Hood's Narrow Escape Across the Tennessee
General Hood's Confederate Army of the Tennessee retreats across the Tennessee River
The Bainbridge Ferry was the sight that Confederate General Hood’s Army of the Tennessee used to escape from the Union forces of General George Thomas who was pursuing them from Nashville. General Hood’s forces left Pulaski for Bainbridge to cross the Tennessee River on December 22, 1864. The army arrived on December 25. Lieutenant Colonel Presstman began what was accounted to be his crowning achievement as a military engineer. Presstman quickly reconstructed a pontoon bridge across the Tennessee River in half the time it had taken for the same project nearly two months earlier. The bridge was finished in the early morning hours of December 26. The Army began crossing the bridge that morning and finished on December 28 removing the pontoons to complete the escape. General Forrest’s cavalry harassed the Union forces following from Pulaski to allow Hood the time to finish the bridge. The two corps under General Benjamin Cheatham and Stephen D. Lee crossed the bridge after the wagon trains had crossed. General Alexander P. Stewart’s forces crossed the next day to be followed by General Edward C. Walthall and General Forrest’s cavalry. Union Admiral SP Lee’s “Brown Water Navy” attempted to steam up the river with a flotilla of gunboats. The larger boats were unable to pass the shoals at Florence and only two lighter boats continued toward Bainbridge. Admiral Lee’s boats exchanged fire with Confederate artillery on the two miles upriver from Florence. The boats were unable to navigate the shoals before Bainbridge and were forced to retreat down river.
Michael Williams, University of North Alabama
McDonald, William Lindsey. 2003. Civil War tales of the Tennessee Valley. n.p.: Killen, Ala. : Heart of Dixie Pub. (1812 CR 111, Killen, Ala., 35645), [2003], 2003. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 30, 2015). Eric. 2014. "HOOD’S BATTERED ARMY RECROSSES THE TENNESSEE." Civil War Daily Gazette. December 26. Accessed April 11, 2015. http://civilwardailygazette.com/2014/12/26/hoods-battered-army-recrosses-the-tennessee/. n.d. "Civilwarhome.com." Journal of the Army of Tennessee. Accessed April 13, 2015. http://www.civilwarhome.com/journalaotnashville.html.
Photo from following websites: http://civilwardailygazette.com/2014/12/26/hoods-battered-army-recrosses-the-tennessee/ Photo from following websites: http://bshc-granbury.org/wp/the-stories/the-civil-war-era/john-bell-hood
Guntersville; Marshall County, Alabama; Alexander Richie Hooper
This 2 story home is located on 2204 Scott Street in Guntersville, AL. The home was built ca. 1910, updated as an apartment building in 1948, remodeled in 1985, and now stands as Lake Guntersville Bed & Breakfast. According to family tradition Alexander Richie Hooper, who had this home built for his family, had a problem with not being able to obtain bricks for the construction. Instead of letting this impede the construction, Hooper established a brick factory. This factory not only supplied the bricks for his home but also provided the bricks used to build a high school, the post office, Guntersville Pharmacy, and Wanda's Ice Cream Parlor.
Claire Eagle, University of North Alabama
Alabama Historical Commission, David B. Schneider
Religion, Islam, Jefferson County, Hoover, Masjid
The Hoover Crescent Islamic center is one of the three branches of the Birmingham Islamic Society (BIS). The BIS started in 1990 when local Muslims in the Birmingham area were looking for a common place to worship. In the following years, the BIS established locations in Homewood, Hoover, and Fairfield. The Hoover location was bought in 2006 and the first Jummah prayer was held on December, 28, 2007. The new Masjid was later named the Hoover Crescent Islamic Center (HCIC). The members of the HCIC include Muslims of varying nationalities from states in the Arab and Indian subcontinents, and also the United States. The political leaders of the HCIC are the board of directors who are elected by the community. The board is responsible for laying down the policies at the center and also making sure that the center follows the bylaws. The current president of the board is Ashfaque Taufique. The current religious leader is Imam Tamer Salim. His responsibilities include leading the community in the ways of Islam. The Islamic community in Hoover is a very tight-knit community. The religion is the strongest affiliation for all members. The majority practice Sunni Islam; however, those who practice Shi’a Islam are welcome at the center. The center also welcomes non-Islamic members of the community to come and learn about Islam, and invites everyone to take part in activities like the Day of Dignity, a day where Muslims attend to the needs of the less fortunate within society. If anyone would like to contact the HCIC to learn more about center or just about Islam, you can email them through the website, http://www.bisweb.org/, or call the following number: 205-879-4247.
