Dowdell Plaque
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Dowdell, Betty; Auburn Bank; Lincoln, Abraham; United Daughters of the Confederacy; Auburn, AL
description: Near the modern-day Auburn Bank, a boulder imprinted with a plaque commemorates the raising of the first Confederate flag in Auburn by student Betty Dowdell on March 4, 1861 — the same day that Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th President of the United States. The plaque was dedicated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy during the postwar period.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-4
contributor: Joshua Shiver
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Sunny Slope
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Auburn, AL; Samford, William F.; Historic Home; Secession
description: This historic home that sits on what is now South College Street was the site where the 14th and 18th Alabama regiments were mustered in 1861. William F. Samford, known as the “Penman for Secession” for his nationally published diatribes on secession, owned the home and the connecting plantation.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-4
contributor: Joshua Shiver
relation: Auburn Villager: Remembering the "Penman for Secession"
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Religion; African American History; Payne, Lonnie; Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church
description: After the end of the Civil War, newly freed African-American men and women constructed Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church on what is today known as Baptist Hill, skirting East Thach Avenue. Lonnie Payne, a white land owner, deeded the property to a member of the congregation in 1865 and it was constructed by logs from the Frazer plantation northeast of Auburn. It was the first African-American church built in the area.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-4
contributor: Joshua Shiver
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Opelika, Alabama
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Opelika, AL; Rousseau, General Lovell Harrison; Auburn, AL
description: The city of Opelika, Alabama was incorporated on February 9, 1854. Because of the many rail lines that snaked through the city, warehouses were built during the war to store cotton and other goods. When General Lovell Harrison Rousseau’s men stormed through Auburn and Opelika in July 1864, they destroyed railroads and other property including Opelika’s warehouses.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-4
contributor: Joshua Shiver
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Phenix City, Alabama
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Phenix City, AL; Columbus, GA; Wilson, Major General James Harrison; Union Army; Russell County, AL
description: Formerly known as the city of Girard, Phenix City, Alabama (along with Columbus, Georgia) was the location of one of the last land battles of the Civil War. On April 16, 1865, Bvt. Major General James Harrison Wilson swept through Auburn and Opelika and then into Phenix City with three divisions of Union soldiers. After crossing over the 14th Street Bridge from into Columbus, the once mighty industrial city would fall within mere hours.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-4
contributor: Joshua Shiver
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Rousseau and Wilson's Raids
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Union Army; Rousseau, Major General Lovell Harrison; Sherman, General William T.; Decatur; Johnston, Major General Joseph; Atlanta; Confederate Army; Texas Hospital; Wilson, General James H.; Phenix City; Columbus, GA
description: On July 10, 1864, Major General William T. Sherman ordered Major General Lovell Harrison Rousseau to depart from Decatur, Alabama with approximately 2,500 men. Their goal was to sever the Montgomery and West Point railroads - a vital link for funneling supplies from central Alabama to Confederate Major General Joe Johnston's overwhelmed and outnumbered forces in Atlanta. Along the way, Rousseau's men were to destroy every scrap of government supplies or materials that could be used to aid the Confederate defense of Atlanta. Local slaves in the Auburn/Opelika area funneled information to Rousseau and his men about the area's weak defenses. In Auburn, only a handful of patients at the Texas Hospital were able to offer even token resistance. As Rousseau and his cavalry rumbled through the streets of Auburn and then Opelika, they burned warehouses, burned train depots, the post office, and disabled the local rolling stocks. Union soldiers returned once again on April 15, 1865, this time under the command of Major General James H. Wilson. They swept through Auburn, Opelika, and Phenix City, before finally making their way across the 14th Street Bridge into their intended target, the massive industrial city of Columbus, Georgia.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-5
contributor: Joshua Shiver
relation: Encyclopedia of Alabama: Rousseau's Raid Encyclopedia of Alabama: Wilson's Raid New York Times July 27, 1864: Gen. Rousseau's Raid Routes of Union Activity in Alabama (Maps)
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Auburn and Opelika at the End of the Civil War
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Auburn, AL; Opelika, AL; East Alabama Male College
description: The emancipation of slaves, a widespread labor shortage, and the collapse of the Confederate financial system all coalesced to bring the cities of Auburn and Opelika to ruin at the end of the Civil War. It would be ten years before a new home would be constructed in Auburn and the area’s educational system was completely wrecked. What was once a bustling and growing village would soon fall into stagnation. Though the East Alabama Male College reopened in 1866, it did so with fewer students and many unpaid professors.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-5
contributor: Joshua Shiver
relation: Auburn University Sesquicentennial Series: Auburn in the Civil War Era by Ralph Draughon Jr. Book: Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama by Walter L. Fleming Storey, Margaret M., Loyalty and Loss: Alabama's Unionists in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004.
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

William Lowndes Yancey
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Yancey, William Lowndes; Chambers County, AL; Secession; Pebble Hill
description: Before the outbreak of the Civil War, Yancey was a fiery orator and politician who ardently defended slavery and secession. Representing Chambers County during the Alabama secession convention, he voted for the state to leave the Union and during the war spearheaded a failed diplomatic attempt to coerce Europe into recognizing Confederate independence. The Yancey family spent many summers with the Scott family at Pebble Hill.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-5
contributor: Joshua Shiver
relation: Encyclopedia of Alabama: William Lowndes Yancey
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Henry Clay Armstrong
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Armstrong, Henry Clay; East Alabama Male College; Confederate Army; Reconstruction; Alabama House of Representatives; Brazil; Auburn, AL
description: Henry Clay Armstrong was a student at the East Alabama Male College prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. After becoming a lawyer, he enlisted and became a captain in the Confederate Army where he served until the end of the war. During Reconstruction, he served as a state legislator, speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, state superintendent of education, and eventually the Consulate General to Brazil. He returned to the EAMC where he served on the board of trustees and the executive council.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-5
contributor: Joshua Shiver
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

