.M. Young; Transcription
description: Pierce M.B. Young writes a letter from West Point to his father, Dr. R.M. Young at the Young's family home in Georgia. In it, he details the tough life he is having at West Point, providing information on military drills and a recent sickness he has had. He also discusses Georgia politics, family matters, and expects a visit soon. 4 handwritten pages and one envelope
creator: P.M.B. Young
source: P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: Unknown July 15-16
contributor: Neil Humphrey Auburn University
rights: Bartow History Museum
format: JPEG PDF
language: English
type: Manuscript

2005.36.267: Thomas F. Jones Jr. to Kate, 1858 January 03
subject: 1858; Kingston; Georgia; Mill Creek; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.; Kate; Cartersville; South Carolina; Paris; France; Asthma; Courtship; Marriage; New Year's Eve; Church; Religion; Bible; Transcription
description: Jones writes of his travels, his fear of Kate’s parents rejecting his marriage proposal, and his joining of a local church. 3 handwritten pages.
creator: Thomas F. Jones, Jr.
source: P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: 1858 January 03
contributor: Graham R. Neeley Auburn University
rights: Bartow History Museum
format: JPEG PDF
language: English
type: Manuscript

2005.36.167: P.M.B Young to Mother, 1854 March 25
subject: 1854; Georgia Military Institute; Marietta; Georgia; mother; Elizabeth Caroline Young; Pierce M.B. Young; sickness; death; religion; transcriptions
description: A short letter from Young to his mother discussing the death of a “brother cadet” at the Georgia Military Institute. Young comments on the cause of death, which was pneumonia, and how symptoms such as pleurisy induced a very painful death. Young also expresses sadness toward the fact that no family members of the dead cadet were present before his death and that few are aware of his death. Young calls on God to have mercy on his soul despite the fact that the dead cadet is not a Christian.
creator: P.M.B. Young
source: P.M.B Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: 1854 March 25
contributor: Peter R. Thomas Jr. Auburn University
rights: Bartow History Museum
format: JPEG; PDF
language: English
type: Manuscript

2005.36.121: Mary (Jones) Thompson to Louisa Young, Unknown March 29
subject: Greenville; South Carolina; Uncle John; Butler; Colonel Harris; Gabe Kyne; Mr. Moon; Carrie Earle; Father (Robert M. Young Sr.); Mother (Caroline Jones) Young; Weather; Health; Courtship; Marriage; Criminal Activity; Family Visitation; Transcription
description: News on family health and well-being along with advice and encouragement on making courtship and marriage decisions. Requests that the family make a trip to SC for a visit. Includes a warning to Robert M. Young, Sr. to be watchful for a fugitive named Gabe Kyne, who may try to impose on the family. Original letter has 7 handwritten pages.
creator: Mary (Jones) Thompson
source: P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: Unknown March 29
contributor: Shari L. Williams Auburn University
rights: Bartow History Museum
format: JPEG PDF
language: English
type: Manuscript

2005.36.89: W. L. Blake to Dr. Thos. F. Jones, 1856 July 04
subject: 1856; Romance; Engagements; Marriages; Illness; Transcription
description: Letter recounting the writer meeting several (girl)friends and relating other friends who are engaged or married. Noted others who are sick or have died. Also mentioned monetary notes and a probated note. One handwritten envelope and four handwritten pages.
creator: W. L. Blake
source: P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: 1856 July 4
contributor: Danielle Funderburk Auburn University
rights: Bartow History Museum
format: PDF JPEG
language: English
type: Manuscript

2005.36.153: Unknown to Unknown, 1857
subject: 1857; Transcription; Captain Young; May Eleanor Nesbit; Mr. Nesbit
description: This one-page handwritten note to an unidentified recipient from an unknown author offers amiable sentiments toward Captain Young following an unspecified incident with May Eleanor Nesbit.
creator: Unknown
source: P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: 1857
contributor: Heather M. Haley Auburn University
format: JPEG
language: English
type: Manuscript

2005.36.399: James W. Watts to Lou Young, 1860 May 13
subject: 1860; Waco; Texas; Lou Young; James W. Watts; Sister; Friend; Lucy; Sally; School; Education; Drought; gentleman
description: Describe the letter in detail here . . . .
creator: James W. Watts
source: P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: 1860 May 13
contributor: Keith S. Hebert Auburn University
rights: Bartow History Museum
format: JPEG
language: English
type: Manuscript

Leon Vandiver Oral History Recording
subject: Montgomery; Alabama; Trenholm Court; African American; black; education; Alabama State University; Booker T. Washington High School; church; segregation; food; marching band; oral history
description: Oral interview of Leon Vandiver recorded by Keith S. Hebert in December 2016 for the Montgomery County Historical Society as part of their Alabama Bicentennial commemorations. The interview was conducted at Vandiver's home in Montgomery, Alabama. To listen to the full interview, click here to access the Soundcloud file.
creator: Keith S. Hebert
source: To listen to the full interview, click here to access the Soundcloud file.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2016 1953-2016
rights: Montgomery County Historical Society
format: MP3; audio recording
language: English
type: Oral History

Hugh Martin
subject: Jefferson County, Birmingham, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914-March 11, 2011) Hugh Martin was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914. He received musical training at the Birmingham Conservatory of Music. Over the course of his career, he wrote some of our most memorable songs and worked with some of the brightest stars of the stage and screen. Martin worked with Ralph Blane to write songs for the MGM film “Meet Me in St. Louis” including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Trolley Song.” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is among the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers Top 10 performed songs of all time. Martin produced arrangements for films such as “Girl Crazy,” “Broadway Rhythm,” “Presenting Lily Mars,” and Broadway musicals like “The Boys from Syracuse,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and “Top Banana.” He also wrote the scores for the Broadway musicals “Look, Ma, I’m Dancin’,” “Make a Wish,” “High Spirits,” and for the London production of “Love From Judy.” Martin worked with many stars including Judy Garland, Lucille Ball, June Allyson, Lena Horne, Ethel Merman, Carmen Miranda, Ed Wynn, Phil Silvers, Carol Channing, Eddie Fisher, Mickey Rooney, and Ann Miller. He was nominated twice for Academy Awards. He was inducted into the Song Writers Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2001. He died March 11, 2011 in Encinitas, California at 96. Click the link to listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjD8tpv4z1I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVag-t3aesI
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: “Hugh Martin.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (2016) http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/2001/hugh-martin/ Holden, Stephen. “Hugh Martin, Composer of Judy Garland Hits, Dies at 96.” The New York Times. (March 14, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/arts/music/hugh-martin-composer-of-judy-garland-hits-dies-at-96.html
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Freddie Hart
subject: Lee County, Lochapoka, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Freddie Hart (December 21, 1926- ) Born Fred Segrest on December 21, 1926, Hart was one of fifteen children. His parents were sharecroppers. He began playing guitar at age 5, and by age 12 he dropped out of school to work for his parents. When World War II broke out, Hart was 15. He lied about his age, joined the Marine Corps, and saw action at Guam and Iwo Jima. While in the service, he became interested in the martial arts, and after the war, he taught self-defense at the L.A. Police Academy. In 1948, Hart met Hank Williams who taught Hart about songwriting. In 1951, he joined Lefty Frizzell’s band. During his year with the band, Hart got his first recording contract with Capitol Records. In 1959, he recorded his first hit, “The Wall,” with Columbia Records. In 1971, his hit “Easy Lovin’” went to number one on the country charts and number seventeen on the pop charts. The song won two Grammy awards and was recognized as The Country Music Association as “The Song of the Year” for both 1971 and 1972. His songwriting has produced hits for many artists including Porter Wagoner and Charlie Rich. He was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Click the link to listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaU8txxC04I
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: “Freddie Hart.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (2016) http://alamhof.org/inductees/inductees/inductees-2/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Lionel Richie
subject: Macon County, Tuskegee, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Lionel Richie (June 20, 1949- ) Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. was born on June 20, 1949 in Tuskegee, Alabama. He grew up on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute where many members of his family had worked for two generations. While in college at Tuskegee, Richie joined the Commodores, the most successful group on the Motown label during the late 1970s. Richie was the group’s saxophonist, sometime vocalist, and wrote songs like “Easy,” “Three Times a Lady,” and “Still”; the last two became number one pop hits. In 1980, Richie wrote and produced “Lady” for country-pop singer Kenny Rogers, which became a number one hit across the board. The next year, his duet “Endless Love” with Diana Ross topped the charts for nine weeks, becoming the most successful single in Motown history. By the end of 1981, Richie decided to pursue a solo career. His first solo album "Lionel Richie" was released in 1982 and was an immediate success. His first solo, “Truly,” became a number one hit. His next album, "Can’t Slow Down", produced five top ten singles including “All Night Long” and “Hello.” The album sold over ten million copies and won the 1984 Grammy for Album of the Year. Richie was doing so well he was invited to perform at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1985, he worked with Michael Jackson to co-write “We Are the World” to help raise money for famine relief in Africa. By the end of the year, he released another hit single, “Say You, Say Me,” preceding his next album "Dancing on the Ceiling," which sold four million copies. Exhausted from two decades of recording and performing, Richie stepped back from making music in 1987. He also took time to care for his father. In 1992, he returned to music to release a compilation album including solo hits, Commodore tracks, and three new songs including the number one hit “Do It to Me.” Richie did not record again until 1996 following the loss of his father and the breakup of his marriage. The album, "Louder Th…
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: Huey, Steve. “Lionel Richie Biography.” All Music. (2016) http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lionel-richie-mn0000243474/biography “Lionel Richie.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (2016) http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1997/lionel-richie/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Fess Whatley
subject: Tuscaloosa County, Birmingham, Erskine Hawkins, Cleve Eaton, Sun Ra, Big Band, Jazz, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Alabama State University
description: J.T. "Fess" Whatley (c. 1895 - January 12, 1972) If Alabama's musical heritage were to have a conductor, a teacher, that person would have to be J.T. “Fess” Whatley. In his tutelage of musicians, first at The Tuggle Institute in Birmingham, of which he was also a graduate, then Industrial High School in Birmingham, Whatley was influential in the careers of many who went on to play with various bands and orchestras, including those of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong. Born John Lewis Whatley sometime around 1895 in rural Tuscaloosa County, Alabama (his exact date of birth is unknown), Whatley’s father moved the family to Birmingham in 1906 so that John and his brother might be able to attend the Tuggle Institute. Originally conceived to give orphaned African-Americans a place to live and learn, the school was eventually opened to all, as racial segregation closed off many public schools to blacks. John’s time at the school greatly influenced him, not only as a student, but as an educator and musician, so much so that he changed his middle name from Lewis to Tuggle. After graduating from the school in 1913, John became its band director in 1913, a position he held until he left in 1917 to teach at Industrial High School. It was here that John picked up the nickname of “Fess,” which was short for “Professor.” Strict in his discipline, he demanded that his music students learn to read music, believing that music was one of the few avenues of success that was open to African-Americans at the time. A former student of his, jazz drummer and Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame inductee Wilson Driver, said that he demanded this of his students, otherwise they couldn’t play in his band. However, as demanding as this seemed, it was also beneficial to the musicians, as Driver said that “When guys would get to New York, they’d say, ‘You from Birmingham? You one of them Fess Whatley men? Yeah? Okay, you can read.’” Whatley’s influence reached beyond the high school at which…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: J.T. “Fess” Whatley: Alabama Music Hall of Fame http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1991/j-t-fes-whatley/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Alabama Music Office: Whatley bio http://www.alabamamusicoffice.com/artists-a-z/w/1967-whatley-john-t-fess/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Encyclopedia of Alabama: Whatley bio http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3240/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame: Carrie Tuggle http://www.awhf.org/tuggle.html/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame website http://www.jazzhall.com/index.htm/ Accessed December 5, 2016 "Fess Whatley's Saxo Society Orchestra" photo http://www.chipstern.com/chip_tribal_wilson.htm/ Accessed December 9, 2016. All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1895-1972
format: image, .jpeg. text