T. Salim, personal communication, October 13, 2015.
Wilcox County, Furman, Religion, Christianity, Church building, African-American, Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage
The Hope Well Church was established in 1864. The church was a foundation for the black community. Originally African-American and Caucasian-American congregants worshiped together in the time but over time African-Americans asked for a place to worship for themselves and Hope Well was established. The church was originally known as Hope Well AME Zion. During this time, the Hope Well Burial Ground and the Hope Well School were also established. Architecturally, the church has twin towers, an element typical of early twentieth-century rural black churches. Hope Well Church was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1999.
Professional Wrestling Boxing Commission Charlotte, North Carolina Jim Crockett Bill Lewis
This article appeared in the Charlotte Observer on June 12, 1934. Wrestling promoters Jim Crockett, Greensboro, and Bill Lewis, Richmond, Virginia, plan to apply to the Charlotte boxing commission for a permit to organize professional wrestling shows.
Hopewell African Methodist Episcopal Church
African American History; St. Florian, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
The Hopewell Church near St. Florian was the site of tragedy when, in 1865, the grandfather of WC Handy, Christopher Brewer, was shot and left for dead by Elias Thrasher, "Mountain" Tom Clark, and their gang. They also tortured and killed Brewer's former master John Wilson when he refused to reveal the location of his hidden money.
Ashley Pentecost, University of North Alabama
Lee Freeman, "African-American Heritage of Lauderdale County. University of North Alabama archives.
Located in Beauregard along Lee Road 136. Coordinates: 32.525138, -85.3018877
The Hotel Negley was one of the more modern hotels built in the early twentieth century in downtown Florence. The Hotel Negley was constructed on the empty lot of the former Jefferson Hotel in 1925 after the Jefferson Hotel caught fire in the early 1920s. The Negley Hotel was located at the corners of Pine, Tennessee, and South Court Street. The owner of the hotel was Charles Negley, and he wished to construct a hotel that would encourage future in the city. The Negley, when built in 1925, had the most modern amenities for travelers to the city of Florence. With an investment of over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the hotel, the construction of the modern hotel took six months to complete, beginning in 1924. When the Hotel Negley was opened, it had fifty rooms with private baths and special Simonds steel furniture for the guests to use; in addition, plumbing was in every room and all rooms had both hot and cold water. Also, the Hotel Negley had a café and dining room for the guests to order and eat their food while staying there. The construction of the hotel was bided out to all local construction companies to return the investment of the hotel back to the community and its blue-collar workers. Craw Construction Company and Wiley Plumbing Company were the primary builders and Negley purchased the furniture from Young Furniture Company.
M.C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama
Text Sources: Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. Hamm, Jane Johnson. "Florence Wagons 1889-2002 History & More." Florence, Ala.: Privately Published, 2002. Florence/Lauderdale Public Library. Vertical History File. Florence, Lauderdale County, Historic Buildings, Hotel Negley. “Hotel Negley, New, Modern, Opens For Business May 1st.” The Florence Times. April 24, 1925, Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Hotel Negley.” Florence, Alabama. Box 13: Downtown Business, 13-37.
The Hotel Reeder was a staple of downtown Florence during the early twentieth century. The location of the Hotel Reeder was on Tennessee Street, and the hotel was so large that it covered an entire block. The three-story brick building had a European-style café for the guests. The Hotel Reeder was so large that it tended to dwarf some of the smaller structures located close to the building. The Hotel Reeder had 97 total rooms for guests in the main building, with 27 adjoining rooms in an annex. The Hotel Reeder originally had the “new building,” which served as the hotel, whereas the "old building" served as a livery where mules would be penned, bought, and sold on the upper floor of the older building. When the livery industry became an obsolete trade the mule pen closed, and the old building became a boarding house and a scrap iron business. Eventually the boarding house and the scrap iron business closed and the building was absorbed by the Hotel Reeder. The building was a part of the hotel until its closure in 1967. During the 1920s through the 1940s the Hotel Reeder was the prestigious hotel in Florence, housing the headquarters of the Democrats in Florence. Many congressional representatives and dignitaries stayed as guests at the hotel. Probably the most famous of these dignitaries were the staff of President Franklin Roosevelt when he came to visit Florence and Wilson Dam in the early 1930s. Other famous visitors included the singers, actors, and actresses of the musicals, plays, and operas that visited the Princess Theatre in downtown Florence- since the Hotel Reeder was across the street from the entertainment venue. Even fox hunting conventions were held at the Hotel Reeder, and the participants would stay at the hotel, wake up very early, and travel to Rogersville to release the hounds and hunt foxes. On in to the 1940s the Hotel Reeder would have many soldiers and their families as guests of the hotel because of the Courtland Air Base in the area during World War II. Unfortunately, after World War II, the Hotel Reeder became less and less popular until the doors of the hotel closed in 1967.