James Ferguson Dowdell
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Dowdell, James Ferguson; East Alabama Male College; Auburn, AL
description: James Ferguson Dowdell served during the Civil War as the organizer and commander of the 37th Alabama infantry regiment. After the war, he assumed the presidency of the East Alabama Male College from 1866 to 1870.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-5
contributor: Joshua Shiver
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

John Darby
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; East Alabama Male College; Darby, John; Auburn, AL
description: A professor of natural science and one of the original trustees of the East Alabama Male College, he also taught chemistry and developed a “Prophylactic Fluid” which was widely used as a disinfectant and antiseptic by Civil War surgeons and hospitals. A potassium permanganate solution, it was probably made in a building close to where the president’s home stands today.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-5
contributor: Joshua Shiver
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

William James Samford
subject: Auburn, AL; Lee County, AL; Civil War; East Alabama Male College; Samford, William James; Confederate Army; Baker's Creek, Mississippi; Slaton, William F.; Johnson's Island; Lake Erie; Old Main Hall; Samford Hall
description: When the East Alabama Male College opened its doors in 1859, William James Samford was one of the first eighty students to enroll. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Samford enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army where he was soon promoted to Lieutenant. Serving primarily in the western theater of operations, he campaigned in Tennessee and Kentucky before he was captured at Baker's Creek, Mississippi in 1863. He then spent eighteen months in prison at the prisoner-of-war camp on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie where he met his former professor William F. Slaton. After the war, he returned to Auburn for a year to farm and study law under his father, after which he served in both houses of the Alabama legislature and eventually in Congress where he appropriated money for the reconstruction of Old Main Hall which had burned to the ground in 1887. He became the 31st Governor of Alabama in 1900. The newly reconstructed building was named Samford Hall in his honor in 1929.
creator: Joshua Shiver
source: Encyclopedia of Alabama: William J Samford
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-5
contributor: Joshua Shiver
relation: Encyclopedia of Alabama: William J Samford
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interview with Julianne (Julie) Garner
subject: Social justice
subject: Women's rights
subject: Women's March on Washington
subject: Atlanta, GA
description: An oral history with Julie Garner, a graduate student of Auburn University, concerning her participation in the satellite Women's March on Washington that occurred on January 21, 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia. Her story is rich in local political context as she explains how she balanced working with Trump supporters at Chipotle Mexican Grill and with liberals in the History Department. Her life experiences, which include traveling abroad, influenced her political ideology and her feminism.
creator: Julie Garner
source: Special Collections and Archives
publisher: Auburn University Libraries
date: February 05, 2017
contributor: Heather M. Haley, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History, Auburn University, in cooperation with the University Archives and Special Collections
rights: All files are the property of the Auburn University Libraries and are intended for non-commercial use. Users of these materials are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other items in this collection, please contact Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archives@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
format: Digital Audio File Transcription PDF
language: English

2005.36.103: Kate to Unknown, 1859 May 21
subject: 1859; Kate; Oak Grove; Cousin; Columbia; South Carolina; Greenwood; North Carolina; Anderson; Georgia; Virginia; Chesapeake Bay; Florida; Aunt Mary; John; Lillie Brooks; Lizzie Arnold; Dick Walter; Dr. Templeton; Meredith; Jinnie Smith; Sallie Smith; Jinnia Mosley; John Riley; Jim Riley; Sallie Waller; Lizzie Boozer; Bennet; John D. McKellar; Jack Cain; Lizzie Blake; Manie; Mr. Maulding; Ann M.; Bud; Uncle Peter; Sallie Brown; Jack Griffin; Johnny; Aunt Nancy; Milt Coleman; Mollie Brooks; Sickness; Disease; Diarrhea; Summer; Gossip; Marriage; Courting; Dating; Health; Transcription
description: Kate describes the courting scene as well as the death of an infant. 8 handwritten pages.
creator: Kate
source: P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: 1859 May 21
contributor: Graham R. Neeley Auburn University
rights: Bartow History Museum
format: JPEG PDF
language: English
type: Manuscript

2005.36.127: Kate to Unknown, 1859 June 19
subject: Cousin; Henry; Church; Rain; Illness; Sunday; Brother; Sadness; Eufaula; Alabama; Carrie; Affection; Death; Sally; Brother
description: A letter from Kate to Unknown, concerning the state of the family and family friends. Cousin Henry, Sally, and Carrie are mentioned. Kate continuously mentions her sadness at the recipient's absence. 3 handwritten pages
creator: Kate
source: P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
publisher: Bartow History Museum Auburn University
date: 1859 June 19
contributor: Erik Haeuser Auburn University
rights: Bartow History Museum
format: JPEG
language: English
type: Manuscript