Candi Staton
subject: Hanceville, Cullman County, FAME Studios, Rick Hall, Clarence Carter, R&B music, Soul music, Gospel music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Candi Staton (March 13, 1940 - ) For many within the African-American community, the line between gospel and soul music is a thin one. A rhythm that pushes the music along, soaring vocals that inspire and lift the crowds out of their seats, freedom within the soul and within the music, all serve to drive both genres forward. No singer better represents this simultaneous confluence and divergence than soul and gospel artist Candi Staton. Born on March 13, 1940, in Hanceville, Alabama, Canzetta Maria Staton initially was involved in the gospel music scene from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Before she was a teenager, Candi began attending the Jewell Christian Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. It was there that she and her sister, who also attended Jewell, were part of a group called the Jewell Gospel Trio. Recording several records that did little commercially, the trio toured the gospel circuit, singing along with such gospels greats as Mahalia Jackson and C.L. Franklin. By the end of the 1950s, Candy had left the group and returned home to Alabama, where she married, had four children, and then divorced her husband. It was in 1968 that, while working at a club in Birmingham, Alabama, she met Clarence Carter, who was recording for Atlantic Records at Rick Hall’s FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Carter asked her to go on tour with him, but Candi was still married at the time. A year later, Clarence asked once again. Now divorced, she agreed. Over the course of the year, she and Clarence fell in love and were married in 1970. Her new husband also brought her to the attention of Rick Hall. With FAME Records, Candi recorded three albums. While the albums themselves were not huge sellers, they did produce four songs that reached Billboard’s R&B Top Ten charts, including a cover of Tammy Wynette’s hit, “Stand BY Your Man,” which reached #4 in 1971. In 1974, Candi, who had divorced Carter the year before, started recording for Warner Brothers, still working under the…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: Candi Staton official website http://www.candi-staton.com/ Accessed December 6, 2016 Interview 2006 http://www.soulexpress.net/candistaton.htm/ Accessed December 6, 2016 Interview, 2011 http://www.soulexpress.net/deep2_2011.htm#candistaton/ Accessed December 6, 2016 Candi Staton discography http://www.allmusic.com/artist/candi-staton-mn0000542976/biography/ Accessed December 6, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted..
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1940-2016
format: image, .jpeg, video, web

Billy Sherrill
subject: Phil Campbell, Franklin County, Country music, R&B music, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Charlie Rich, Grand Ole Opry, Musicians Hall of fame, Country Music Hall of Fame, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Billy Sherrill (November 5, 1936 - August 4, 2015) If at any point during the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s you listened to a song by George Jones, Tammy Wynette, or Charlie Rich, chances are very good that song was either written, produced, or both, by Billy Sherrill. As just a songwriter alone, his influence is considerable. But when combined with his production prowess and his ability to find new talent and guide them towards music that fit their style of singing, Billy reaches legendary status in not just the country music world, but music in general and internationally. Billy Norris Sherrill was born on November 5, 1936, in the small rural town of Phil Campbell, Alabama. His father was an evangelist who Billy would often accompany on his revival tours, playing piano for the services. After playing with various jazz and blues bands in the South in his late teens to early twenties, Billy moved to Nashville in 1962, where he took on the job of managing the Nashville studios of Sam Phillips’ Sun Records. When Phillips sold those studios in 1963, Billy moved over as a producer to Epic Records, a division of Columbia Records, which, at the time, was recording mainly country artists out of its Nashville studios. Since Billy, despite having grown up in the south, had little exposure professionally to the country sound (his main areas of expertise being blues, jazz, and rock and roll), the sound that he did produce was a hybrid of country and pop, a forerunner of the “countrypolitan” sound that would soon move country music from a regional to a national and worldwide audience. It was also here at Epic that Billy became a major player in the country music scene. His first success was with David Houston, who recorded “Livin’ in a House Full of Love,” written by Billy and Glenn Sutton, in 1965. The song reached #3 on Billboard’s country chart in that same year. Houston’s next single, “Almost Persuaded,” also penned by Sherrill and Sutton, spent 9 weeks at #1 on the country ch…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: AMHOF http://www.alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1995/billy-sherrill/ Accessed December 2, 2016 Billy Sherrill http://www.allmusic.com/artist/billy-sherrill-mn0000079180/biography/ Accessed December 2, 2016 Songs http://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Billy+Sherrill&tab=songaswriterchartstab/ Accessed December 2, 2016 Billy Sherrill Dies http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/2015/08/04/breaking-legendary-producer-billy-sherrill-dies/31110363/ Accessed December 2, 2016 Country Music HOF http://countrymusichalloffame.org/Inductees/InducteeDetail/billy-sherrill/ Accessed December 2, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1936-2015
format: image, .jpeg, video, text