Text Sources: Hamm, Jane Johnson. "Florence Wagons 1889-2002 History & More." Florence, Ala.: Privately Published, 2002. Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. Florence/Lauderdale Public Library. Vertical History File. Florence, Lauderdale County, Historic Buildings, Reeder Hotel. “End Of An Area: Reeder Hotel Closing.” The Florence Times. October 11, 1967. Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, File 2-3. McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Hotel Reeder.” Florence, Alabama, Box 13: Downtown Businesses, 13-22.
Early Twentieth Century-Mid Twentieth Century
House at Tuscaloosa (University of Alabama President's Mansion)
Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Doors & Doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand Railings; Ironwork; Stairways; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Men; Women; Horses; Carriages & Coaches; Trees; Landscapes (Representations); Tuscaloosa, AL; Tuscaloosa County, AL
This image is a watercolor painting of the University of Alabama President's Mansion in Tuscaloosa, Alabama done by H.L. Warles sometime between 1917 and 1942. The house was completed in 1841. The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its doors, windows, shutters, two-story columned porch, steps, balcony, iron railings, flat roof and two chimneys surrounded by trees and landscaping. There are men and women on the porch and in front of the house, all in period dress. There is also a horse and carriage in front of the house. The house is placed above framing art showing its architectural features including the iron railings, the molding above the door, a corner of the roof and the molding under it, a column, and scales. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp. The painting is in good condition with pieces missing from the upper corners and is encapsulated.
Warles, H. L. (rendering) ; Nicholls, Thomas (house)
Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives Dept. Architecture, School of -- Architectural Renderings Student Projects
This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archive@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
Library of Congress (Historic American Buildings Survey): http://www.loc.gov/item/al0791/ ; President's Mansion: http://tour.ua.edu/tourstops/presmansion.html ; Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President%27s_Mansion_%28University_of_Alabama%29
Tuscaloosa -- Tuscaloosa County -- Alabama ; University Boulevard (University Avenue?), Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, AL
Libraries; Historical Buildings; Athens, AL; Limestone County, AL
The Houston Memorial Library occupies the original home of US Senator George S. Houston. The public library and museum contains more than 35,000 books. Hours for the museum are Hours: M-F 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sa 9 a.m.-noon. Closed on major holidays. Admission to enter is free.
Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
http://www.limestonecounty-al.gov/LC_Public_Library.html “Houston Memorial Library.” Accessed July 14, 2015. http://www.northalabama.org/
Howell & Graves Junior High School (Historical)
Howell & Graves Junior High School; Colbert County School System; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Muscle Shoals Board of Education; Junior High School; School; Education; Administration
The Howell & Graves Junior High School was designed by architect Harry J. Frahn and built in 1927 in the neoclassical style and the neo-Tudor Gothic tradition, symbolically associated with the Ivy League schools. Decorative brick work, which originally crowned the building, gave it a castle-like appearance. It was known as one of the finest buildings in the region and was often the scene of political rallies and other special events. The state-of-the-art auditorium, with a seating capacity of 500, had elevated floors and opera-style seating. The stage had hand-painted canvas backdrops and lighting. In 1959, for a sum of $300, this school was transferred from the Colbert County School System to the newly formed Muscle Shoals City Board of Education. The building itself still exists, however, it is currently the Muscle Shoals Board of Education Building. The structure and historical marker are located on S. Wilson Dam Rd.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“Howell & Graves Junior High School” Historical Marker, Side 2; Erected 2006 by the City of Muscle Shoals and Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation Alabama Historical Association.
