Published by the University of Alabama, the University Of

SIX DOLLARS NUMBER 114, FALL 2014

PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, AND THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTOR Y Alabama Schools Sponsor Editor Donna Cox Baker BLUE CROSS AND BLUE Designer Robin McDonald SHIELD OF ALABAMA Marketing & Advertising Sara C. Martin Associate Editor Susan Reynolds Alabama Heritage is grateful to Blue Cross and Digital Media Editor Rebecca Todd Minder Blue Shield for giving the Consulting Editor Elizabeth Wade magazine to every school Contributing Editors L. J. Davenport, Stephen Goldfarb in the state. Circulation Cindy Sanford Assistants/Interns Alice Deters, Sara Gibson, Taylor Hughes, Alabama Heritage wishes to Elizabeth Rogers thank the following for their Proofreaders Jessica Lowther, Cassandra M. Nelson generous support: Published by the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Alabama Department of Archives and History Alabama Power Company The University of Alabama Judy Bonner, President Hanna Steel Joe Benson, Interim Provost Corporation Jennifer D. Greer, Associate Provost The University of Alabama at Birmingham Phifer Incorporated Ray L. Watts, MD, President Shirley Salloway Kahn, Vice President, Development, Alumni and External Relations Protective Life Linda C. Lucas, Provost Corporation Alabama Department of Archives and History Vulcan Materials George P. Evans, Chairman, Board of Trustees Company Shirley Dowling McCrary, Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees Steve Murray, Director

YellaWood The Alabama Heritage Foundation Board of Directors President: Steve Williams, Birmingham • Vice President: John Scott, Montgomery A corporate-level gift has Edwin C. Bridges, Montgomery; Lella Bromberg, Birmingham; Paul W. Bryant Jr., Tuscaloosa; H. E. Cauthen Jr., been made in honor of Montgomery; Larry Foster, Birmingham; Gillian Goodrich, Birmingham; Charles Graff eo, Huntsville; Elmer B. Harris, Birmingham; Betsy Lowe, Huntsville; Gordon Martin, Birmingham; Gaylon McCollough, Gulf Shores; Sid John J. McMahon Jr. McDonald, Union Grove; D. Joseph McInnes, Montgomery; Th omas McMillan, Brewton; Tennant S. McWilliams, Birmingham; Emmett Meyer, Tuscaloosa; Vaughan Morrissette, Mobile; Beverly Phifer, Tuscaloosa; Cathy Randall, Tuscaloosa; Barrett C. Shelton Jr., Decatur; Brenda Sonner-Fox, Montgomery; Neal Travis, Birmingham; Alabama Heritage (ISSN 0887-493X) is Neal Wade, Montgomery; Suzanne Wolfe, Tuscaloosa. a nonprofi t educational quarterly published by the University of Alabama, Editorial and Advisory Board the University of Alabama at Birming- Edwin C. Bridges, Emeritus, Alabama State Department of Archives and History; Wilton S. Dillon, Senior Scholar ham, and the Alabama Department of Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution; J. Wayne Flynt, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Auburn University; Archives and History. Entire contents, Robert Gamble, Retired Senior Architectural Historian, Alabama Historical Commission; Virginia Van der Veer copyright 2014 by the University of Hamilton, Professor Emerita, Department of History, University of Alabama at Birmingham; William J. Koopman, Alabama. All rights reserved. Chairman Emeritus, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Tennant S. McWilliams, Alabama Heritage disclaims responsi- Professor Emeritus, History Department, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Robert O. Mellown, Department bility for all statements of fact or opinion of Art, University of Alabama; George C. Rable, Summersell Chair in Southern History, University of Alabama; expressed in signed contributions to the Michael Th omason, Department of History, University of South Alabama. magazine. Th e editors will give careful consideration to all unsolicited materi- Changing your address? Please notify Alabama Heritage as soon as possible; the post offi ce does not forward bulk mail. als but cannot assume responsibility for Rates, postpaid in the United States: One year (four issues) $18.95; two years (eight issues) $32.95; single copies $6.00 plus their safety; return postage is requested. $2.00 for postage and handling. All correspondence regarding subscriptions, donations, or manuscripts should be di- Writer’s Guidelines are available at www. rected to: Alabama Heritage, University of Alabama, P.O. Box 870342, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0342, (205) 348-7467. AlabamaHeritage.com. Toll-free (orders only): 877-925-2323. Visit us online at www.AlabamaHeritage.com.