Spooner Oldham
subject: Center Star, Lauderdale County, FAME Studios, Rick Hall, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Dan Penn, R&B music, Soul music, Rock and Roll Hall of fame, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Spooner Oldham (June 14, 1943 - ) The writing credits of Spooner Oldham read like a jukebox selection. From Percy Sledge to Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett to Janis Joplin, Spooner is at the heart of what has come to be called “The Muscle Shoals Sound.” Born June 14, 1943, in Center Star, Alabama, a community so small it hasn’t been listed on the U.S. census rolls since 1880, Dewey Lindon Oldham, Jr., comes from a family with a musical background. His father played in a band when Spooner was young child, and, per Spooner, he would just “sit over in the corner and watch them,” as his father and bandmates would practice out on the porch. It was also as a child when Spooner “accidently” acquired his nickname. Reaching for pan on the stove, he was left blind in his right eye when it was injured by a spoon. Following in his father’s footsteps, he began playing piano for local bands while in high school. After graduation, Spooner briefly attended the University of North Alabama in Florence, but dropped out soon after realizing he was skipping more classes than he attended, preferring to Rick Hall’s FAME Studios to learn his trade against that of an official classroom. It was there that Spooner started on his journey to becoming one of the premier sidemen in music. In this role, Spooner played keyboards on some of the most successful songs to come out of, first FAME Studios, then Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. Songs like Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” (1966), Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” (1966), and Aretha Franklin’s “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You” (1967), all saw Spooner on keyboard. Spooner also played on Franklin’s signature song, “Respect” (1967), recording at Atlantic Records Studio in New York City in 1967. Shortly afterwards, Spooner headed west to Memphis, where he connected with a songwriting partner he had met while at FAME, Dan Penn. Together they had written the James & Bobby Purify hit, “I’m Your Puppet” (1966), while both were still at F…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: Spooner Oldham Biography http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2510/ Accessed December 2, 2016 Spooner Oldham discography http://www.allmusic.com/artist/spooner-oldham-mn0000155405/discography/ Accessed December 2, 2016 Dan Penn-Spooner Oldham interview http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music-good-ol-boys-in-the-hood-1123527.html Accessed December 2, 2016 Spooner Oldham bio - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/spooner-oldham/ Accessed December 2, 2016 Dan Penn-Spooner Oldham interview http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/pennoldham.html/ December 2, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1943-2016
format: image, .jepg, web, video

Buddy Killen
subject: Florence, Lauderdale County, Hank Williams, Tree International, Dolly Parton, Curley Putnam, Country music, Pop music, R&B music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Buddy Killen (November 13, 1932 - November 1, 2006) There are countless musicians, singers and entertainers in the world that, for lack of that big break, never reach the pinnacle, in spite of the fact that they may have just as much, if not more, talent than others who become household names. Chances are that someone with the talent of Elvis Presley would have somehow reached some level of notoriety, but what remains unknown is if this would have been possible without the big break he received from Buddy Killen, who pitched him his first million-selling single, “Heartbreak Hotel." William Doyce Killen was born on November 13, 1932, in the hometown of W.C. Handy, Florence, Alabama. Growing up poor in the American South during this time was a way of life for many families and Buddy’s was no exception. As a child and into his teen years, music was his escape. His first band, the Hillbilly Pals, was formed during his childhood. The Dixie Ramblers, his second, performed on local radio. The day after graduating from high school, Buddy was offered the chance to play bass for a pair of comedians on the Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville, Tennessee. Buddy never hesitated, moving to Nashville, where he soon found himself playing and traveling with such Opry stars as Hank Williams, George Morgan, Ray Price and Jim Reeves, becoming acquainted with many of the people who ran country music scene behind the stage curtain. One of those people proved to be Buddy’s big break in 1953. Jack Stapp was running his publishing company, Tree International, on his own. As Buddy tells it, “I was doing demos for Tree at $10 a session, and Jack would come into the studio and ask me to get together with this singer or that writer. It went well and Jack asked me if I would come to work for him. The job would pay $35 a week and I said yes. I began picking up songs and getting them recorded. We didn’t have an office. I would carry a tape recorder around begging for songs. It was a sheer case of determin…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: Buddy Killen; Alabama Music Hall of Fame http://www.alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1985/buddy-killen/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Buddy Killen http://www.allmusic.com/artist/buddy-killen-mn0000640267/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Buddy Killen obituary http://www.cmt.com/news/1544585/nashville-music-pioneer-buddy-killen-dies/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Buddy Killen obituary http://www.nashvillepost.com/home/article/20400528/buddy-killen-passes-away-at-73/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Killen, Buddy, and Carter, Tom. “By the Seat of My Pants: My Life in Country Music.” New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1932-2006
format: image, video, .jpeg, image

Erskine Hawkins
subject: Birmningham, Jefferson County, Big Band music, trumpet, Alabama State Teachers College,Fess Whatley, Ensley, Tuxedo Junction, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Alabama Music Hall of Fame Watch and Listen: "After Hours" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CYQ6YZHMEE "Tuxedo Junction" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFeFaZoj2QY "Tippin' In" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWc0ObIJydc
description: Erskine Hawkins (July 26, 1914 - November 11, 1993) When philanthropists donate money to various organizations, schools and charities, most often the result is either a building named in in their honor, or a scholarship, or even a seat on a board of directors. Alabama industrialist Erskine Ramsay took this one step further, by opening savings accounts for families who would name their newborn sons after him. And while most of children did not achieve any amount of celebrity, one did, as a bandleader and trumpeter whose contemporaries included Louis Armstrong. Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was born on July 26, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama. Erskine early on demonstrated musical proficiency. As a student at the Tuggle Institute, a private African-American boys school in Birmingham, Erskine learned to play the drums, trombone and saxophone. But it was the trumpet that would eventually elevate Hawkins to the heights he eventually reached. Under the tutelage of famed director J.T. “Fess” Whatley, Erskine not only learned how to master the trumpet, but how to read music, as well. After graduating from Tuggle, Hawkins attended the Alabama State Teachers College in Montgomery, Alabama, on an athletic scholarship. Soon, Erskine was spending more time on the stage than on the ballfield. Leading first, the ‘Bama State Revelers, then the ‘Bama State Collegians, Erskine started to show the ability to reach notes on the trumpet thought too high to reach. This ability later led his being called “The Twentieth Century Gabriel.” As the band became more and more popular, causing the group, all students at the college, to miss more classes than they attended, they all soon left school to pursue their musical careers full-time. Leaving Alabama, “Erskine Hawkins and his ‘Bama State Collegians” soon found themselves as one of the house bands at the famed Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Famed as the place where the “Lindy Hop” was developed, the Savoy was one of the premier venues for music during and …
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: Alabama Music Hall of Fame: Erskine Hawkins http://www.alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1989/erskine-hawkins/ Accessed December 4, 2016 Erskine Hawkins http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1365/ Accessed December 4, 2016 Erskine Hawkins http://www.allmusic.com/artist/erskine-hawkins-his-orchestra-mn0000206380/biography/ Accessed December 4, 2016 Erskine Hawkins http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/erskine-hawkins/ Accessed December 4, 2016 Obituary: Erskine Hawkins http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-14/news/mn-56807_1_tuxedo-junction/ Accessed December 4, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1914-1993
format: text, video, .jpeg, image

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay
subject: Florence, Lauderdale County, FAME Studios, Rick Hall, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, Elvis Presley, Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, Percy Sledge, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay (August 22, 1947 - ) If anyone can lay claim to having lived a life that was marked by being in the right place at the right, Donna Jean Godchaux (pronounced “God-show) can. From growing up in the Florence/Muscle Shoals, Alabama area while the Muscle Shoals recording scene was exploding, to moving to San Francisco where she met her first husband Keith Godchaux, as well as Jerry Garcia, Donna’s life is one of opportunities taken. Born Donna Jean Thatcher on August 22, 1947, in Florence, Alabama, Donna spent her childhood years on the banks of the Tennessee River, attending Sheffield High School, where she was a cheerleader. Music has always been a passion with Donna. As she points out, “I was singing from pretty much as soon as I could talk.” That love of music eventually took her to the various recording studios that had begun to populate the Muscle Shoals area. After graduating from high school in 1965, Donna began singing with her best friend Jeanie Greene in a group that they eventually called Southern Comfort. Jeanie’s husband Marlin was a music producer, working with Rick Hall’s FAME Studios. In 1966, Donna and Jeanie sang backup on Percy Sledge’s megahit “When a Man Loves a Woman,” which Marlin produced for FAME before producing a rerecording at Norala Studios in Sheffield, Alabama. The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and four weeks on the Billboard R&B singles chart. In 1969, she and Jeanie hit solid gold again when they sang back-up on Elvis Presley’s number one hit, “Suspicious Minds.” Other albums on which she sang backing vocals include “3614 Jackson Highway” by Cher (1969), on which she also appeared on the album cover, “Boz Scaggs” (1969) by Boz Scaggs (both albums recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio), and “From Elvis in Memphis” (1969), by Elvis Presley, which featured the top five hit “In The Ghetto,” penned by country artist Mac Davis. In 1970, Donna decided it was time for a change of s…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: “Donna Jean MacKay interview, 3/28/1998” http://www.levity.com/gans/Donna.980328.html/ Accessed December 2, 2016 “Donna Jean Godchaux interview, 2/24/2016” http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/02/donna_jean_godchaux_alabama_mu.html/ Accessed December 2, 2016 “Donna Jean Godchaux Band with Jeff Mattson official website” http://donnajeangodchauxband.info/index.html/ Accessed December 2, 2016 “Hall of fame another stop on Godchaux Mackay's long strange trip” http://www.timesdaily.com/life/hall-of-fame-another-stop-on-godchaux-mackay-s-long/article_f9186616-c058-5771-a530-3521cd97fd3d.html/ Accessed December 2, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1947-2016
contributor: text, video, .jpeg, web