University of North Alabama, President's Home
subject: Education; WPA; Great Depression; University of North Alabama; Lauderdale County, Alabama; Florence, Alabama
description: The President’s Home is located on the University of North Alabama campus. Ground was broken for this building in August 1939 when the university was under the name Florence State Teachers College. The Works Progress Administration completed the building in 1940. The original location was on Seminary Street and Morrison Street, facing Seminary. The home, a two-story brick building, was meant to correspond and compliment the surrounding campus architecture. In Shoals Magazine the interior of the house is described: “The front door enters into a central hall with a high ceiling, hardwood floors and a staircase with a U-shaped landing leading to the more private rooms. Branching from the hall are the dining room on the left and living room on the right-one complimenting the other […]” (Allen). The original pastel paint used for the walls was mixed by Mrs. Keller, the wife of President J.A. Keller. The university president, President J. A. Keller, stated that ‘it will be modest, but modern”. Though the internal décor has been changed and modified throughout the years that same concept has been kept. Once the building was complete, the university president and his family occupied the residence. This tradition has been continued by most university presidents since. The President’s Home has also gained a great deal of attention throughout its many years of being a gracious host to many social functions. The first great event held by the house was in May 1940, as documented in a news paper article. It stated that the home was opened to the graduating sophomores and faculty of Florence State Teachers College. This Sophomore Tea lead the way for all the many parties and social gathering the house holds today.
creator: Katherine Rickard, University of North Alabama
source: Allen, Sherhonda, "Stately Oasis of Color," Archives and Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama "Handsome New President’s Home at STC Thrown Open to Faculty and Students", Flor-Ala, Archives and Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama New Building at STC Ready for Fall Term, Flor-Ala, Archives and Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama "Presidents’ Home Open to Students, Faculty, Campus Social Events", Archives and Special Collection, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama Shoals Magazine 2006, Archives/Special Collection, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 4, 2015

Spring Park
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Native American; Early Settlement
description: In 1815, Michael Dickson and a group of white settlers sailed in a keel-boat down the Tennessee River and up Spring creek, settling where Spring Park is now. Dickson purchased this land from the Indian chief Tashka-Ambi for two pole axes and five dollars in cash. Tuscumbia, formally known as Ococoposa, was renamed in 1822 in honor of the Indian Chief. Spring Park was originally named Big Springs, but was renamed in the 1920’s. In 1817, Spring Park had 3 dwellings, a mill, and a store. Today, the park contains a two story open air shelter, several single story shelters, a large playground, a train, a carousel, a python roller coaster, and a splash pad. The largest man made natural stone waterfall is also located here, standing at 40’ tall and 80’ wide. 4,320,000 gallons of water pass over the falls a day into the lake. The lake also features a fountain in honor of Princess Im-Mi-Ah-Key, wife of Chief Tashka-Ambi. The fountain contains 51 jets, 1 shooting 100’ in the air in the middle and the 50 others shoot 40-50’ high. It is also choreographed to lights and music each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night at dusk. The water from the spring supplies the town of Tuscumbia, AL. It steadily stays at a temperature of 36 to 38 degrees year round. Many events have taken place at Spring Park and still do today. Federal troops camped on these grounds during the Civil War, and Jimmy Carter initiated his campaign to run for a second term at Spring Park on September 1, 1980. Today the Oka Kapassa festival is held at Spring Park. Oka Kapassa is a Native American gathering dedicated to celebrating the culture and traditions of the Native Americans who thrived in North Alabama. Other events include the Labor Day Festivities, Muscle Shoals Street Rod Run, and the annual Tuscumbia Fair.
creator: Katie McVey, University of North Alabama
source: Mary Jane McDaniel, Historic Muscle Shoals: Buildings and Sites (Tennessee Valley Historical Society), 29. “Know Your State- Tuscumbia,” The Benjamin News, October 31, 1948. Thomas F. Hill, “Tuscumbia’s Big Spring.” Google. http//www.google.com/springpark.html Brent Moore. Flickr.com, “Cold Water Falls- Tuscumbia” Picture, Tuscumbia, Alabama, June 16, 2012.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 4, 2015

Dr. Richard Henderson Rivers
subject: Dr. Richard Henderson Rivers
description: Dr. Richard Henderson Rivers was the first president of Florence Wesleyan University. Dr. Rivers was named the president of LaGrange College in Leighton, Alabama, in 1854. In January of 1855, LaGrange College moved to Florence, Alabama, where classes were first held in the Masonic Hall. The name of LaGrange College was changed to Florence Wesleyan University on February 14, 1855. Dr. Rivers’ tenure as president saw the completion of Wesleyan Hall in 1856. Dr. Rivers left Florence Wesleyan University in 1861.
creator: Kayla Scott
source: A Brief Look at University of North Alabama History 1830-2005. Booklet published by the University of North Alabama. Image courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1854-1861
contributor: Kayla Scott
rights: 2015-5-5
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Image and Text