Jefferson County, Birmingham, Music, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
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
Joy Caitlin Monroe, University of North Alabama
“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
Religion, Islam, Madison County, Huntsville
Originally the local Muslim community in Huntsville practiced Islam in their own homes. However as the community grew, it consolidated and purchased to houses in Huntsville to practice their faith. Around 1990-1991, 1645 Sparkman Drive was purchased and the current Huntsville Islamic Center was built. Now the center has a gymnasium, meeting rooms, and a community hall. It is also credited to teach school up to eighth grade. The Huntsville Islamic Center practices Sunni Islam but those who practice Shi’a are also welcome to worship at the center. The function of the center is to serve the religious, educational, and social needs of the community. It also promotes good citizenship, social justice, and good relations with other communities. One of the most important functions of the community is outreach efforts into the general community and also countering islamophobia through education and dialogue. The Islamic community in Huntsville is ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse. Muslims are converts and immigrants that go on to a variety of careers with one universal identifying faith. The Huntsville Islamic Center would like everyone to know that they believe in one God. At the center they enjoy the freedom to worship with the First Amendment and now feel they are truly an integral part of the Huntsville community.
Javed Haider, Personal Communication, November 2 2015.
Cemeteries; Rogersville, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
To reach Hurricane Cemetery from Rogersville, travel north on AL 207 for 4 miles and take a right on County Road 551. Continue traveling until you reach Hurricane Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The cemetery will be next to the church. A full list of records can be viewed within the source.
"Hurricane Cemetery." http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~allauder. Accessed September 9, 2015.
Historic Markers; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
This historic marker is locate don U.S. Highway 72, near the Indian Mound. Text on the marker reads: "This is the highest domiciliary mound in the Tennessee Valley. It was build about 1200 to 1500 A.D. by Indians of the Mississippian Culture. Such mounds served as bases for ceremonial temples or chief's houses. This one was originally encircled by an earthen wall, and there were villages and cultivated fields nearby. Height: 42 feet; width at base, 180 feet. Largest in Tennessee Valley. It stands 42 feet high; served as base for temple. Built by unknown Indians who lived here long before Columbus discovered America. Builders perhaps related to Indians who built mounds at Moundville."
“Indian Mound Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
African American History; Rogersville, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
Harrison Ingram was well known in the Rogersville community. He was a stonemason and a carpenter and according to his family he was one of the first in his community to have electricity. Ingram and his father established an African American cemetery named Ingram-Thornton Cemetery in 1881. It has since been renamed Thorntontown Cemetery. Physical evidence suggests the orientation of the cemetery has changed. In the older portion of the cemetery, the tombstones face opposite from the entrance.
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.
Heather M. Haley, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History, Auburn University, in cooperation with the University Archives and Special Collections
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.
An oral history with Mary Kitts, a graduate student of Auburn University, concerning her participation in the Women's March on Washington that occurred on January 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Her testimony provides context for those women graduate students who traveled great distances to participate in the national march. She also expounds on her political ideology, including her lifelong admiration for Hillary Clinton, and how she came to espouse her liberal views as a resident of Florida.
An oral history with Roberta Jackel, an employee of Auburn University, concerning her participation in the Women's March on Washington that occurred on January 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Jackel offers compelling commentary about growing up in Atlanta, GA during the Civil Rights Movement and her witness to the rise of Women's Liberation. She details her internship and later seasonal employment at an abortion clinic in downtown Atlanta in the 1970s, which helped to shape her values on women's reproductive rights. Jackel's oral history offers a lens through which to view the tenuousness of the rights bestowed upon Americans in the 1960s and 1970s as she expounds on her recent efforts to remain involved in local and national activism, fearing the restriction or retraction of those rights. Her testimony includes a comical anecdote about Jane Fonda napping in her (future) husband's bed after an anti-war protest in Atlanta.
An oral history with Shanna Brodbeck, an alumnus and employee of Auburn University, concerning her participation in the satellite Women's March on Washington that occurred on January 21, 2017, in Birmingham, Alabama. In this interview, Shanna Brodbeck begins by describing her childhood in Germany, Texas, and Alabama as a military dependent. Brodbeck discusses her views on the changing nature of American politics, with an intriguing narrative of her residence in Germany at the start of the Iraq War and the “weight of having to defend [the] entire country.” She also details the myriad emotions she felt after the election and her motivations for participating in the 2017 Women’s March in Birmingham, AL.