Eddie Floyd
subject: Montgomery, Montgomery County, Stax Records, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Jerry Wexler, Blues music, R&B music, Soul music,
description: Eddie Floyd (June 27, 1937 - ) The “Memphis sound” that mixed Southern soul with R&B, jazz, with a little country and gospel thrown in, was an important and influential sound in the 1960s. Led by such singers as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett, none was more influential to the sound coming out of the Stax recording studios than singer-songwriter Eddie Floyd. Edward Lee Floyd was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on June 25, 1937. Six weeks later, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan. As a youth, Eddie often migrated between Michigan and Alabama. His exposure to both Southern soul and blues, and to the burgeoning R&B sound that would grow into the Motown sound of the 1960s, no doubt influenced both his singing and songwriting. In 1955, Eddie co-founded The Falcons, an R&B group considered to be the musical godfather to such later Motown groups asThe Temptations and The Four Tops. The group had a top twenty hit with “You’re So Fine” in 1959. A year later, Wilson Pickett joined the group and, with him, they recorded “I Found a Love” in 1960, backed by the singing group the Primettes, who would later change their name to the Supremes. In 1963, Pickett left the group and The Falcons disbanded. In 1965, Eddie moved to Memphis to work at Stax Records as a songwriter and producer. While at Stax, Eddie wrote “Comfort Me” for Carla Thomas, the title song of her album which peaked at #11 on the R&B chart in 1965. In 1966, Eddie co-wrote “Knock On Wood” with guitarist Steve Cropper, a member of Stax’s house band, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, and was originally intended to be recorded by Otis Redding. However, record executive Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records, the distributor for Stax, convinced the president of Stax to release Eddie’s demo version instead. Wexler’s instincts proved to be correct, as “Knock On Wood” sold over a million singles and reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as spending a week at #1 on the Soul Singles chart. His recording career reborn, …
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: Eddie Floyd: Alabama Music Hall of Fame http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/2003/eddie-floyd/ Accessed November 29, 2016 Eddie Floyd Official Website http://eddiefloyd.com/ Accessed November 29, 2016 Eddie Floyd bio allmusic.com http://www.allmusic.com/artist/eddie-floyd-mn0000168958/ Accessed November 29, 2016 Soulsville, USA: The Story of STAX Records https://books.google.com/books?id=XLdsRwpZ9oYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=soulsville&sig=ACfU3U0srTq7YeEyniP8y-FMSFpArxeB8w#v=onepage&q=soulsville&f=false/ Accessed December 5, 2016 Eddie Floyd historyofrock.com http://www.history-of-rock.com/eddie_floyd.htm/ Accessed December 5, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Center
date: 1937-2016
format: text, web, video, .jpeg, image

Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton
subject: Fairfield, Jefferson County, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Jazz music, Bass (instrument), Big Band music, Ike Cole Trio, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Count Basie
description: Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton (August 31, 1939 - ) In his long career in music, it is difficult to find a genre or an entertainer or act that Cleve Eaton has either not recorded or toured with. The man dubbed “the Count’s Bassist” because of his long association with Count Basie and his orchestra, Eaton has also worked with such artists as jazz pianist Ike Cole (Nat’s brother), pop artist Minnie Riperton, R&B group The Dells, as well as Julie London, Sammie David, Jr., Herbie Hancock, and The Temptations…and that just touches the surface. Born in Fairfield, Alabama on August 31, 1939, Cleveland Eaton grew up in a house full of musical influence. Between the ages of five to fifteen, Cleve mastered the piano, saxophone, trumpet, and tuba. But it was the string bass with captured Cleve’s interest and, as they say, the rest is history. After earning a degree in music at Tennessee A & I State University, Cleve first connected with Ike Cole in Chicago, become a part of his trio. In 1965, Cleve began a decade-long stint with the Ramsey Lewis Trio, playing bass on such albums as “Wade In The Water” (1966), “Goin’ Latin” (1967), and the number one jazz album “Sun Goddess” (1975). While the Ramsey Lewis Trio was where Cleve made his mark on the national scene, it was his 17-year association with The Count Basie Orchestra that cemented his spot as the preeminent bassist of his time. Eaton’s work with Basie began just two weeks after he left Lewis in a salary dispute. Cleve can be heard on such albums as “Kansas City Shout” (1980), “88 Basie Street” (1983), which won the 1984 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band, and on Basie’s last album, “Fancy Pants” (1983). Eaton continued his association with The Count Basie Orchestra after Basie’s death in 1984, including on “Big Boss Band” (1990), by George Benson, which featured the Basie orchestra. During this time, Cleve was also heading his own project, Cleve Eaton and Co., which evolved, in 2004, into Cleve Eaton and th…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: “Cleveland Eaton – Alabama Music Hall of Fame” http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/2008/cleveland-eaton/ Accessed December 1, 2016 “Cleveland Eaton Official Website” http://clevelandeatonmusic.com/home/ Accessed December 1, 2016 “Cleve Eaton Interview – The Birmingham Times 2/5/15” http://www.birminghamtimes.com/2015/02/the-cleve-eaton-story-god-is-in-control/ Accessed December 1, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1939-2016
format: text, video, web, >jpeg, image

Clarence Carter
subject: Montgomery, Montgomery County, FAME Studios, Candi Staton, Rick Hall, Alabama School for the Blind, Alabama State College, Rock music, R&B music, Blues music, Soul music, Grammy Awards
description: Clarence Carter (January 14, 1936 - ) The best way to describe Clarence Carter’s style is that he is a soul and blues preacher of love, most specifically, the cheating kind. Carter’s vocals, at times soaring and at times down in the gutter, combined with a mischievous chuckle that threatens to reveal more that it should, makes him a truly unique individual in the blues and soul world. Clarence Carter was born on January 14, 1936, in Montgomery, Alabama. Blind at birth, Clarence was a student at Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and later matriculated at Alabama State College (now University) in Montgomery, earning a degree in music. Teaming with a fellow ASC student, Calvin Scott, who was also blind, they formed the singing duo of Clarence & Calvin, later renamed the C & C Boys. Recording first for Fairlane Records, then Duke Records, their recordings failed to have much success. In 1965, they traveled to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record at FAME Studios with owner/producer Rick Hall. The song “Step By Step” caught the ear of executives with Atlantic Records, who signed the duo and released the song as a single. While it, too, generated little buzz, “Step By Step” saw the beginning of a collaboration between Carter and Hall which would prove to be most successful. Shortly after the release of “Step By Step,” Scott was seriously injured in an auto accident, effectively ending the duo of Carter and Scott. Clarence continued as a solo act, recording albums for Hall’s Fame label at FAME Studios. 1967 saw Clarence release, “Tell Daddy,” his first hit, reaching #35 on the R&B chart. The song was recorded a year later, as “Tell Mama,” by Etta James, and was her biggest pop hit. The success of the song led to Clarence signing with Atlantic Records, and resulted in a string of hits, starting with “Slip Away” (#2-R&B, 1968), “Too Weak to Fight” (#3-R&B, 1968), and “Patches” (#2-R&B, 1970). By the mid-1970s, with disco coming on the scene, Clarence’s career be…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: “Clarence Carter” http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/2003/clarence-carter/ Accessed December 1, 2016 “Soul Blue Music – Clarence Carter” http://www.soulbluesmusic.com/clarencecarter.htm Accessed December 1, 2016 “FAME Studios history” http://www.fame2.com/our-history/ Accessed December 1, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1936-2016
format: text, video, web, >jpeg

