Alabama History Podcasts

Jim Baggett, Director of the archives at the Birmingham (AL) Public Library, discusses his 2020 Alabama Historical Association Milo B. Howard Award winning article, “’A Law Abiding People’: Alabama’s 1901 Constitution and the Attempted Lynching of Jim Brown” published in July 2018. The Howard Award goes to the best article published in The Alabama Review in the previous two years.

Mike Bunn, author and executive director of Blakeley State Park near Spanish Fort, AL, talks about hosting the 2021 Alabama Historical Association Fall Pilgrimage, the charms of Blakeley State Park, and his new book, _Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten History of the Gulf South during America's Revolutionary Era_ published by New South Books in 2021.

"Genealogists: Going Beyond Kin" is the final installment of the Alabama Historical Association's "2020 & the Future of Alabama History" FBLive series. Drs. Donna Baker and Shari Williams discuss African-American genealogy and the Beyond Kin Project (https://beyondkin.org). Originally recorded via FB Live on December 2, 2020. For more "2020 and the Future of Alabama History" podcasts, see episodes...

AHA President, 2021-22, Dr. Ben Severance, is a professor of history at Auburn University Montgomery (AUM). He discusses his plans for his term as AHA president as well as his own research into US Civil War era Alabama and Tennessee.

Charles Oscar Harris was a long-time Alabama legislator and community leader during and after Reconstruction. Through genealogical research, his Black and White descendants discovered each other. With Dr. Richard Bailey, they discuss Harris's historical importance, and with Scotty Kirkland they discuss the process of securing a historical marker. This is part of the Alabama Historical Association...

Emily Blewjas (Alabama Folklife Association) and Dr. Alex Covin (Alabama Women's Suffrage Centennial Committee) discuss two William G. Pomeroy Foundation funded marker programs. Scotty Kirkland (Alabama Historical Association Marker Committee) discusses the AHA's historical marker program that's operated since the 1950s.

Dr. Christine Sears (UAH History), Drew Adan (UAH Archives), Vaughn Bocchino (independent scholar), and Scotty Kirkland (chair of the Alabama Historical Association Marker Committee)talk about documenting, placing a historical marker, and involving the community in programs concerning the Avalon Plantation and its cemetery, the site of the University of Alabama at Huntsville campus. This is part o...

Dr. Richard Bailey discusses the place of Black History in the history of the state, the future of Alabama History in light of COVID and BLM in 2020, and profiles of some people from his book, _They, Too, Call Alabama Home_ (https://alabamablackhistory.com/they-too-call-alabama-home-african-american-profiles-1800-1999/). Recorded October 6, 2020.

Mobile (AL) author and historian Frye Gaillard talks about racial issues in the state's history, his research and books, stories of perseverance and success, and the future of Alabama history in light of COVID and BLM during 2020. Recorded September 4, 2020.

Howard Robinson of Alabama State University Archives, Robin Brown of Cobb Memorial Archives, and Marty Olliff of the Wiregrass Archives discuss their collections as part of the Alabama Historical Association's series, 2020 & the Future of Alabama History. Recorded on FB Live, September 9, 2020.

Calvin Chappelle, site director of Alabama's Confederate Memorial Park (operated by the Alabama Historical Commission), discusses interpretation at the park in 2020 and beyond. This Alabama Historical Association FB Live presentation occurred on August 19, 2020, as part of the AHA's series, 2020 and the Future of Alabama History. See more about the park here: https://ahc.alabama.gov/properties/con...

Dr. Wayne Flynt speaks on the Alabama Historical Association Facebook Live series, "2020 and the Future of Alabama History," July 29, 2000, about his vision of the steps Alabama should take to secure a future of equity.

Dr. David Alsobrook discusses his new book, "Presidential Archivist, A Memoir." A graduate of Auburn University, Alsobrook served at the National Archives, the Carter Materials Project, and as director of both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton Presidential Libraries. Mercer University is the publisher.

In lieu of its 2020 convention, the AHA has hosted panel discussions on Facebook about "2020 & the Future of Alabama History." This panel of Steve Murray (director of ADAH), Dr. Tara White (Public History in Selma), and Dr. Derryn Moten (dept. chair, ASU) was recorded on July 15, 2020. They discuss how institutions concerned with Alabama history can respond to the racial justice concerns raised in...

Alabama History Day coordinator Jerald Crook and multi-year winner Elizabeth Rhonemus talk about the annual Alabama History Day and National History Day competition from the perspectives of both administrator and participant.

AHA President, 2019-20, Frazine Taylor, discusses her plans for the 2019 Pilgrimage to Wetumpka, the 2020 meeting in Florence, her book _Researching African American Genealogy in Alabama_ (NewSouth Books, 2008), and her very interesting life.

Tuscaloosa lawyer and author Chris McIlwain discusses his two recent books from the University of Alabama Press, _Civil War Alabama_ (2016), and _1865 Alabama: From Civil War to Uncivil Peace_ (2017). Links: Civil War Alabama: https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817360054/civil-war-alabama/ 1865 Alabama: https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817361938/1865-alabama/

EOA Communications Editor Laura Hill commemorates the 10th anniversary of online Encyclopedia of Alabama going live by describing the EOA and highlighting its reach and articles.

Alabama Heritage Magazine won the 2018 Digital History Award (Large Project) from the Alabama Historical Association. Digital media editor Rebecca Minder talks about the award and the project that secured it for Alabama Heritage. The podcast featured an interview with Rebecca concerning Alabama Heritage's 30th anniversary, November 2016, Episode 20.

AHA President Valerie Burnes (2018-19) talks about the Association’s plans for its Fall Pilgrimage in Camden, its annual meeting in Tuscaloosa, and for attracting younger members. Dr. Burnes also discusses her book Visions of the Black Belt: A Cultural Survey of the Heart of Alabama, published by the University of Alabama Press in 2015. Links: Visions of the Black Belt: https://www.uapress.ua.edu/...

Author, illustrator, and graphic designer Laura Murray talks about her coloring book, _Amazing Alabama_, published in 2017 by New South Books. More information is available about Laura, _Amazing Alabama_, and her other projects at her website, https://www.lauramurraycreative.com/.

Dr. Chris Haveman, native of Bellingham, WA, now teaching at UWA, discusses his book Rivers of Sand: Creek Indian Emigration, Relocation, and Ethnic Cleansing in the American South, published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2016. Chris won the 2017 AHA James F. Sulzby Award for best book on Alabama history published in the previous two years. Links: Rivers of Sand - https://www.nebraskapres...

Author, historian, and local history entrepreneur Dale Cox talks about how the Creek War of 1814 elided into the First Seminole War, making southeast Alabama a difficult frontier even after the Treaty of Fort Jackson. He also discusses his public programming website (http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com) and online television project (http://www.twoegg.tv).

Center co-director and University of South Alabama professor Susan McCready talks about the mission and programs of the Center for the Study of War and Memory, particularly its organization and its public outreach programs.

AHA president (2017-18) David Alsobrook, discusses his book, Southside: Eufaula's Cotton Mill Village and its People, 1890-1945, published in 2017 by Mercer University Press. Links: Southside: https://www.mupress.org/Southside-Eufaulas-Cotton-Mill-Village-and-its-People-18901945-P932.aspx