An oral history with Victoria Skelton, a graduate student of Auburn University, concerning her participation in the Women's March on Washington that occurred on January 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Her oral history provides substantial detail about the day of the march, including the energy exuded by the crowd, which the Washington Post estimated swelled between 266,532 and 357,071 marchers. She also describes growing up in a predominantly Democrat household in Central Texas.
Digital Audio File Transcription PDF 35 Digital Images
Religion, Islam, Education, Jefferson County, Birmingham,
In 1996, the Islamic Academy of Alabama (IAA) was founded in order to provide an Islamic education to Muslim children in the greater Birmingham area. The IAA uses Islamic education to encourage moral behavior, rigorous academics, and social awareness in its students. Islam is integral in the school. Islam and Arabic as subjects are part of the study requirements. Since 2005, The IAA has been accredited by SACS CASI. The IAA has several core values including self-discipline, respect for others, accountability, positive self-identity, integrity and sincerity, good personal hygiene, being appreciative, to strive for excellence, and critical thinking.
Samuel J. Israel; Colbert County: Jewish Philanthropists
Samuel J. Israel immigrated from Lithuania moving to Sheffield, Alabama in 1909. His first venture was a wholesale grocery. He eventually founded Paper and Chemical Supply of Sheffield. He was known throughout the community for his charitable works and kind nature. He served on multiple committees on behalf of local charities, fraternities, and the Temple. His most notable contribution to the area was donating the land and organizing the fundraising for the construction of the Northwest Alabama Rehabilitation Center in Muscle Shoals. He also worked tirelessly to promote adult literacy in the state of Alabama. When he died, Senator Howell Heflin (Democrat of Alabama) paid special tribute to Mr. Israel's contributions to the area and the state on the floor of the United States Senate. He married Bessie Kreisman (whose parents were prominent businesspeople in Florence). Their daughter, Beatrice, married Jack Muhlendorf. He first marriage to Bessie lasted from 1912 until her death in 1912. His second marriage was to Hilda Shipper. He died in 1990 at the age of ninety-three. The Israel and Muhlendorf Family have a section of graves at the Jewish Cemetery in Oakview Cemetery in Sheffield, Alabama. The three acres of the cemetery were put aside for Jewish use before a temple existed.
Samuel J. Israel, unpublished manuscript, local history room, Florence-Lauderdale Public Library.
Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
Colbert County, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Ivy Green; Helen Keller; Social History; Education; Communications; National Register of Historic Places; Historic American Buildings Survey
A one-and-a-half-story "Southern Viriginian" frame cottage located at 300 West North Commons in Tuscumbia, Ivy Green is significant for being the birthplace and childhood home of Helen Keller. It was during her infancy at Ivy Green that illness rendered Keller's blind and deaf; and it was there, in 1887, that Anne Sullivan taught the seven-year-old Keller to read, write, and speak, using a "finger language" devised by Samuel Gridley Howe of Boston's Perkins School for the Blind. The Ivy Green complex consists of the main house and two additional structures of historical significance: another, smaller frame cottage built as an office for the Keller family plantation; and the still smaller structure housing the water well and pump which facilitated Keller's famous "communication breakthrough." The property was acquired by the City of Tuscumbia in 1954, and has been open to the public as a museum ever since.
Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
National Register of Historic Places, Ivy Green, Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Alabama, National Register #70000101. Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS AL-317, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/al0093 (accessed November 7, 2015).
J. L. Parker House, 1833-1932 (Lakewood)
Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Stairways; Hand railings; Ironwork; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Men; Women; Horses; Carriages & coaches; Trees; Landscapes (Representations)
This image is a watercolor painting of the J.L. Parker House, also known as Lakewood, in Livingston, Alabama done by James Lake Parker III in 1932. The house was built in 1833. Miss Julia Strudwick Tutwiler resided at Lakewood during her tenure as President of Alabama Normal College (now the University of West Alabama). The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its doors, windows, shutters, columned porch, columned balcony, exterior iron staircase with hand railing, sloped roof, and two chimneys surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a woman on the exterior staircase, a man on the walk leading to the house, and a woman and driver in a horse-drawn carriage, all in period dress. The house is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including the molding under the roof and around the upper windows, the columns, the decorative windows around the doors, the ironwork of the exterior staircase, various scales, and a floor plan of the porch and staircase. Along the lower right edge just above the corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp with a handwritten inscription "2nd Medal" and a stamped red star. In the lower right corner is the artist's information block which reads: "James Lake Parker III, measured drawing, Ala. Poly. Inst." The painting is in fair condition, with minor edge wear, holes, and spots of discoloration, and is encapsulated.