William Lee Golden
subject: Escambia County, Brewton, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: William Lee Golden Golden was raised in a farming family in Brewton, Alabama. At age seven he began singing and performing regularly on his grandfather’s weekly radio show, along with his sister. From this experience, Golden grew to love harmony, and by the time he was a teenager, he had an appreciation for Country, Gospel, Doo-Wop, and Pop Quartets. In 1965, Golden joined with the Oak Ridge Boys, a gospel group that went on to win 10 Dove awards and 5 Grammys. In 1975, the group switched to country and was awarded Country Music Association Vocal and Instrumental Group of the Year and Best Country Crossover Group of the year. Golden sang baritone for the Oak Ridge Boys for 22 years, releasing hits such as “Trying to Love Two Women,” “Ozark Mountain Jubilee,” and “Thank God for Kids.” In 1986 he released a solo album, “American Vagabond,” and in 1987, he left the group. He toured solo and with his sons Rusty and Chris as The Goldens. In 1996, Golden rejoined the Oak Ridge Boys. In 1997, Golden was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and received its Life Work Award for Performing Achievement. In 2011, the Oak Ridge Boys were inducted into The Grand Ole Opry and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015. Click the link to listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdFghZmdwXk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=474Q4oRJPUI
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: “William Lee Golden Biography.” (2016) https://www.williamleegolden.com/william-lee-golden-biography “William Lee Golden.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (2016) http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1997/william-l-golden/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Buddy Buie
subject: Dothan, Houston County, Eufaula, Barbour County, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Rock music, Southern rock music, Classics IV, Atlanta Rhythm Section,
description: Buddy Buie (January 23, 1941 - July 18, 2015) Buddy Buie may not be a name that most folks recognize, but his impact on the music scene of the 1960s to the 1990s is one that transcends name recognition. As a songwriter, producer, and concert promoter, Buddy had a hand in showcasing the talents of such artists as Roy Orbison, Wynonna Judd, B.J. Thomas, The Classics IV, and, most of all, The Atlanta Rhythm Section. Born January 23, 1941, in the small town of Marianna, Florida, Perry Carlton Buie (pronounced Boo-ee) moved with his family to the town of Dothan, Alabama when he was still a child. After dropping out of Auburn University, Buddy moved north to New York City to focus on a career in music, but soon settled back in the south in Atlanta, Georgia, where he resided for much of his music career. In the early 1960s, Buddy became the road manager for Roy Orbison. A few years later, he became the producer for the Classics IV, whose guitarist, J.R. Cobb, became a frequent songwriting partner with Buddy. While based in Atlanta, Buddy spent his songwriting time in a small fishing trailer that he had in Eufaula, Alabama. It was during this period that Buddy and Cobb wrote such hits as “Stormy,” “Spooky,” and “Traces.” While the success that he had with the Classics IV set him on steady ground, it was his founding of the group Atlanta Rhythm Section that best-defined Buddy’s influence and success on the music scene. In 1970, Buddy had opened a recording studio in Atlanta. Combining members of the Classics IV and the Candymen, Atlanta Rhythm section established themselves as a Southern Rock band in the realm of the Allman Brothers Band and Lynryd Skynryd. Buddy managed and produced many of their albums, and co-wrote their hit “So Into You,” along with keyboardist Dean Daughtry and Robert Nix. The 1980s and 1990s, while not as productive as the years with Atlanta Rhythm Section, Buddy, along with Cobb, was still actively writing, his most significant hit being Wynonna Judd’…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: Buddy Buie: Alabama Music Hall of Fame http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/2011/buddy-buie/ Accessed October 31, 2016 Buddy Buie obituary, al.com http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/07/hall_of_fame_songwriter_buddy.html Accessed October 31, 2016 Buddy Buie obituary, Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/perry-buddy-buie-songwriter-and-producer-dies-at-74/2015/07/23/b3f62650-30c7-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html?utm_term=.0609191a1b97 Accessed October 31, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resources Survey
date: 1941-2015
contributor: image, .jpeg, web, text

David Briggs
subject: Killen, Lauderdale County, Rock music, Elvis Presley, FAME Music Studio, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Arthur Alexander, Rick Hall, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, CMA Awards
description: David Briggs (March 16, 1943 - ) David Briggs has had a career that can best be described as impressive, topped off by working with Elvis Presley as his studio keyboardist, and later going out on tour with the King. But lest one think that he would rest on his laurels, David delved into new avenues of the music business, with success at every turn. David Paul Briggs was born March 16, 1943, in the small town of Killen, Alabama, located less than 20 miles from Muscle Shoals and its, at the time, nascent music industry. Music was an early part of Briggs’ life, and he took part in his first recording session at the ripe old age of 14. Soon, he was working with Jerry Carrigan, Terry Thompson, and Norbert Putnam, becoming a part of the original rhythm section for Rick Hall’s FAME Music Studio in their original studios in Florence, Alabama, and at the present studio, in Muscle Shoals. It was here that Briggs was able to work with such artists as Arthur Alexander (“You Better Move On”), Jimmy Hughes (“Steal Away”), and Tommy Roe (“Everybody”). In 1964, Briggs left the Shoals area, moving to Nashville. It was here that David happened to be in the right place at the right time. While recording his gospel album, “How Great Thou Art,” Elvis Presley asked David to fill in on keyboard as Floyd Cramer was running late. Impressed with David’s style and versatility, Elvis had him stay and play organ, even after Cramer had resumed his duties on the piano. It was a collaboration that would last until just before Presley’s death in 1977, and included Briggs joining Elvis in his 1975 Las Vegas engagement, and later, all his concert dates from 1976 through February, 1977. It was also during the time that he met Presley that David and fellow FAME rhythm section member Norbert Putnam opened Quadrafonic Studios in Nashville, recording with some of the biggest names in music, among them Neil Young, Joan Baez, Jimmy Buffet and the Jackson Five. Briggs sold his part of the studio in 1976 and …
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: David Briggs: Alabama Music Hall of Fame http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1999/david-briggs/, Accessed November 20, 2016 House of David website http://www.houseofdavidstudios.com/, Accessed November 20, 2016 Interview, David Briggs http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/articles/tcb-band-david-briggs.html. Accessed November 20, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
date: 1943-2016
format: image, .jpeg, text, web

Tammy Wynette
subject: Franklin County, Red Bay, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Tammy Wynette (May 5, 1942-April 6, 1998) Virginia Wynette Pugh was born May 5, 1942 in Tremont, Mississippi, but she spent much or her childhood just across the state line in Red Bay, Alabama. After her father died when she was nine months old, she lived mostly with her grandparents on a farm that spanned the state line. As she grew up, she worked on the farm, taught herself to play guitar, served as pianist at the Providence Baptist Church, and sang in school programs. Just before graduating high school, Virginia married Euple Byrd, with whom she had three children. Byrd was often unemployed and moved the family around, so Virginia worked as a waitress. When the couple split, she moved to Birmingham to live with relatives while she worked as a beautician and sang in WBRC’s popular Country Boy Eddy television show. In 1965, she made several trips to Nashville and moved there a year later. She auditioned for Alabama native, Billy Sherrill, with Epic Records who quickly signed her and changed her stage name to Tammy Wynette. Wynette’s first hit, “Apartment #9,” was the first of twenty-one No. 1 hits. Her hits included: “I Don’t Wanna Play House,” “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” “Stand By Your Man,” “Singing My Song,” “He Loves Me All the Way,” and “Woman to Woman.” Her marriage to George Jones from 1969 to 1975 produced many hit duets including “The Ceremony,” “We’re Gonna Hold On,” “Two Story House,” “We’re Not the Jet Set,” and “Golden Ring.” She married songwriter-producer George Richey in 1978 and released an autobiography Stand By Your Man in 1979. Wynette continued to record hits through the 1990s. She teamed up with Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn in 1993 for their landmark "Honky Tonk Angels" album. In 1995, she and her ex-husband Jones, released a reunion album. Wynette died in her sleep April 6, 1998, of a pulmonary blood clot; she was 55. She was known as the “First Lady of Country Music.” Wynette was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Country Mus…
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: “Tammy Wynette.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (2016) http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1993/tammy-wynette/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Ernie Ashworth
subject: Huntsville, Madison County, Country music, Grand Ole Opry, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Radio, Redstone Arsenal
description: Ernie Ashworth (December 15, 1928 - March 2, 2009) Even though he had written songs for some of country music’s biggest stars, and that he himself had scored two top 10 hits, it wasn’t until after he had scored his one and only number-one single that Ernie Ashworth finally left his job working in the guided missile program at Redstone Arsenal in his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama. His life before, and after, was just as varied as his day and night jobs in 1963. Born December 15, 1928, Ernest Bert Ashworth began his career in music singing and playing guitar on local radio station WBHP-AM, from 1948 to 1949, when he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to continue his career in radio. It was there that he was signed by Wesley Rose of Acuff-Rose Music as a songwriter, writing songs recorded by such artists as Jimmy Dickens, Johnny Horton, and Carl Smith. However, after not making his mark as a singer, Ernie left Nashville in 1957 and returned to Huntsville, where he landed a job working at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal. It wasn’t until 1960 that Wesley Rose, who hadn’t given up on Ernie, arranged a recording contract for Ernie with Decca Records. Scoring three top-20 hits in two years, Ernie moved on to Hickory Records, a subsidiary owned by Acuff-Rose Music, which is where he found his greatest success as a performer. After a Top Five hit with “Everybody But Me” and a Top Ten hit with, “I Take The Chance” in 1962, Ernie found his success in 1963 with “Talk Back Trembling Lips,” his lone number-one song, which stayed on the country charts for 42 weeks. This success led to Ernie being invited to join the Grand Ole Opry as a member in 1964. While he continued to score more records that charted, none came close to the success of his signature song, although he continued to tour and perform on the Opry stage. It was then that Ernie’s career came full circle, as he once again found himself in the radio business, this time as an owner, with stations in Flomaton, Alabama, Ardmore, T…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: Ernie Ashworth official website http://www.ernieashworth.com/ Accessed November 1, 2016 Ernie Ashworth: Alabama Music Hall of Fame http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/2008/ernie-ashworth/ Accessed November 1, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1928-2009
format: image, text, web, video