Florence Indian Mound Museum
subject: Native American Museum
description: The Florence Indian Mound Museum is located at the foot of the Florence Indian Mound. The Florence Mound was built by early Native Americans and dates back to the Woodland period. The museum has display cases that house arrowheads, spearheads, Native American pottery, and implements made from bones, shells, and rocks. The museum does not focus on the Florence Indian Mound, but features displays from different eras, tribes, and locations that are not related to the Florence site. There are enough labels and interpretive exhibits to allow a visitor to understand the meaning of the objects on display, even without a detailed tour. A video that is less than 10 minutes long is available for visitors to watch. It briefly covers Native American History, but really does not mention the Florence Indian Mound with any significance. The first exhibit in the museum is entitled “The New Americans Migrated from the Old World” and explains how this is thought to have been done. The second is entitled “Paleo Indian Nomadic Hunters: More than 10,000 Years Ago.” Continuing down the line you find the “Transition of Paleo-Archaic Hunters to Gatherers: 7,000 to 10,000 years ago,” “Woodland People The First Farmers: 1,100 to 4,000 years ago,” “Mississippian People: Temple Mound Builders 500-1,000 years ago,” “Historic Indians,” and “Trail of Tears.” After walking back to the other side of the room, a visitor is able to learn about the “Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter: One of the World’s Archaeology Greats.” This side of the room offers a look at Native American tools, Spanish trade goods, pottery, and the use of effigies in Native American culture. Industrialization has encroached on the mound site a great deal. Almost touching the drive that circles around the mound is a Co-Op store and related buildings. The railroad runs near the opposite side of the mound, where the Port of Florence is in close proximity. The above article was written in 2015, and tells the story of the first museum t…
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: A Visit to the Florence Indian Mound Museum
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

John Coffee
subject: John Coffee
description: General John Coffee was a Federal surveyor who did work in Tennessee and Alabama and is known as one of the founders of Florence, Alabama. Born on June 2, 1772, in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Coffee moved to Tennessee as a young man. As a resident of Davidson County, Tennessee, Coffee became friends with Andrew Jackson. Coffee married Mary Donelson, who was the niece of Andrew Jackson’s wife Rachel. Friendship and family ties closely linked Coffee with Jackson for the remainder of his life. Coffee served with distinction under Jackson in the War of 1812, and was instrumental in the U.S. victory of the Creek War. After the War of 1812 and the Indian campaigns, Coffee continued working as a surveyor and land speculator. In 1817 he was appointed Surveyor-General of Alabama, and moved to Huntsville. In 1819 he moved to Lauderdale County, and the district land office was moved to Florence. Coffee served as the Surveyor-General for the rest of his life. His home, Hickory Hill Plantation, was located off of present day Cloverdale Road, which was called Coffee Road at the time. John Coffee died July 7, 1833, and is buried in the Coffee Family Cemetery at Florence, Alabama along with his wife and several children. A Wal-Mart store is located in close proximity to the graveyard.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical Illustrated. Smith and De Land, Birmingham. 1888. William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. Bluewater Publications, 2003. Gordon Thomas Chappell, The Life and Activities of John Coffee, A Thesis, Vanderbilt University, 1941.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1772-1833

Alexander Donelson Coffee
subject: Alexander Donelson Coffee
description: Alexander Donelson Coffee was a Confederate veteran of the Civil War and a planter and manufacturer in Florence. He was born on June 3, 1821, to General John Coffee and Mary Donelson Coffee. He attended the Lorance school in Florence, and the University of Nashville. Alexander Coffee served in the Confederate Army as a captain of Company C, 16th Alabama infantry regiment. Coffee fought in the Battle of Shiloh, but left the army soon after due to bad health. Coffee spent the rest of his life in Florence, working as a planter. He passed away on May 12, 1901. Coffee was first married to Letitia Van Dyke (Campbell) Sloss, and later to Camilla (Madding) Jones after his first wife’s death. He is buried in the Coffee Family Cemetery in Florence.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. Bluewater Publications, 2003. William Lindsey McDonald, Civil War Tales of the Tennessee Valley. (Heart of Dixie Publishing: Killen, Alabama, 2003), 200-202. Thomas McAdory Owen, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Volume III, 1921, Page 368. Accessed January 16, 2014, at http://www.archives.alabama.gov.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1821-1901

James Jackson
subject: James Jackson
description: James Jackson was born on October 25, 1782, in Ballybay County, Monaghan, Ireland. Jackson came to America in 1799 and moved to Nashville in 1801. Upon his arrival in Nashville, James Jackson quickly became acquainted with Andrew Jackson and John Coffee, who were members of the Tennessee Land Company. The Tennessee Company and the Alabama Company joined to form The Cypress Land Company. James Jackson was a member of the Tennessee group, and was one of the seven trustees of the Cypress Land Company. The company and its members were instrumental in founding Lauderdale County and Florence, Alabama. Jackson had the Forks of Cypress mansion built five miles outside of Florence, Alabama, and he and his wife Sally Moore McCulloch Jackson made the plantation their home. James Jackson became a member of the Alabama General Assembly in 1822. Jackson held office in both state legislative branches, and became the president of the Senate in 1830. While Jackson was president of the company, The Cypress Land Company donated the land for the Florence Female Synodical College, the Methodist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches, and the Lauderdale County Courthouse. Jackson is probably most famous for importing, breeding, and racing horses. Even today, winning race horses can often trace their roots back to Jackson’s stables.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), p. 11-13. Elizabeth Kirkman O’Neal, The Forks of Cypress: Home of James and Sally Moore Jackson. Waring Sherwood, 1966.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1782-1840

