Posted on August 16th, 2011 by bwhetstoneahf
The Alabama Humanities Foundation is sponsoring a traveling exhibition called “Journey Stories” in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, now in Alexander City. This post is one in a series that will highlight our own personal journey stories. Our stories may include how our ancestors traveled from far away lands to come to America, or it could be about a memorable family trip to anywhere in the world, or perhaps it’s a story about our first car or train ride. Anything that includes travel and transportation can be considered our own journey story. If you would like to submit your own journey story, please email Jennifer Dome at: jdome@ahf.net.
By AHF Board member Bob Whetstone
On this cool September morning, we’re sipping coffee in Cousin Ron’s yard high on a west Duluth hill, watching the fog rise off majestic Lake Superior below. A collector of classic antique cars, Ron is deep into the subject when he pauses. “Ya’ know,” he says in that characteristic Minnesota twang, “I watch the weekend races on TV, but one thing I’d like to do before I kick the bucket is to see a live race at Talladega.”
Before I can react to his bucket list confession, Ron’s wife pipes up, “You betcha’, we’re gonna do just that, Ron. I want you to see that race. It’ll be your birthday present.” I play along with the dream and offer that we’ll have a room ready for them at our house—and we’ll start working on finding finish-line tickets. “You guys will love the races,” Ron adds. I shake my head to make sure I heard the words correctly. Yes, I heard right. It’s just that I have never pictured myself sitting in the stands at the SuperSpeedway. Read more »
Filed under: Alabamians, Bob W., Culture, Mission | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 9th, 2011 by Jennifer Dome
Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarship Recipients Announced
AHF would like to cordially invite you to our annual awards luncheon, held this year at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham on September 26, 2011 at noon.
Our keynote speaker will be Gen. Charles C. Krulak, the new president of Birmingham-Southern College. We will award the Alabama Humanities Award to Elaine Hughes and the Charitable Organization in the Humanities Award to Wells Fargo.
For more information about the luncheon, and to purchase tickets, please see our luncheon website.
Prior to the luncheon, five teachers will receive Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarships to help fund projects they submitted in the areas of history and civics. The award winners are:
- Rebecca J. Davis of Cahawba Christian Academy, Centreville, Ala.
- Debbie Redden and Tammy Quillin of Montgomery Catholic Prepatory, St. Bede Campus, Montgomery, Ala.
- Mallory Richardson of Edgewood Elementary School, Homewood, Ala.
- Stephane Nicole Singleton of Harlan Elementary School, Florence, Ala.
For more information about the Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarship, please visit our website.
We hope to see you on September 26 for this festive occasion!
Filed under: Alabamians, Education, History, Mission, Support | No Comments »
Posted on August 4th, 2011 by guest
Our SUPER Emerging Scholars (SES) summer institutes have grown from 16 students the first year, to 47 just three years later. Learning important critical-thinking and writing skills is an important piece of the program. Below is an essay written by an SES student during one of our institutes this summer.
Essay by Jeremy Buckner on the resiliency of Bayou La Batre, written at the University of South Alabama, Mobile, institute.
A Resilient Chameleon in a Big Forest
The past of Bayou La Batre is filled with much devastation, but the small community remains resilient. The community is overcoming the aftermath of two of the most notable disasters in the illustrious history of the United States. However, much like the adaptation of a lone chameleon in a rabidly threatening forest, the people of this community are beginning to acclimate to their circumstances in order to remove their obstacles and to advance in life. With Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill in mind, the Bayou La Batre community shows a wondrous willingness toward and open desire to change.
Bayou La Batre communities, particularly those of Vietnamese culture, aspire toward leadership and the freshness of the youthful generations. For example, Vinh Tran, a man who works with Vietnamese communities in Bayou La Batre through the efforts of Boat People SOS (BPSOS), has recently been voted as president for the Vietnamese communities (Hicks 40)—essentially, as the voice for these people. Vinh Tran himself, though a grown man, is younger than most typical Asian leaders. Generally, the leader of an Asian community is an elder who is knowledgeable about archaic traditions and ideals. David Pham (another man who works with BPSOS) reported that the youth are inexperienced but full of brand new ideas (Buckner 17). This is for what the Vietnamese communities are searching—brand-new ideas. Read more »
Filed under: Alabamians, Education, History, Hometown, Mission | 3 Comments »
Posted on July 22nd, 2011 by Jennifer Dome
We’re hard at work here at the AHF offices turning out articles for the next issue of our newsletter, the magazine Mosaic.
If you already receive a copy of our magazine, tell us what you think about it by posting a comment! We’d love to get your ideas for future stories.
If you would like to receive a copy, sign up for our mailing list on our website, ahf.net.
Look for an issue to hit your mailbox soon!
Filed under: Alabamians, Mission, Support | No Comments »
Posted on July 11th, 2011 by bwhetstoneahf
John and Alton become best friends in elementary school, their mutual attraction prompted by both being new in town. John’s father, with the ink barely dry on his law degree, hangs his shingle on the second floor of the Alexander City Bank. Alton’s father has just relocated his one-chair barber shop from Camp Hill to Alexander City. Despite the stark differences in their backgrounds, the contrasting yet complementary personalities of the two boys are obvious and their friendship continues to strengthen and grow deeper. Cut from different bolts of cloth, one from fine wool suiting, the other from a common osnaburg that’s stacked beside it, the more outgoing John becomes a class leader, while the shy Alton chooses to blend in with the bead-board walls of their eight-room schoolhouse.
