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    A personal interest: Baseball in Alabama

    After reading the article about industrial baseball leagues in Alabama and Vulcan Park and Museum’s “From Factory to Field” exhibition in the Winter/Spring 2010 issue of Mosaic, Doug Purcell, executive director of the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, sent us this photo and message:

    AHF Board member offers insight on the Kwanzaa celebration

    Habari gani, or “What is the news?” This welcoming greeting is Swahili, a non-tribal language spoken throughout most of East Africa. It is the primary greeting for each day of Kwanzaa (Swahili for First Fruits), an African-American secular celebration that was created by Maulana Karenga, Ph.D., in 1966.

    Take time to listen

    I stow my carry-on and settle into a window seat just in time to hear the flight attendant announce, “Has anyone on this flight lost a wallet?” The 200 passengers, including myself, discreetly check through our belongings for our cash and credit cards. Momentarily she breaks the silence, “Now that I have your attention, we [...]

    Alabama rich with baseball legends

    I was personally delighted when the grants committee of the Alabama Humanities Foundation recently provided funding for a baseball program developed by Vulcan Park and Museum. “From Factory to Field” is an exhibition, opening April 1, 2010, that celebrates the 100th anniversary of Rickwood Field and the history of baseball as a reflection of the [...]

    Those stinking winds of change

    When it comes to change, we humans are persnickety. Visits with my father to his old neighborhood on Staten Island, New York, invariably raised his bitter lament about a deli that had become a high-rise apartment complex. I felt obliged to comfort him by repeating what he said earlier in our trip. “Isn’t that the [...]

    Spend your Christmas holidays at the theatre

    We have officially entered into the holiday season! At my house, the holiday decorations are up and the holiday music is playing around the clock. Now that my husband and I have a family of our own, we had to take the traditions from both sides of the family and decide which ones we want [...]

    Fair enough?

    I’m a huge fan of the fair. When I was young, my parents took my sister and me to the Queen City Fair (Meridian, Miss.) every year. I’m well familiar with the Scrambler, which weaves you in and out of other screaming riders at high speeds; the so-called “carnies” and the various foods on a [...]

    Mining Brookside’s history

    Imagine driving 20 minutes outside of Birmingham into the quiet rural hills and discovering St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church with a traditional onion-shaped steeple. How did Slovak immigrants settle in Brookside?

    Resources to learn a foreign language

    I grew up learning English and French simultaneously, and I honestly don’t remember which language I spoke first. The advantages to knowing another language has been great for me, culturally and career-wise. Learning another language can be a tedious task. I was fortunate enough to have been raised in France and fully immersed in its [...]

    Celebrate folk art and history in Leeds this fall

    In September, the city of Leeds will celebrate folk art and the city’s history at the second-annual Leeds Downtown Folk Festival and John Henry Celebration. The weekend will feature folk music, entertainment, exhibits and booths. There will be plenty of food vendors and lots of activities for the kids. Be sure to take time to [...]