Percy Sledge
subject: Colbert County, Leighton, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Percy Sledge (November 25, 1940-April 14, 2015) Percy Tyrone Sledge was born November 25, 1940 in the poor farming town of Leighton, Alabama. Sledge worked on many local farms then was hired as an orderly at the hospital in Sheffield where he delighted patients and staff by singing on the job. On weekends, he sang in an R&B combo called the Esquires. Sledge was discovered when a patient at the hospital where he was working introduced him to record producer Quin Ivy in 1965. His first recording for Atlantic Records, “When a Man Loves a Woman,” reached No. 1 on the pop charts in 1966 and became the label’s first gold record. After his first album was released, Sledge released three more in the 1960s: “Warm and Tender Soul”, “The Percy Sledge Way”, and “Take Time to Know Her”. Sledge never again reached the success of “When a Man Loves a Woman” which became an early highlight of the Muscle Shoals music scene and was used in several movie soundtracks in the 1980s. Although he said he had hummed the melody of the song all his life, he was not listed as a co-writer, so he never received any royalties for his most successful song. He may not have reached the success of “When a Man Loves a Woman” again, but he did spend the next fifty years recording and performing. Songs like “I’ll Be Your Everything” hit the charts well into the 1970s. He released his final album, “The Gospel of Percy Sledge”, in 2013. Sledge was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. He died April 14, 2015 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at age 74. Click the link to listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMgFK_GPaw0
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: Coscarelli, Joe. “Percy Sledge, Smooth Wailer in ‘When a Man Loves a Woman,’ is Dead at 74.” The New York Times (2015). http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/arts/music/percy-sledge-who-sang-when-a-man-loves-a-woman-dies-at-74.html?_r=0 “Percy Sledge.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame (2016). http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1993/percy-sledge/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Curly Putman
subject: Jackson County, Princeton, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Curly Putman (Nov. 20, 1930-Oct. 30, 2016) Claude “Curly” Putman Jr., born in Princeton, Alabama, is best known as a songwriter. He was born on Putman Mountain, northeast of Huntsville, Alabama. His father was a sawmill worker and his mother Myrtle Roden Putman was a homemaker. He attended Paint Rock Valley High School and Southern Union State Community College briefly before enlisting in the navy. He served two tours in Korea during the Korean war on the carrier Valley Forge. Afterwards, he coached basketball and taught physical education at Paint Rock Valley High while playing steel guitar on the side. He eventually got a job at a record store in Huntsville owned by a local country singer, Slim Lay. In 1956, Putman married Bernice Soon, with whom he had a son. In 1960, his song, “I Think I Know You,” performed by Marion Worth, reached the Top 10. Shortly after, Alabama native Buddy Killen, signed Patman to Nashville’s Tree Publishing Company. In 1965, Putman’s “The Green, Green Grass of Home” was recorded by Johnny Darrell. The song was later recorded by Porter Wagoner, Tom Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Gram Parsons, Joe Tex, the Grateful Dead, and any more. Putman continued to write hits for the next two decades for artists such as Charlie Rich, Tammy Wynette, the Statler Brothers, Tanya Tucker, and George Jones. Putman earned thirty-six BMI awards and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976. He was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993. Putman died October 30, 2016 at his home in Lebanon, Tennessee. Click the link to listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYir_CAi-e0
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: Grimes, William. “Curly Putman, Writer of ‘The Green, Green Grass of Home,’ Dies at 85.” The New York Times. (2016) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/arts/music/curly-putnam-died.html “Curly Putman.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (2016) http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1993/curly-putman/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Alabama
subject: DeKalb County, Ft. Payne, Music, Country, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Alabama Members: Randy Owen (Dec. 13, 1949- ) (lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter), Teddy Gentry (Jan. 22, 1952- ) (bass player, songwriter, and harmony vocalist) Jeff Cook (Aug. 27, 1949- ) (multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter) Mark Herndon (May 11, 1955- ) (drummer). Cousins Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, and Jeff Cook, of Ft. Payne, Alabama, formed the band Young Country in 1969 while Owen and Cook were still in high school. After graduation, the group moved to Anniston and changed their name to Wildcountry in 1972. In 1973, they moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where they were hired to play in a honky-tonk, The Bowery. The group signed a contract with GRT in 1977 and changed its name to Alabama. That same year they released a minor hit, “I Wanna be with You Tonight.” Two years later, after using many different drummers, Mark Herndon joined the band. In 1980, the Top 20 hit, “My Home’s in Alabama,” was released by MDJ. The hit led to the group signing with RCA Records. Alabama paved the way for groups in country music, being the first country group to top the charts with “Tennessee River” in 1980. Thus began an incredible streak of 27 No. 1 hits. Alabama dominated the charts throughout the 1980s and entered the 1990s with the hit “I’m in a Hurry.” The group has supported many worthy causes over the years. In 1989, Owen worked with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis to create Country Cares, a network of 160 radio stations whose radio-thons raised $130 million for the hospital. In 1997, Alabama participated in the holiday benefit album, Country Cares for Kids. According to the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Alabama also hosted an annual June Jam in Fort Payne from 1982 to 1997 to benefit charities and schools. Alabama was named the Academy of Country Music Artist of the Decade (1980s). They were inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993. The band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998 and acc…
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: Alabama Department of Archives and History (2016) http://www.digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/ref/collection/photo/id/19861 “Alabama.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (2016) http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1993/alabama/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