Parker, James Lake, III (rendering); Unknown (house)
Library of Congress (Historic American Buildings Survey): http://www.loc.gov/item/al0732/ ; Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakewood_%28Livingston,_Alabama%29
Livingston -- Sumter County -- Alabama ; U.S. Highway 11 (Washington Street), Livingston, Sumter County, AL
Oral interviewed recorded by Christy Anderson, Montgomery County Historical Society at Pintlala Baptist Church on Saturday, April 29. You can listen to the entire interview here.
Education; Lee County, AL; J.F. Drake High School; Auburn, AL; Drake, Joseph Fanning; African American Schools; Desegregation; Johnson, Judge Frank; Brown v. Board of Education; Civil Rights Movement
Auburn’s last exclusively African-American public high school was founded in 1957. J.F. Drake High School was named after Dr. Joseph Fanning Drake, and Auburn native who went on to become the president of Alabama A&M College in Huntsville. In 1968, U.S. District Court Judge Frank Johnson compelled the Lee County school system to adhere to Brown v. Board of Education. Although students were given a choice of Auburn or Drake High School in 1969, Drake’s African-American student body moved to Auburn High School en masse during the 1970-1 school year. Drake has functioned as a sixth- through eighth-grade middle school since desegregation.
Image Sources: https://www.auburnschools2.org/course/view.php?id=627 http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKYXZ_J_F_Drake_High_School_Alma_Mater_Auburn_AL Text Source: The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 71. Committee for the Preservation of Auburn’s African American History, Lest We Forget: A History of African Americans of Auburn, Alabama (Auburn, AL: Committee for the Preservation of Auburn’s African American History, 2011, 119-120.
Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; J.W. Darden High School; Desegregation; Civil Rights Era; Darden, Dr. J.W.; Head Start; Opelika High School; Opelika High - Southside Campus; Johnson, Judge Frank M.; Brown v. Board of Education; Department of Justice; African American Schools; Peterson, Birdie; East Street High School
Founded in 1951, J.W. Darden High School took on the ninth and tenth grade students of East Street High School and added eleventh and twelfth grade curricula. Darden was Opelika’s African-American high school until the city’s high schools integrated in 1972. The school board chose to name the black high school after J.W. Darden, Lee County’s first African-American doctor. From its inception, Darden High served as a focal point of local African-American community life in Opelika. Interviews of former students relay the sense of pride that Darden High instilled in Opelika’s black residents, despite fighting a losing battle with the school board for adequate funding. Birdie Peterson, a 1965 Darden graduate, remembered Darden as a “premier school” and imparted the respect that its students had for their educational environment, claiming that they “kept that building up as if it were (their) our own home.” In May 1968, the Department of Justice forced the city school board to end construction on a $350,000 remodeling project at Darden High School. The DOJ saw the expansion of Darden as a measure taken to appease local African-Americans and maintain Opelika’s segregated school system in defiance of Brown v. Board of Education. In the fall of 1970, in an attempt to delay conformity to Federal Judge Frank M. Johnson’s order to fully integrate, Opelika’s school board refashioned Darden High School as a vocational school. They renamed Darden Opelika High – Southside Campus and included the school’s student body in its enrollment figure despite the separate locations of the schools so as to make Opelika High School appear integrated when it in fact had done no such thing. The black student body remained at Darden for the next two years as Opelika’s school board scrambled to build a new high school and comply with the court integration order. Upon the opening of Opelika’s integrated high school, the school board decided to close Darden despite its relative newness in comparison to the rest of the city’s school buildings. Many in Opelika’s black community mourned the school’s closing. When Darden closed, the Opelika’s African-American population lost their high school football team, cheerleading squad, color schema, and to some degree a sense of local autonomy. The school board then sold the Darden High School building to Head Start, who still uses the facility, located at 600 South Fourth Street, Opelika, today. A strip of grass in front of the facility frames a stone marker commemorating Dr. J.W. Darden and the efforts of the many teachers who molded the minds of Opelika’s black high school students.