John McKinley
subject: John McKinley
description: John McKinley was one of seven trustees that made up the Cypress Land Company and is considered a founder of Florence, Alabama. McKinley was born on May 1, 1780, in Culpepper County, Virginia, and later moved to Kentucky. He came to Alabama around 1819 and was a resident of Florence by 1821. McKinley served in the Alabama legislature and the U.S. Senate as a representative of first Madison, and later Lauderdale County. McKinley was a founding member of the Presbyterian Church in Florence. McKinley was very influential in early education in Alabama. He was a founder of one of the first public schools in the region, and donated the land for the school that is now called Athens State University. In addition, McKinley was a member of the first board of trustees for the University of Alabama. McKinley’s most famous accomplishment came when he was appointed to be an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. He took the job in January of 1838, and was the first Alabamian to have the honor. He spent 14 years as a Supreme Court Justice, penning 22 opinions concerning the cases that went before the court. He was a strong advocate of states’ rights, a fact that is illustrated by his court decisions. McKinley passed away on July 19, 1852. His remains were interred in Louisville, Kentucky. Family members interred in the McKinley Cemetery in Florence were moved to Louisville, Kentucky several years later. McKinley’s seat on the Supreme Court was given to John Archibald Campbell, who was also from Alabama.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 2, 9. Robert Saunders, “John McKinley,” Encyclopedia of Alabama. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2052#sthash.iHyCkfy1.dpuf
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1821

Ferdinand Sannoner
subject: Ferdinand Sannoner
description: Ferdinand Sannoner was born in Leghorn, Italy, in 1793. He graduated from the French Polytechnic Institute at Paris. Sannoner worked as a surveyor for Napoleon in France. He came to America around 1816. In 1818, John Coffee appointed him to survey the area that was to become Florence. Sannoner completed the survey, and drew the town plan. He gave it the name “Florence” after the Florence, Italy of his homeland. His payment for surveying Florence was partially made in land. He received two lots on Tuscaloosa Street between Wood Avenue and Walnut Street. Sannoner worked for the Cypress Land Company for a number of years, as well as being a clerk for Lauderdale County. He and his brother operated a bakery and delicatessen on Tennessee Street as well. Sannoner and his wife moved to Memphis in 1857, and he died there in 1859. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. His grave was unmarked until 1973, when a marker was donated by James Jackson, great-grandson of the James Jackson who owned Forks of Cypress and assisted in founding Florence. The Sannoner Historic District in Downtown Florence is named in his honor.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. Bluewater Publications, 2003, p. 3, 11-12. Robert S. Steen, History of Foster House- Courtview- Rogers Hall and Early City of Florence . Florence: University of North Alabama, No Date, p. 10. Image Courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives
date: 1818-1856

Zebulon Pike Morrison
subject: Zebulon Pike Morrison
description: Zebulon Pike Morrison was born in Lexington, Virginia in 1818. He and his wife Bridget had nine children. He was the sixteenth Mayor of Florence, and served in that capacity from 1880-1890. Morrison was also an alderman for the city of Florence for thirty years. In addition, Morrison was an undertaker, and owned a distillery in Florence. He is probably most well-known for his building efforts. Wesleyan Hall, the Florence Synodical College, the Elks Building, and Patton Grammar School in Florence were all built by him. Morrison passed away in 1895 and is buried in Florence Cemetery. Morrison Avenue in Florence is named for him.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. Bluewater Publications, 2003, p. 34, 89, 91, 274. Image Courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives Jill K. Garret, History of Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1964, 213.
date: Mid to Late 1800s

Richard Rapier
subject: Richard Rapier
description: Richard Rapier was one of the first settlers as well as one of the first merchants in Florence. A pioneer in the barge industry, legend names him as the first to bring a keelboat, or barge, through the river to Florence. Rapier began his business in Nashville, but resided in Florence by 1818. His business, Rapier and Company, was situated on the northeast corner of Court and Tennessee Streets in downtown Florence. Rapier later joined John Simpson, another Florence businessman in the cotton trade. Their partnership formed the company called Rapier and Simpson. Rapier eventually owned a fleet of keelboats as well as several warehouses in Florence. Besides engaging in commerce with settlers on both sides of the river, Rapier traded with the Native Americans in the area. Rapier passed away in 1826.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama.( Bluewater Publications, 2003), 21, 22, 28, 74. Jill K. Garret, History of Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1964, 220. William Lindsey McDonald, “Captain Richard Rapier: The Merchant Prince,” The Journal of Muscle Shoals History Volume I, 1973.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1818-1826

George Washington Foster
subject: George Washington Foster
description: George Washington Foster was born on November 28, 1806, in Nashville, Tennessee. On January 10, 1829, he married Sarah Independence Watkins. They had seven children: Mary Ann, Virginia (Jennie), Watkins (Wat), Louisa (Lou), George Washington Jr. (Wash), Andrew J. (Jack) and Sallie. Foster was a wealthy industrialist and planter, a fact illustrated by his large and extravagant home, Courtview. Courtview, now known as the University of North Alabama’s Rogers Hall, was built for Foster in 1854. Foster had decided he wanted to build a house in the middle of Court Street, turning Florence’s main street into a dead end. An act of the state legislature and $300 granted Foster his building site. Foster also owned Woodland Plantation in the Colbert Reserve in Lauderdale County, and a plantation named Oak Grove. Foster donated $10,000 to La Grange College toward construction of Wesleyan Hall. This was a third of the total cost. He also contributed heavily to the Methodist church in Florence, of which he was member. Foster later served as President of the Board of Trustees for Wesleyan college. He made a sizable endowment to the college for mathematics. Foster did not serve in the Confederate Army during the war, but he assisted with recruiting soldiers and raising money for the cause. When William T. Sherman visited the area, he encountered bushwhackers and cited Foster as being one of them. Foster was even arrested by Union forces once, but was released within a few days. He spent most of the war on his plantations, while his wife and family stayed at Courtview. Foster died on December 4, 1878, and is buried in the Florence Cemetery.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: Robert S. Steen, History of Foster House- Courtview- Rogers Hall and Early City of Florence . Florence: University of North Alabama, No Date, 18, 26-32, 31. William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 45-46. Image of George Washington Foster Courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives Image of Courtview/Rogers Hall Courtesy Kayla Scott
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1806-1878