The first week of the 1933-34 school year their eighth-grade teacher makes an announcement that turns Alton inside out: “During the year each pupil will take a turn giving the morning devotional.” As the days of September move too quickly, John’s turn comes before Alton’s. He confidently delivers a reading from the Bible, makes a brief comment and whispers to Alton as he takes a seat, “You see, nothing to it.” But Alton’s anxiety is not assuaged. Read more »
Filed under: Alabamians, Bob W., Culture, Education, Folk life, History, Music | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 5th, 2011 by Jennifer Dome
The Alabama Humanities Foundation was excited to launch Project Turn the Page last month, an effort to help libraries and schools damaged in the April tornadoes through an emergency grant for $30,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since then, our initiative has garnered a lot of attention, from local TV stations and newspapers, to bloggers and Twitterers.
Read our latest article in The Birmingham News here.
Or click here to see a video clip of AHF on ABC 33/40′s “Talk of Alabama” program.
For more information about Project Turn the Page, and to learn how you can contribute, visit our website.
Filed under: Alabamians, Education, Mission, Support | No Comments »
Posted on June 24th, 2011 by Jennifer Dome
The Alabama Humanities Foundation wants to help public libraries and schools affected by the April tornadoes—and you can help too!
Following the devastating tornadoes that ripped through our state in April, the Alabama Humanities Foundation (AHF) was awarded a $30,000 emergency grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to launch Project Turn the Page, an initiative to help provide free books for damaged public libraries and schools.
AHF requested the emergency grant from NEH Chairman Jim Leach following the April 27 storms in order to help the affected communities. Public libraries suffered significant damage in Pratt City, White Hall, and Ragland, while schools were damaged in at least six different locations, including Jefferson County, Tuscaloosa County, Franklin County, Marion County and DeKalb County.
As part of Project Turn the Page, AHF plans to compile a list of books, including those focusing on Southern and Alabama history and fiction, as well as award-winning young adult titles. The libraries and schools will be invited to choose titles from the list that they wish to receive, up to a determined dollar amount. The books will be ordered by AHF and stored at the foundation’s Birmingham offices until the libraries and schools are prepared to receive their requested volumes. Read more »
Filed under: Alabamians, Education, Literature, Mission, Support | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 24th, 2011 by guest
by Reginald T. Hamner
The Frank M. Johnson, Jr. Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is itself on the National Register of Historical Places, having been so designated in 1998. The building was authorized in 1931 and occupied in 1933. An annex was completed in 2002. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit occupy space in the complex along with other court family units. Following the completion of the new court facilities in 2002, the Frank M. Johnson, Jr. Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse was renovated and many of its architectural features were restored to their original beauty and design. As the need for government space had grown through the years, the General Services Administration had modified much of the original interior design and installed air conditioning.
The building, originally designed to house a single U.S. District Courtroom and judicial chambers, plus a Court of Appeals courtroom and chambers for a single U.S. Circuit Judge, as well as a post office, congressional space and space for other federal agencies, had been modified through the years and much of its original design was lost. It housed five U.S. District Judges, four U.S. Circuit Judges and four U.S. Magistrate Judges, the U.S. Marshal, and a U.S. Senator when the new facility was begun. Read more »
Filed under: Alabamians, History, Jurisprudence | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 17th, 2011 by guest
The Alabama Humanities Foundation will sponsor a traveling exhibition called “Journey Stories” in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution beginning June 25 in Jasper. This post is the first in a series that will highlight our own personal journey stories. Our stories may include how our ancestors traveled from far away lands to come to America, or it could be about a memorable family trip to anywhere in the world, or perhaps it’s a story about our first car or train ride. Anything that includes travel and transportation can be considered our own journey story. If you would like to submit your own journey story, please email Jennifer Dome at: jdome@ahf.net.
By Cynthia Martin, AHF Programs and Development Assistant
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Confucius
I recently took a journey of over 7,000 miles that began as I stepped over to the computer and signed onto Facebook. His name was “Brother Rama” and he was from India. He graduated from a college in the United States with several of my friends. They all spoke very highly of him and his ministry to people with HIV/AIDS in India. Still, I was totally unprepared for what occurred when I befriended him on Facebook and viewed his pictures for the first time. The precious people in those pictures reached out and grabbed my heart. For me, they could not remain nameless faces in some far away land. I had to know their names, I had to go there, and I had to meet them. Read more »
Filed under: Conversation, Culture, Education, Mission | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 13th, 2011 by bwhetstoneahf
The Alabama Humanities Foundation will sponsor a traveling exhibition called “Journey Stories” in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution beginning June 25 in Jasper. This post is the first in a series that will highlight our own personal journey stories. Our stories may include how our ancestors traveled from far away lands to come to America, or it could be about a memorable family trip to anywhere in the world, or perhaps it’s a story about our first car or train ride. Anything that includes travel and transportation can be considered our own journey story. If you would like to submit your own journey story, please email Jennifer Dome at: jdome@ahf.net.
By Bob Whetstone, AHF board member
Not all journeys are measured in miles; some may be short on distance but long on experience as evidenced by the great early 20th century migration of East Alabama dirt farmers from their cotton fields into the towns where cotton mills promised secure wages. This is one journey story that has strangely slipped through the cracks of recorded history. Beleaguered crops suffering from searing droughts, boll weevil infestation and poor soil management, leave the tenant farmers and small landowners no choice. They bundle a few possessions and their families in wagons and move into mill-owned houses. Though the work is demanding, these former farmhands collect regular wages for their dime-an-hour labor. Read more »
Filed under: Alabamians, Bob W., Culture, Education, Folk life, History, Hometown, Mission | No Comments »