Image Source: http://www.classmates.com/places/school/Darden-High-School/28068?hitwiseSegment=free&checkCookie=1417644400216 Text Sources: Joseph M. Bagley, A Meaningful Reality: The Integration of the Opelika, Alabama City School System, 1965-1972 (MA Thesis, Auburn University, 2007), 46, 35, 51-53. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 79.
Professional Wrestling Charlotte, North Carolina Jim Crockett
Article discusses opposition to professional wrestling matches in North Carolina. Questions the legitimacy and violence of the exhibitions.
17 years old at the time of the march The Selma Campaign 1963-1965 Wally G. Vaughn Near end of line
Colbert County, Alabama; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Jackson Cemetery; Cemeteries
The Jackson Cemetery was established in 1918 by Alex Jackson as a burial place for his adoptive family. Vinson Perkins, the grandson of Jackson's adoptive parents, was caretaker of the cemetery from 1978 until his death in 2006. To reach the cemetery from Woodward Avenue in Muscle Shoals, head east on 2nd Street, turn right onto Wilson Dam Road, and drive four blocks. Jackson Cemetery is on the right, past Rosedale Street.
Joseph D. Bryant, "Old Cemetery Symbol of Family, History for Caretaker," TimesDaily, March 1, 2003. Obituary for Vinson Perkins, Sr., TimesDaily, April 11, 2006.
This historic marker is located on 918 Military Road, Florence, AL. The text on the marker reads: "Built by Andrew Jackson 1816-20. Shortened by 200 miles the route from Nashville to New Orleans for movement of supply wagons and artillery. Built with U.S. funds and troops. Followed in part Doublehead's Road from Columbia, Tenn., to Muscle Shoals. After 1819 mail route was transferred from Natchez Trace to pass through Florence via Military Road. A portion of Hood's army followed the road to Franklin and Nashville in 1864. In later years called Jackson Highway."
“Jackson's Military Road”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish Settlement
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.
Florence, Lauderdale Public Library, Local History Room, History of Temple B'nai Israel files, 2-3.
Special Collections, Sadie Schrader Collection, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence. Alabama.
Professional Wrestling Professional Boxing Jim Crockett Charlotte, North Carolina Bill Lewis
Article appears in Charlotte Observer (North Carolina) on December 3, 1935. Reporter documents the rising popularity of professional wrestling and the decline in popularity locally of professional boxing bouts.
From page 124 In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma Bernard LaFayette Jr. Emory University Kathryn Lee Johnson University of Rhode Island "Other leaders at the front included Rev. Frederick Reese; Mrs. Boynton; Charles Mauldin, a student leader of the Selma movement; and Benny Tucker and James Austin, two of my first recruits in Selma."
In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma Bernard LaFayette Jr. Kathryn Lee Johnson
Lee County, AL; Civil War; Dowdell, James Ferguson; East Alabama Male College; Auburn, AL
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.
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.
Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
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.
This historic marker is located on Cox Creek Parkway (Alabama Route 133), Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "Often referred to as the most successful breeder of thoroughbred horses in America, James Jackson imported Glencoe and Leviathan to the U.S. in the early 1800's, leaving a permanent imprint on both the breed and American racing history."
“James Jackson Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
James Martin House (Martin-Bounds House)
National Register of Historic Places; Architecture; Florence, AL
The James Martin House was listed on the National Register in 1981 for its significance in architecture and its association with James Martin, an early Florence industrialist. The story and a half frame cottage was a common form in its time period (constructed around 1843) but overtime the numbers have diminished and the surviving Martin house is a notable example of the style. Other local examples include the Wood House on Wood Avenue and the Edward A. O’Neil House and the Abraham Dean House both on North Court Street. The simple cottage form originally consisted of two rooms separated by a central hall and bracketed by exterior end brick chimneys. The interior woodwork is largely intact and has Federal style detailing mixed with some Greek Revival aspects. The original hall doors are exceptional for their Carpenter and Company locks. At the time of the National Register nomination in 1980 the house had a three room rear addition (construction date not known) and a three room addition on the west elevation which included 20th century partitioning and a kitchen and bathroom. A photo made in 2015 shows the rear addition in place but the western addition removed. The front Doric porch columns on the single bay pedimented porch were also replaced during that time period and reflect the older engaged fluted columns that flank the double front doors. The roof was also replaced with modern asphalt architectural shingles. The cottage is also significant for its association with James Martin a leading businessman who first worked in the building trade and then in 1839 as a textile mill owner. Martin, in partnership with Levi Cassity, established the Globe Cotton Mill employing 150 people by 1844. The mill was located on Cypress Creek close to the Martins house. The mill burned in 1844 but was rebuilt by Martin with a new partner Samuel D. Weakley. The mill prospered and the company also operated a grist mill and sawmill. The site also included a mill village with housing, a day school, and church for the workers. In 1863 the mill site, but not the house, was burned by Federal troops. After an attempt to rebuild and the death of James Martin the mill site was sold to the Cypress Mill Company. Information for this Omeka entry was obtained from the 1981 nomination. Due to the obvious changes in the exterior of the house and the early date of the nomination, the National Register listing could benefit from an update.