Sallie Independence Foster
subject: Sallie Independence Foster, Civil War Florence
description: Sallie Independence Foster was born on October 28, 1848, in Nashville, Tennessee. She was the youngest child of George Washington Foster and Sarah Independence Watkins Foster. From the age of seven she lived in Courtview, a mansion that is now named Rogers Hall, located at the end of North Court Street in Florence. Sallie’s best friend during her childhood was Julia O’Neal, the daughter of Alabama Governor Edward A. O’Neal. Sallie Foster kept diaries throughout the Civil War and later years that offer insight into life in Florence. Her first diary begins in June of 1861 when she was twelve years old. While the 1861 diary does not mention the Civil War often or with much detail, a later diary discusses the movement of Confederate and Union troops in Florence. Other subjects covered in her diary include Florence area stores, doctors, and people, as well as church. Today, these diaries are part of UNA’s Archives and Special Collections. Sallie graduated from Florence Synodical School and married Sterling Paine McDonald on February 9, 1870. They moved to Arkansas for several years, but returned to Florence to visit her family many times. Sallie, her husband Sterling, and their six children moved to Florence and into Courtview in 1886. Sterling McDonald was sick for many years and died on April 4, 1897. Sallie Independence Foster McDonald passed away on December 2, 1897.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: Robert S. Steen, History of Foster House- Courtview- Rogers Hall and Early City of Florence . Florence: University of North Alabama, No Date, 20, 49, 59-60. Sallie Independence Foster Diary, 1861. Unpublished, University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections. Images of Sallie Independence Foster and her diary are courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives Image of Courtview/ Rogers Hall Courtesy of Kayla Scott
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1848-1897

William Basil Wood
subject: William Basil Wood
description: William Basil Wood was born on October 31, 1820. Wood was a LaGrange College graduate, and practiced law in Florence before the Civil War. Wood served as a colonel of the 16th Alabama Infantry Regiment and was recommended for promotion to brigadier general, but worked as President of the Military Court when he was assigned to General James Longstreet’s Corps. Besides being a lawyer, Wood served as circuit court judge and a Methodist minister after the war. Wood was instrumental in the movement of La Grange College from Leighton to Florence in 1855. Wood was also one of the first historians of Lauderdale County. William Basil Wood passed away on April 3, 1891. He is buried in the Florence Cemetery along with his wife, Sarah. Wood Avenue in Florence is named in his honor.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 45-46. Jill K. Garret, History of Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1964, 228. Image Courtesy of Collier Library Archives
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource
date: 1820-1891
contributor: Kayla Scott, University of Alabama

Dr. Robert A. Young
subject: Dr. Robert A. Young
description: Born in 1824, Dr. Robert A. Young was the second president of Florence Wesleyan University and served from 1862 to 1865. Dr. Young, along with Professor Septimus Rice managed to keep the college open throughout the Civil War years. Enrollment was low during the Civil War. Confederate and Union troops occupied Wesleyan Hall multiple times. Dr. Young distributed the University’s library books to Florence citizens for safekeeping until the war’s end. Dr. Young is credited with saving Florence Wesleyan University and Florence from being burned by Union Colonel Florence Cornyn and his troops in 1863. Although Colonel Cornyn refrained from destroying the town, he and his forces torched a block of downtown structures before Young’s entreaty, and torched several old houses as they left Florence. Dr. Young not only helped protect the college, but also helped citizens like General Edward A. O’Neal’s wife Olivia when she and her children were accosted by solders. In 1866, Dr. Young moved to take a position at Vanderbilt University and the college operated on a limited basis until 1868.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: Robert S. Steen, History of Foster House- Courtview- Rogers Hall and Early City of Florence . Florence: University of North Alabama, No Date, 41. William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 52, 71. Jill K. Garret, History of Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1964, 229. A Brief Look at University of North Alabama History 1830-2005. Booklet published by the University of North Alabama. Image Courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives

Dr. William H. Mitchell
subject: Dr. William H. Mitchell
description: Dr. William H. Mitchell was the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Florence during the Civil War. On Sunday, July 27, 1862, Dr. Mitchell was arrested during the church service when he prayed for Jefferson Davis and the success of the Confederacy. General Don Carlos Buell’s Provost Marshal, Colonel John Marshal Harlan was present during the prayer and made the arrest. Dr. Mitchell was incarcerated at Alton, Illinois, for a number of months before he was released and allowed to return to Florence. Sallie Independence Foster recorded the incident in her diary on July 27: “The Yanks went into the Presbyterian Church and took Dr. Mitchell prisoner while he was praying and took him over the river, the Yankees sent word to his wife that she must come to see him or she would not see him again. They would not let him hoist up his umbrella. They said he could stand the sun as well as they could. Poor man, he used to be the president of our school. He said school would open again the 1st of September, but I don’t think it will as we have no president now.”
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 67. Image and diary page courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives Sallie Independence Foster Diary, 1862-1887. Unpublished, University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1862
format: Image

