Alabama Heritage

11/13/2024

When Joseph Blodget Stickney arrived in the Alabama Territory in 1818, he likely had little reason to expect that nearly two centuries later, Cedarwood—the house he constructed for his family—would still be standing, or that it would be standing many miles from its original location.

Stickney built Cedarwood on property he received from Gen. Charles Lefebvre Desnouettes, who was instrumental in establishing the Vine and Olive Colony. After generations of use—and numerous expansions—Cedarwood was relocated from its site near Greensboro to another site near Moundville. In 2012 it moved again, this time settling on the campus of the University of West Alabama and passing from private ownership into the care of an institution prepared to preserve its unique heritage, as it is a home older than the state itself.

Thanks to the work of many, Cedarwood remains—not quite where Stickney constructed it, but still offering lessons on its origin in the land that would become the state of Alabama. To learn more about the history behind the development and movement of Cedarwood, check out Valerie Pope Burnes' feature in Issue 108!

🏠🌳➡https://bit.ly/4fNfnq2

[photo// Cedarwood awaits the moving truck, 2012, Robin McDonald]

[credit//Valerie Pope Burnes]

11/12/2024

Today, state and territorial borders may seem sacrosanct, things that could never have been in question. However, prior to the creation of the Alabama Territory, numerous competing interests vied to claim land for themselves, and the territory’s borders were anything but certain.

Historian Mike Bunn explores the many considerations—from territorial sectionalism to a desire to subvert the lethargic pace of government policy—that helped shape the Alabama Territory. To read more about the history of the boarders that now draw out Alabama, check out Bunn's article in Issue 125!

➡➡➡https://bit.ly/40KVCLb

[photo// This Francis Shallus map, “The State of Mississippi and Alabama Territory,” inaccurately shows the Alabama-Mississippi border as a straight line. The location of the border was the subject of intense disagreement between the eastern and western groups of settlers before statehood, Library of Congress]

[credit//Mike Bunn]

11/11/2024

Today is Veterans Day, a day to honor and recognize the brave Americans who have served our country. At Alabama Heritage, we wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank those who have served. Thank you, veterans!!

11/09/2024

The Poarch Creek Indians are Alabama's only federally-recognized tribe in Atmore AL. Learn all about our history, culture and community

11/06/2024

Our prayers are with long-time Alabama Heritage team member Cindy Sanford with the recent loss of her mother.

View Mary Frances Bigham Sanford's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

11/05/2024

Today is and so we wanted to take a moment to recognize our own redhead in the office, Caroline! Caroline works hard as the marketing and digital media manager, and we don't know what we'd do without her!! ❤❤❤

11/04/2024

Most Alabamians recognize the remnants of Cahaba as the site of the state’s first capital. However, few people have a comprehensive grasp of the community’s rich history and significance to the territory that would become Alabama.

Originally named Cahawba, its prime waterfront location and rich natural resources once supported a Native American settlement. In its various iterations as a center of state government, a thriving commercial district, a Civil War prison site, and a genuine ghost town, Cahaba has attracted such illustrious visitors as the Marquis de Lafayette and President Millard Fillmore, and it continues to draw crowds today.

In Issue 99, John Scott recounts Cahaba’s past as well as the efforts preservationists and historians are making to secure its future. To learn more about the history of Cahaba, check out Scott's feature in Issue 99 today!!🌸👻➡https://bit.ly/4hwS9Gc

[photo//St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Pinterest]

[credit//John Scott]

11/01/2024

It's November, so you know what that means – it's Native American Heritage Month! Here are some titles you can add to your watch list this month. For more: https://to.pbs.org/3fwHn7z

11/01/2024

Join PCI at the Thanksgiving Pow Wow, Nov. 28-29, 2024, in Atmore

⭐️ NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH: Every November, we have a chance to recognize + celebrate the contributions of Native Americans. Learn more. 👇 NowPartner CM

10/30/2024

After yellow fever swept through Mobile in 1839, a group of women from the city’s Protestant churches created the Protestant Orphan Asylum Society. After six years, they broke ground on a building that served as its orphanage for more than one hundred years, into the 1960s.

Thanks to a revived interest in historic properties and photographic documentation by the Historic American Buildings Survey, the building—known today as Cotton Hall—was restored beginning in 2014, and it now reminds the city of the way its residents have embraced its most vulnerable citizens during difficult times.