Missy Brown, University of North Alabama
Gamble, Robert. “James Martin House National Register of Historic Places nomination.” Montgomery: Alabama Historical Commission, 1981.
Possibly a 10th grade student at Hudson High School in 1965.
This historic marker is located on Hightower Pl., Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "Lawyer and statesman James T. Rapier, a son of free African-American parents in Florence, holds the distinction of being just the second African-American from Alabama to be elected, in 1873, to the U.S. Congress."
“James Thomas Rapier Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
Lauderdale County, Alabama; Greenhill, Alabama; Jason Isbell; Alabama Musicians
(Michael) Jason Isbell, who was born on February 1st, 1979, in Greenhill, Alabama (two miles from the Alabama-Tennessee state line) is an Alabama musician and songwriter whose work very much embodies a distinctive sense of place. He grew up in rural Alabama, attended Rogers (a school that serves kindergarten through grade twelve), and the University of Memphis. Family members taught him to play musical instruments and he was playing professionally at the age of fourteen. Many local musicians, including David Hood, served as mentors to Isbell and he got a publishing deal with FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals when he was twenty-one years old. He joined the Drive-by Truckers at the age of twenty-two and worked on their next three albums -- "Decoration Day" (2003), "The Dirty South," (2004), and "Blessing and Curse" (2006). Isbell was fired by the Drive-by Truckers in 2007. (The band members have remained friendly.) Isbell formed a band, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. made up of musicians (for the most part) from the Muscle Shoals area in 2009. They recorded and released two albums -- "Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit" (2009) and "Here We Rest" (2011). "Southeastern," a solo album, was released in 2013 and was a critical success. Isbell won the 2014 Americana Music Awards for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and the song, "Cover Me," from the album was named song of the year. "Something More Than Free," released on July 17, 2015 debuted at number one on Billboard Magazine's rock, folk, and country record charts.
Doyle, Patrick, "Jason Isbell's New Morning," Rolling Stone, August 7, 2015. "Jason Isbell on Success after Excess," CBS "Sunday Morning," August 9th, 2015.
Jean Schulman, artist and art teacher, has been working in clay and batik since the 1970s. Originally from Russellville, Alabama, she lives in Florence, and retired from teaching at Muscle Shoals. Her most recent exhibit was with Robin Wade.
The Jefferson Hotel was a massive building for turn of the twentieth century Florence. At three-stories it was a towering downtown business. The Jefferson Hotel opened up for business in 1902 just a short distance away from the Lauderdale County Courthouse. Before the Jefferson Hotel occupied the three-story building, the City of Florence used the building as its city hall for a short period of time. The Jefferson Hotel was located at Court Street and Tennessee Street in downtown Florence. The Jefferson Hotel met a need for Florence in 1902 because the city did not have a large hotel on the scale of the Jefferson at the end of the nineteenth century. The patrons of the Jefferson stayed at a hotel that had furniture of antique oak finish with metal beds that had perfection mattresses and downy pillows for the customers to sleep on at night. In all, the furnishings for the fifty room hotel cost over eleven thousand dollars. The Jefferson Hotel lasted until the early 1920s before the building was destroyed by fire. The modern Hotel Negley was built on the site.
Text Sources: Hamm, Jane Johnson. "Florence Wagons 1889-2002 History & More." Florence, Ala.: Privately Published, 2002. Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. “Florence As She Is." The Florence Times. 1903. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Jefferson Hotel.” Florence, Alabama, Box 13: Downtown Business, 13-9.
Located in Beauregard on Jenkins Road. Coordinates: 32.4762507, -85.3138322