Edward A. O'Neal
subject: Edward A. O'Neal
description: Edward A. O’Neal was born on September 20, 1818, in Madison County, Alabama. His parents were Edward and Rebecca Wheat O’Neal. O’Neal graduated from La Grange College and worked as a lawyer in Florence. He served as a solicitor of the Fourth Judicial District. He was married to Olivia Moore O’Neal. They made their home in Florence, Alabama. They had several children. A son, Emmet O’Neal, would become Governor of Alabama in 1911. O’Neal supported secession and raised a company from Lauderdale County: the 9th Alabama Regiment. O’Neal joined the Confederate army at the beginning of the Civil War with the rank of Captain. He was steadily promoted from captain to colonel. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee as a colonel in the 26th Alabama. Later he served under General Joseph Johnston and General John Bell Hood. Before the war’s end, O’Neal had obtained the rank of brigadier general. He and his men were engaged in battle at Yorktown, the Battle of Seven Pines, the Seven Days’ Battle, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Franklin, and Nashville, among others. After the war, O’Neal continued to practice law. He was elected to the Constitutional Convention in 1875. While at the convention he helped to pass Section 9, Article 13, a measure that sanctioned the reform of the state education system. O’Neal was elected the twenty-seventh governor of Alabama in 1882 and again in 1884. He passed away on November 7, 1890. His remains are interred in the Florence Cemetery.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 50-52. Robert S. Steen, History of Foster House- Courtview- Rogers Hall and Early City of Florence . Florence: University of North Alabama, No Date, 66-67. Image of Edward A. O'Neal courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives Images of Edward A. O'Neal Home and Historic Sign, Kayla Scott
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1818-1890
format: Image

Governor Emmet O'Neal
subject: Governor Emmet O'Neal
description: The son of Edward A. O’Neal, Emmet O’Neal was the thirty-sixth governor of Alabama and a resident of Lauderdale County. He served as governor from 1911-1915. Emmet O’Neal was born on September 6, 1853, in Florence, Alabama. After graduating from Florence Wesleyan University and the University of Alabama, Emmet joined his father in practicing law. Emmet O’Neal married Elizabeth Kirkman in 1881. Courtview, the mansion originally built for George Washington Foster, became the O’Neal’s home in 1900. He was elected governor in 1911, serving two terms in this position. He passed away in 1930 and is buried in Florence Cemetery.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 50-53. Debra Glass and Larry Fisher, eds. Remembering Florence: A Pictorial History Volume 1. 2011, 105. Image of Emmet A. O'Neal courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives Image of Courtview/Rogers Hall courtesy of Kayla Scott
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1853-1930
format: Image

Governor Robert Miller Patton
subject: Robert Miller Patton
description: Robert Miller Patton was one of five Lauderdale County residents to serve as governor of Alabama. Patton was born in Virginia in 1809. He and his parents came to Alabama in 1818 and he took up residence in Florence in 1829. In 1832, he became a member of the Alabama State Legislature and served several terms between that time and the onset of the Civil War. He married Jane Locke Brahan the same year, and they made their home at Sweetwater. He and his wife had eight children, two of which died in the Civil War. One of these, William Anderson Patton, was killed at the Battle of Shiloh. Robert Patton became the first president of the Florence Synodical Female College in 1855. In 1865, Patton became Alabama’s twentieth governor. Federal authorities removed him from office in July 1867 by military order because his actions in office did not suit the stringent federal authorities. Following his term in office, Patton worked to establish railroads in the South and served on the University of Alabama’s Board of Trustees. Patton passed away in 1885.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 48-49. Jill K. Garret, History of Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1964, 217. Image courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1809-1885
format: Image

William Lindsey McDonald, Florence Historian
subject: William Lindsey McDonald
description: Florence, Alabama’s first official City Historian was William Lindsey McDonald, a man who did much to research, preserve, and promote local history. Born in 1927, Mr. McDonald served in the U.S. Army for thirty-eight years before retiring with the rank of Army Reserve Colonel. McDonald was both a World War II and Korean War veteran. His army reserve career included sixteen years as a staff member at the Pentagon. McDonald served thirty-eight years with the Tennessee Valley National Fertilizer Development Center. In addition, McDonald spent thirty-eight years as a Methodist preacher in Colbert and Lauderdale Counties. Mr. McDonald graduated from Florence State Teacher’s College in 1952. He was also a graduate of the Military Police School, the Army’s Command and General Staff College, the Army Finance School, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. His education also included seminary training. McDonald served as Chairman of the Florence Historical Board from 1968 to 1989. He was designated the City Historian in 1989. He had a historical column in the Times Daily for many years, and was a frequent contributor to the Tennessee Valley Historical Quarterly journal. During his lifetime, McDonald wrote over fourteen books on Muscle Shoals area history. McDonald passed away in 2009.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), ii. Image Courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives Jill K. Garret, History of Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1964, 214.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1927-2009
format: Image