William L. Dawson
subject: Calhoun County, Anniston, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: William L. Dawson (September 26, 1899-May 4, 1990) William Levi Dawson was an African American composer, performer, and music educator from Anniston, Alabama. Dawson graduated from the Tuskegee Institute with highest honors in 1921. He earned a bachelor of music degree from Horner Institute of Fine Arts in Kansas City, Missouri in 1925. He studied under Felix Borowski at the Chicago Musical College and studied under Adolph Weidig at the American Conservatory, where he earned a master’s degree in music in 1927. Dawson served as first trombonist with the Chicago Civic Orchestra from 1926 to 1930. He won a Chicago Daily News contest for band directors in 1929. Shortly after, he was awarded the Wanamaker Contest prize for the song “Jump Back Honey, Jump Back” and the orchestral composition “Scherzo.” In 1931, Dawson became director of the School of Music at the Tuskegee Institute. As director, he conducted the 100-voice a cappella choir during its engagement at the opening of the Radio City Music Hall in New York; the choir also performed at Carnegie Hall, the White House and Constitution Hall and completed a series of national and international radio broadcasts. In 1934, the choir made a tour of international and interracial good will to the British Isles, Europe, and the Soviet Union. Years later, the United States State Department sent Dawson to Spain to conduct various choral groups. In 1956, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Music by the Tuskegee Institute. Perhaps his greatest achievement was as composer of the Negro Folk Symphony which combined melody and rhythm from Negro spirituals with his own original material. The Negro Folk Symphony was presented by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in 1934. In 1952, Dawson visited seven West African countries, after which he revised the symphony to include rhythm inspired by African influences. He recorded Negro Folk Symphony for Decca Records in 1961. Dawson was a guest conductor for the Kansas City Philhar…
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: “William Levi Dawson.” Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (2016) <http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1989/william-levi-dawson/>
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Sam Phillips
subject: Florence, Lauderdale County, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Sam Phillips (1923-2003) Samuel Cornelius Phillips was born January 5, 1923 in Florence, Alabama. He was the youngest of eight children born to Charles Tucker Phillips and Madge Ella Phillips. He was born into a middle-class farming family, but the family lost the farm during the Great Depression. His love of music was evident early on; he was active in his high school band, playing several different instruments, and eventually becoming the conductor. Sam dropped out of school just before graduation to support his mother and deaf aunt after his father died. He married Rebecca Burns in 1942; the couple had two sons, Knox and Jerry. He took an extension course in audio engineering from Alabama Polytechnic Institute (present-day Auburn University), but his passion for music remained his focus. From 1942 to 1949, Sam worked as radio engineer and host for several different stations including the following: WMSG in Decatur, Alabama; WLAY in Nashville, Tennessee where he became known as host of “Afternoon Tea Dance;” and WREC in Memphis, Tennessee. This work allowed Sam to acquire up many skills including transferring recordings from vinyl to acetate tapes and prerecording shows for radio hosts. In 1950 Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service on Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee in order to meet the need of local musicians who had to travel to either Nashville, New Orleans, or Chicago to record. Early on, Phillips raised most of his business by offering anyone who walked in the chance to “cut” a record for a few dollars. He also recorded private events such as weddings. Eventually, Phillips started his own record label, Phillips Records. His first record, “Boogie in the Park,” by Joe Hill Louis, attracted the attention of B.B. King, Chester Arthur Burnett (Howlin’ Wolf), and Ike Turner, each of which went on to record his first record with Phillips Records. Phillips’s first hit record, “Rocket 88,” by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats reached the top of the rhythm …
creator: Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
source: Bolton, Jonathan W. “Sam Phillips.” Encyclopedia of Alabama (August 2013). http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2989
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Nat "King" Cole
subject: Montgomery, Montgomery County, Jazz, Blues, Swing Music, Radio, WWII, Television Shows, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
description: Nat "King" Cole (March 17. 1919 - February 15, 1965) Born Nathaniel Adams Coles, on March 17, 1919, in Montgomery, Alabama, crooner Nat Cole was known for his smooth, soft baritone and easygoing nature. When Nat was four years old, his father, Edward Coles, a Baptist minister, moved the family north to Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Perlina, who played the organ in her husband’s church, was one of his musical influences. As Chicago was a magnet for jazz musicians, Nat was also influenced by such artists as Louis Armstrong, and Earl “Fatha” Hines, who he would sneak out of his house to go listen to at the various clubs around the city. Dropping out of high school before graduation, Nat first played piano for his brother’s group, Eddie Cole’s Solid Swingers. Settling in Los Angeles after a national tour that he was part off failed, Nat joined with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Price in the late 1930s to form the King Cole trio, as Nat had acquired the moniker “King,” due in part to the Mother Goose nursery rhyme, ‘Old King Cole,” as well as a nod to his musical prowess. Originally, the group focused on instrumental tunes, with Nat offering vocals on occasion. Legend has it that Nat’s singing career took off when a drunken patron insisted that he sing “Sweet Lorraine.” While this story has been discounted, mainly by Cole himself, he nevertheless didn’t discourage it. Nat’s explanation of his transformation in simpler terms, stating, “I started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out.” By 1943, with the help of appearances on such radio shows as Swing Soiree, the Chesterfield Supper Club, and Kraft Music Hall, The King Cole Trio had scored their first major hit with Nat’s own composition, Straighten Up and Fly Right.” Later hits like “The Christmas Song” (1946), “Route 66” (1946), “Nature Boy” (1948, and “Mona Lisa” (1950), solidified Nat’s place as a solo act and moved him …
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: Epstein, Daniel Mark. Nat King Cole. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999 Santelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia. New York: Penguin Books, 1993 “Nat ‘King’ Cole.” http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1552. Accessed November 29, 2016. Gilliland, John. Show 22 - Smack Dab in the Middle on Route 66: A skinny dip in the easy listening mainstream. [Part 1]. UNT Digital Library. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19775/. Accessed November 29, 2016. All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1919-1965
format: Image, Text

"Harvest at Fort Payne," Harwood Magnus Steiger (1938)
subject: Fort Payne, Dekalb County, art, public art, painting, Works Progress Administration, Harwood Magnus Steiger
creator: Blake Wilhelm
source: "Post Office Reliefs: Fort Payne, Alabama." Alabama Department of Archives and History. http://alabamamoments.alabama.gov/sec49det.html Davis, Anita Price and Jimmy Emerson. New Deal Art in Alabama: The Murals, Sculptures and Other Works, and Their Creators. McFarland and Company: Jefferson, NC, 2015.
publisher: Northeast Alabama Community College Archives and Special Collections
date: 1938
contributor: photo by Jimmy Emerson
format: text and .jpeg

"Alabama Agriculture," Constance Ortmayer (1940)
subject: Scottsboro, Jackson County, art, public art, sculpture, bas relief, Works Progress Administration, Constance Ortmeyer
description: Constance Ortmayer was born in New York City in 1902 and graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Vienna, Austria. She returned to the United States in 1932 and was teaching art at Rollins College in Florida when she was commissioned to complete two bas relief sculptures for the post offices at Arcadia, Florida and Scottsboro, Alabama.The Arcadia relief was completed in 1939. The Scottsboro relief, Alabama Agriculture, was completed in 1940. Ortmayer said of the Scottsboro piece, "Three phases of cotton growing from the theme of the central panel. On the right the cultivation of the crop is symbolized by the young man working with a hoe among the new plants. Opposite a young woman is depicted picking ripened bolls, and for the background, the processing and shipping of cotton is represented by the bales and the strong figure of a second young worker standing between them. Both of the flanking panels interpret the growing of corn. The young man and woman shown on the right are examining the fruit on the ripened stalks and the couple on the left are represented as workers who have harvested the new crop." The Treasury Section of Fine Arts, who commissioned the piece, wrote of the work, "In a sculpture characterized by clean, flowing lines, Miss Ortmayer gives an exceptionally effective representation of the youthful strength and grace that each new generation brings to the agriculture of the South."
creator: Blake Wilhelm
source: "Post Office Reliefs: Scottsboro, Alabama." Alabama Department of Archives and History. http://alabamamoments.alabama.gov/sec49det.html Davis, Anita Price and Jimmy Emerson. New Deal Art in Alabama: The Murals, Sculptures and Other Works, and Their Creators. McFarland and Company: Jefferson, NC, 2015.
publisher: Northeast Alabama Community College Archives and Special Collections
date: 1940
contributor: photograph by Jimmy Emerson
format: text and .jpeg

General William Rosecrans' Headquarters (Alston-Rosser House, "Little Brick")
subject: Stevenson, Jackson County, Civil War, William Rosecrans, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, National Register of Historic Places
description: The structure known locally as "Little Brick" was built about 1855 during the railroad construction boom in Stevenson, Alabama. The property was purchased prior to the Civil War by Michigan native Walter Rosser who was in Stevenson working as a railroad engineer. The nature of design indicates that Rosser may have built the structure himself. It is believed that a man named Thomas Osbourne lived in the home until it was commandeered by General William Rosecrans to be used as a headquarters during the Civil War. Little Brick's location on a side street, away from the bustling depot and downtown area fit with the general's needs. It was here that Rosecrans worked diligently on plans for the Chattanooga campaign from his arrival on August 8, 1863 until his September 4, 1863 departure. At Little Brick, Rosecrans met with two men who would become President of the United States, his Chief of Staff James A. Garfield and General Ulysses S. Grant. General William T. Sherman was in the area at the time and it is possible he came to Little Brick, as well. After the war Rosser returned to Stevenson and reclaimed his property, and it remained in the Rosser family for over a century. The structure has fallen into ruins and the property is now owned by the city of Stevenson.
creator: Blake Wilhelm
source: Secrist, Phil. "The General's Headquarters (Rosecrans' Headquarters)." National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form. Jackson County Historical Society, Marietta, Georgia, February 1, 1978. http://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp/GetAsset?assetID=ae9c19b8-578e-4c8e-90e4-c5e464f41768 "Union Army Headquarters" Historical Marker. Alabama Historical Association. Myrtle Place, Stevenson, Alabama.
publisher: Northeast Alabama Community College Archives and Special Collections
date: built c. 1855, occupied by Rosecrans August 18 - September 4, 1863
contributor: photo by Jimmy Emerson
format: text and .jpeg