To read more about the history of the Protestant Orphan Asylum Society, check out the feature in Issue 124!!➡🎃➡ https://bit.ly/40kvE13

[photo//Mobile’s Protestant Orphan Asylum, Robin McDonald]

[credit//Cartledge Weeden Blackwell III]

10/29/2024

With Halloween in just a few days, we wanted to share a few stories with you to get you into the spooky spirit!👻🎃👻

The infamous Jack the Ripper who haunted the streets of London over one hundred years ago may seem far removed from Alabama, but, thanks to a Southern Belle from Mobile, the crimes may be closer to home than we have ever imagined. Florence Chandler married James Maybrick on a vacation to England when she was only nineteen.

More intriguing than the possibility that this young girl from Alabama had unknowingly married the future Jack the Ripper is the possibility that she ended his killing spree by poisoning him with arsenic—an idea she might have gotten from her own mother.

Daniel Dolgin tells the tale of the beautiful young woman from Mobile who has the distinction of being the first American woman sentenced to death in England. To learn more about this chilling connection, check out Dolgin's article, "Jack the Ripper and a Belle From Mobile" in Issue 71!🎃💀👻

➡🎃➡ https://bit.ly/4e7BRRh

[photo//A judge decides whether to pardon or execute Florence Maybrick, Daniel L. Dolgin]

[credit//Daniel Dolgin]

10/28/2024

It is National Chocolate Day! 🍫☕

To celebrate, we wanted to share a colonial recipe of everyone's favorite hot beverage, hot chocolate!

For most of chocolate’s history, which goes back thousands of years, it wasn’t edible on its own. During the time of Colonial America, chocolate came in large, rough, one-pound bricks and the only way to consume it was to shave it off into hot liquid where it would steep and require continually stirring in order to keep the chocolate solids suspended. Early hot chocolate would have been very grainy, and it wasn’t until much later that the means of turning it into refined cocoa powder would be discovered. Sugar and spices would be added to make the hot drink more enjoyable.

So as the temperatures drop during this fall season, make sure to save this for your next hot chocolate go to!

10/28/2024

Our fearless leader, Rebecca, is spending the day working with our local Habitat for Humanity! This house is being built in honor of Terry Saban, built by women for women. Alabama Heritage is so proud of Rebecca’s dedication to our community. ❤️

10/25/2024

The Gold Star Collection began as a project to create a book memorializing young Alabama heroes who died in World War I. After the war, Dr. Thomas Owen, then head of the state archives, began collecting information about soldiers from across the state.

Dr. Owen died before he could finish the project, and it was turned over to his wife, Marie Bankhead Owens, who succeeded him as head of the archives. Unfortunately, other matters took precedence, and the Gold Star book was never published.

Eighty years later, writer Sam Duvall sought to honor those Alabamians who died in WWI by telling the stories of a few of the “Gold Star” boys. Men of all religions, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds represented Alabama during WWI. Duvall’s vignettes memorialize the lost soldiers and acknowledge their contributions to Alabama, the country, and the Great War.

To read more about the "Gold Star" boys, check out Duvall's article in Issue 72! ➡⭐️➡ https://bit.ly/48kdvSQ

[photo//Electrician 2nd Class Hamilton Thompson Beggs, Alabama Department of Archives and History]

[credit//Sam Duvall]

10/24/2024

James Clanton was beloved through much of Alabama, despite having a complicated history that included failed leadership as a Confederate officer. Clanton’s political career spanned both sides of the war, and during the Reconstruction era, Governor Lindsay selected him as the attorney handling a critical case between the state and the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad.

While attending the federal trial in Knoxville, Tennessee, Clanton was fatally shot during an altercation with a former Union officer. His death reverberated throughout Alabama, causing mourning throughout the state.

To read more about Clanton's history intertwined with the Antebellum south, check our NEWEST release, Issue 154! ➡➡➡https://bit.ly/3AMQATw

[photo//James Holt Clanton, Alabama Department of Archives and History]

[credit//Russell W. Blount Jr.]

10/23/2024

It's Q&A Wednesday!🎤

AHC sat down with Robby Elmore with Alabama Dept of Archives and History to know a little bit more about the ins and outs of being an archaeologist!

Q: Hi, Robby! What is your educational background?
A: Bachelor of Science in Anthropology with a minor in History from Troy University; Master of Arts in Anthropology/Historical Archaeology from the University of West Florida

Q: What's your current job?
A: Collections Curator, Alabama Department of Archives and History

Q: Who do you currently see as a mentor or someone you look up to in your field?
A: Dr. John Worth at the University of West Florida was my most influential mentor. Worth’s passion for archaeology continues to inspire me to grow as a professional.

Q: What is the most interesting archaeological site on which you’ve worked?
A: I have been fortunate to excavate and analyze materials from two 16th-century Spanish shipwrecks belonging to the 1559 Tristan de Luna expedition

Q: What is your favorite thing about being an archaeologist?
A: I love learning about past and present cultures through artifact analysis.