George Lindsey
subject: George Lindsey
description: George Lindsey was born on December 17, 1928 in Fairfield, Alabama, and grew up in Jasper, Alabama. Lindsey became interested in acting after watching a play when he was fourteen. He later became interested in football and the sport gave him a way to fund his education. Lindsey briefly attended Walker Junior College in Jasper, Alabama and Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri, before attending Florence State Teachers College (now the University of North Alabama) on a football scholarship. Lindsey majored in biological science and physical education. He received his degree in 1952. Following his graduation from UNA, George joined the Air Force. He was based in Orlando, Florida, and worked as a recreational director while spending his spare time working in theater. Lindsey next worked at Hazel Green High School in Alabama. After a year of teaching, George decided to move to New York to pursue further education in acting. Lindsey’s first career breaks came with theater and his part in two plays: All American and Wonderful Town. After the plays ended he managed to land small roles on shows such as The Rifleman. Lindsey was most famous for a part of Goober that he landed on the Andy Griffith Show. He later played Goober on Mayberry R.F.D. and Hee Haw as well. UNA awarded Lindsey an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in 1992. Lindsey was instrumental in founding the George Lindsey/UNA Television and Film Festival in 1998. Lindsey attended the festival for several years before his death on May 6, 2012. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Jasper, Alabama.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: “George Lindsey-Biography” https://www.una.edu/library/collections/george-lindsey---biography.html Cindy Watts, The Tennessean, “George Lindsey, aka Goober Pyle, dies at 83.” http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/story/2012-05-06/goober-pyle-george-lindsey-obit/54787304/1 Images courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1928-2012
format: Image

Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House
subject: Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House ; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL; Museums
description: The Rosenbaum House was built in 1939-1940 with a price tag of approximately $14,000. The Rosenbaum House is located in Florence and serves as the only example of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in Alabama. Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum were the owners of the house until 1999. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Rosenbaum House using the Usonian architectural style. The house was designed to blend with and rise from the landscape, and features carports, flat roofs, overhanging eaves and a concrete floor. The home is constructed from cypress, glass, and brick. Wright designed a 1,540 square feet floor plan. Storage space was a key component, and every inch of the house was meant to be used to the fullest extent. The kitchen is a tiny workspace that allows for standing room only. There were numerous problems with the home’s construction. The chimneys were not ventilated properly. The flat roofs did not drain, so water leaked in. Despite these problems, an addition was added in 1946-1948, with Wright designing the plans. The addition added an additional 1,084 square feet, adding two wings to the house and enlarging the kitchen. A second carport was also added at this time. The Rosenbaum House was purchased by the city of Florence in 1999 for the sum of $75,000. Termite and water damage had caused extensive structural problems over the years, requiring between $600,000 and $700,000 of renovations. The house now serves as a museum and is open for tours each week Tuesday through Sunday.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: www.florenceal.org Ben Berntson, “Rosenbaum House Museum,” Encyclopedia of Alabama. http://www.encyclopdiaofalabama.org/article/h-2397#sthash.Ja3m6yMb.dpuf Image courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1939 to present
format: Image

Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts
subject: Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts
description: The Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts serves as an art gallery and hosts workshops and classes. The Center for the Arts is also the headquarters for the Florence museums. April 1, 1976 marked the opening of the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts in Florence. Three houses were donated to the city of Florence for this purpose by Reverend Hiram Kennedy-Douglass, whose will stipulated the arrangement. The Kennedy-Douglass Center for the arts takes an active part in the community by promoting the arts and educating the public. The Center sponsors a festival called Arts Alive that is held in Wilson Park at Florence, Alabama and at the Center each year.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: www.florencal.org Images courtesy of Kayla Scott
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1976 to present
format: Image

Edith Newman Culver Museum
subject: Edith Newman Culver Museum
description: The Edith Newman Culver Museum features Native American items, Civil War artifacts, and items used by previous owners of the house. The museum also discusses history associated with the town of Waterloo. The house museum is located near the Trail of Tears, and was in the middle of Civil War related events such as the burning of the town. The Edith Newman Culver Museum was dedicated on October 14, 1995.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: http://www.visitflorenceal.com/things_to_do/edith-newman-culver-memorial-museum/ http://waterloo.alabama.com/attraction_details.html?detailsListingId=ATTRACTIONS_3c4f68f11454ce067fcf44a2a2da0ef2 Image courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1995 to present
format: Image

Pope's Tavern Museum
subject: Pope's Tavern Museum
description: Pope’s Tavern Museum has been the site of a stagecoach stop, an inn, and a tavern, besides serving as a private residence. The city of Florence acquired the building in 1965, and it has been used as a museum since that time. The museum’s site has had numerous owners, and more than one structure. The first of these buildings is thought to have been erected by Christopher Cheatham, who built an inn and stagecoach stop at the request of Huntsville founder LeRoy Pope. There is no evidence that this building was ever called Pope’s Tavern before the city gave the museum its name. Today the museum holds artifacts associated with the history of Florence. Pope’s Tavern served as a hospital for both Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War. The museum has a collection of Civil War artifacts on the second floor, including weapons, ammunition, flags and uniforms. The museum also includes antique furniture, dishes, arrowheads, and paintings. A section is devoted to telling the story of Forks of Cypress, the home of Florence co-founder James Jackson. Forks of Cypress burned in 1966, only leaving the columns standing as a reminder of the stately mansion. An antique wagon made by the Florence Wagon Works is displayed behind the museum. Pope’s Tavern is owned and operated by the city of Florence. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday. Florence’s Frontier Days Celebration is held at Pope’s Tavern during the first full week in June each year.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: www.florenceal.org Carolyn M. Barske, “Pope’s Tavern Museum,” Encyclopedia of Alabama. http://www.encylopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3669#sthash.N7bRWPGD.dpuf Black and white image of Pope's Tavern courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archvies All other images courtesy of Kayla Scott
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1965 to present
format: Image