Sauta Village and Sequoyah's Cherokee Syllabary
subject: Sauta, Jackson County, Native Americans, language, Sequoyah, George Guess, George Gist
description: Sauta was a small Cherokee village established about 1784 on the north side of the Tennessee River near its confluence with North Sauty Creek. The August 13, 1828, issue of the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper includes a letter from an acquaintance of Sequoyah relating the story of Sequoyah's creation of the Cherokee syllabary. According to the story, several young men at Sauta were discussing their awe of white men's ability to pass language across vast distances via written words on paper. Sequoyah is said to have told the men that he could easily create a written language and his response was met with ridicule. Inspired by this event, Sequoyah completed the Cherokee syllabary. A similar story is recounted by Samuel Lorenzo Knapp from his 1828 interview of Sequoyah in Washington D.C. Many myths surround the life of Sequoyah and the creation of the Cherokee syllabary, but the timing and nature of these sources lend credence to this story.
creator: Blake Wilhelm
source: Abram, Susan M. "Sequoyah." Encyclopedia of Alabama. May 21, 2009; http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2159 [accessed August 11, 2016] Chambless, Ann B. "Early Cherokee Village of Sauta." Jackson County Chronicles 20, no. 1 (January 2008): 6. Chambless, Ann B. "Sequoyah." Jackson County Chronicles 25, no. 4 (October 2013): 3-6. G.C. "Invention of the Cherokee Alphabet." Cherokee Phoenix 1, no. 24 (August 13, 1828): 2, col. 1a-2a. Foreman, Grant. Sequoyah. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2012. Street, O.D. "Cherokee Towns and Villages." Publications of the Alabama Historical Society, Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 1. Montgomery, AL, 1901.
publisher: Northeast Alabama Community College Archives and Special Collections
date: established c. 1784
contributor: Print by McKenney and Hall from Birmingham Public Library Tutwiler Collection of Southern History and Literature
format: text and .jpeg

Morris Nathan
subject: Morris Nathan; Founder of Sheffield, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish Settlers
description: Alfred Huger Moses and Morris Nathan were the first two alderman of Sheffield, Alabama. Nathan was buried in the Jewish section of Oakwood Cemetery in Sheffield, Alabama before the Jewish community incorporated or built a temple.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: Sheffield Historic Society
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1827 - 1892
rights: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
type: Photograph and text.

Montgomery Avenue, Sheffield, Alabama
subject: Sheffield; Colbert County; Jewish Owned Businesses
description: Alfred Huger Moses was responsible for the layout of the residential, business, and industrial areas of Sheffield, Alabama, which was incorporated in 1895. He named Montgomery Avenue after Montgomery, Alabama where he and his family had lived (and where he and his wife are buried) before moving to Sheffield. The family home, which burned n the late 1880s, was located on North Montgomery Avenue near where the bluff overlooks the Tennessee River.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: Special Collections, 55.3, from Said Schrader Collection. Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: circa 1894/5/
contributor: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
rights: Photograph courtesy of Special Collections, UNA.
type: Text and photograph.

Alfred Moses Home
subject: Alfred Huger Moses Home; Sheffield, Alabama; Montgomery Avenue; Colbert County; Jewish Settlers
description: Alfred Huger Moses, the designer and first mayor of Sheffield, built his family home at what is now 1315 North Montgomery Avenue, Sheffield, Alabama. The house burned to the ground circa 1890.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: Sheffield Historical Society.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey.
date: circa 1885.
contributor: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
rights: Sheffield Historical Society
type: Text and illustration.

Office of Sheffield Land, Iron and Coal Company
subject: Sheffield, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish History; Alfred Huger Moses
description: Alfred Huger Moses, founder and first mayor of Sheffield, Alabama (along with his brother, Mordecai) was the owner of the Sheffield Land, Iron and Coal Company, located on Montgomery Avenue.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: Sheffield Historical Society.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: circa 1884.
rights: Sheffield Historical Society.
type: Text and illustration.

Montgomery Avenue - Business District
subject: Montgomery Avenue; Sheffield, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish Owned Businesses
description: Most of the earliest merchants in Sheffield, Alabama were of Jewish descent and came to the area in the mid 1880's. The earliest Jewish families were the Spielbergers who owned a dry goods and clothing store, Speilbergers and Sons at 217-219 Montgomery Avenue. Other Jewish owned businesses included: Philip Olin who sold boots, shoes, and clothing, H. Goodman and A. E. Goodman who sold furniture and general merchandise, and Cohen Mercantile, which was located at the intersection of Montgomery and Cohen.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: Sheffield Historical Society
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: circa 1885
rights: Special Collection, Sadie Schrader Collection, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama.
type: Text and photograph.

Sheffield, Alabama
subject: Sheffield, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish Settlement in Alabama; Alfred Moses
description: Alfred Huger Moses and his brother, Mordecai, were largely responsible for the founding of Sheffield, Alabama. They named the city after Sheffield, England hoping for similar success in industrialization. The sales of 500 lots for the establishment of Sheffield, Alabama was a three day event starting on May 8th, 1884. The sale realized sales of $350,000.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama.
source: Sheffield Historical Society.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Center.
date: circa 1884
contributor: Pam Kingsbury
rights: Sheffield Historical Societry
type: Text and illustration.

Jacob and Isaac Friedman
subject: Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish Settlement
description: Jacob and Isaac Friedman, brothers who moved to Tuscumbia from Cincinnati, Ohio in the 1840s, established a dry goods store on the main street of Tuscumbia.
creator: Pam Kingsbury
source: Florence, Lauderdale Public Library, Local History Room, History of Temple B'nai Israel files, 2-3.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey.
date: 1840s
rights: Special Collections, Sadie Schrader Collection, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence. Alabama.
type: Photograph and text.

WQLT Transmitter Site: Elvis the Generator
subject: Sam Phillips; Colbert County; Big River Broadcasting
description: The generator for WQLT Radio station, which is owned by Big River Broadcasting - founded by Sam Phillips and now under the management of his sons and grandchildren -- is, whimsically perhaps, painted gold and named Elvis for Elvis Presley, who Sam Phillips is credited with discovering.
creator: Pam Kingsbury
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2016
rights: Pam Kingsbury
type: Photograph and text.

The Reisman - Coffee - Looft House
subject: Historic Homes, Florence, Alabama; Lauderdale County; Jewish Settlers in North Alabama
description: The Reisman-Coffee-Looft House, located at 618 N. Wood Avenue, was the home to Mark Reisman and his family. Mr. Reisman was one of the first Jewish merchants in the Florence area. His business was located the corner of Tennessee and Court Streets. He was a well-respected businessman in the area and news of his death (from a gun accident in his home) shocked the community. The house, which is Queen Anne style, was built between 1888 and 1900.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Center
date: circa 1888 -1900.
contributor: History of Temple B'nai Israel, file 2-3, Local History Room, Florence- Lauderdale Public Library.
type: Text and photograph.

Temple B'Nai Israel Cornerstone
subject: The first location of Temple B'nai Israel. which was built in 1909, is located on 8th Street and Atlanta. The cornerstone was laid (with what the local paper called 'appropriate ceremony") in accordance with Jewish ritual. It contained: a history of the organization of the congregation, lists of the members of the congregation who served on various committees that spearheaded the organization and erection of the Temple, various Mason items, and one dollar among other items.
description: Coleman, Erwin M., A History of Temple B'nai Israel, Florence, Alabama: Centennial Celebration, 1906 - 2006. Privately Printed.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1908
rights: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
type: Picture and text.

Unpublished Manuscript -- Stanley Rosenbaum
subject: Stanley Rosenbaum; Jewish Arts
description: Stanley Rosenbaum, who was a Florence, Alabama businessman, philanthropist, Civil Rights advocate, member of the University of North Alabama's English Department, and original owner of the Stanley Rosenbaum Frank Lloyd Wright House, was interested in and encouraged creative writing. An unpublished one act play, titled "When I Am Thirty," is housed in the archives of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. The play has three characters, one setting, and has detailed stage directions. Stanley Rosenbaum and his father gave the funds to establish the library and Stanley Rosenbaum served in various positions as a volunteer for over thirty years.
creator: Pam Kingsbury
source: Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, archives, file 3-2 in the local history room.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Center
date: Undated.
rights: Florence-Lauderdale Public Library.
type: Photograph and text.

Spielberger Family
subject: Sheffield, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish Settlement
description: Jacob Spielberger, who was born in Hungary in January of 1856, came to Alabama around 1888. He opened a dry goods store and clothing store, Spielberger and Sons, at 217 and 219 Mongomery Avenue in Sheffield. His three sons, Jacob, Harry, and Ben worked with him as young men. The Spielbergers figure prominently in the development of retail in Sheffield, in the building of Temple B'nai Israel, and in fraternal organizations.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: Coleman, Erwin M., A History of Temple B'nai Israel, Florence, Alabama; Centennial Celebration, 1906 - 2006. A History Of Sheffield, Sheffield Public Library, privately printed.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: The family was active in business in Sheffield from 1888 to the mid-1970s.
rights: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
type: Text and photograph.