A L A B A M A H E R I T A G E : F A L L 2 0 1 4 1 Table of Contents

FEATURES

CREATING “THE MUSCLE SHOALS SOUND” BY CHARLES L. HUGHES For more than fi ve decades, a small corner of Alabama has helped the music industry produce a soulful sound that reverberates throughout the nation and the world. 8 Cover: Cher and friends gather in front of Muscle AN INVISIBLE MAP REVEALED: Shoals Sound. See caption, THE FIRST STATE SEAL OF ALABAMA page 10. (Stephen Paley) BY DAVID M. ROBB JR. DEPARTMENTS High-resolution scans uncover an early state map, 4 published here for the fi rst time, providing insights Southern Architecture & Preservation about Alabama’s founding and the fi rst state seal. Birmingham’s 18 Boutwell Auditorium 46 ALABAMA’S JEWISH SERVICEMEN Becoming Alabama IN WORLD WAR II Quarter by Quarter Calendar of Events BY DAN J. PUCKETT 52 Members of Alabama’s Jewish population gained a Alabama Governors Alabama’s Territorial profound sense of purpose and found themselves Governors ever-changed as a result of their World War II service. 28 54 Revealing Hidden COMING OF AGE IN GEE’S BEND Collections BY MARY STANTON Glimpses of the Great War at Home and Abroad Alabama sociologist Olive Stone spent years 58 researching the culture of Gee’s Bend, discovering Portraits & Landscapes a community that thrived on independence and a Remembering a Female Civil War POW 36 unique identity that survives to this day. 62 Nature Journal Mrs. Royall’s Judge, or, PLACES IN PERIL 2014: ALABAMA’S A Tale of Two Historical ENDANGERED HISTORIC LANDMARKS Markers 66 BY MICHAEL PANHORST Reading the Th is year’s list of historic places in need of Southern Past restoration and preservation includes a number William Bartram, 44 Naturalist and Traveler of compelling sites throughout the state. w w w . A l a b a m a H e r i t a g e . c o m A L A B A M A H E R I T A G E : F A L L 2 0 1 4 3 Revealing Hidden Collections

BY DONNELLY LANCASTER WALTON a young man and my country did not go in I would shoulder a gun and join the Allies. n November 7, 1914, Surgeon General of the US Army William C. Gorgas wrote to his sister Mamie, who Th e Alabama native referred to the beginning months lived in Tuscaloosa with their sisters Jessie and Ria: of World War I, and as the highest ranking medical oﬃ cer in the US Army, General Gorgas would have been more Th e European war interests me intensely. I have a great attuned to world aﬀ airs than the average person during that admiration for the Germans. Th ey have certainly shown the period. However, although the war had raged in Europe for greatest courage and pluck. But we are now passing through several years before the United States entered it in 1917, very one of the great epochs in the world’s history. Th is war will decide whether our present civilization will proceed along Soldiers from the Third Army make toasts with European civilians. lines of absolutism or democracy. We are all equally interest- The sign on the table reads: “The Temperance Club of the Rhine.” ed and should take sides with one or the other party. If I were (All photos W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library)

54 A L A B A M A H E R I T A G E : F A L L 2 0 1 4 w w w . A l a b a m a H e r i t a g e . c o m StateS Geologist (among many other titles),ti and double mortgaged his homeh to buy Moundville, he served asa an offi cer in the Army Corps of Engineers.E Th roughout his life he was a prolifi c photographer, often placing hish prints in albums that document diff erent periods. One such album contains around 150 photos, complete with captions, from his World War I service. His family also donated Jones’s uniform and riding boots, French parade fl ag, leather map case, ammunition holster, Red Cross bag, medical kit, and sewing kit. Also included are works by novelist Above: Lt. Walter B. Jones took this photo William March, who is best known for of his tent in Villebougis, Yonne, France, writing Th e Bad Seed. March grew up in in January 1919. The soldier is most likely Mobile, Alabama, and served with the one of his brothers (Howard, Edwin, or Fifth Regiment, Forty-third Company of Raymond). Cooks in the background are Marines. Fighting in major battles of the gathering snow for snow cream. Right: warw garnered him the French Croix de Private Eli Hughes of Kennedy, Alabama. Guerre,G the Navy Cross, and the Distin- guishedg Service Cross. His novel Company little archival material in the University K, comparable to All Quiet on the Western of Alabama Libraries Division of Special FrontF , tells the story of the war from 113 Collections, which includes the W. S. soldiers’s perspectives and includes stories Hoole Special Collections Library and recycledre from his own experiences. His the A. S. Williams III Americana Col- papersp include war letters to friends and lection, seems to indicate that Americanss familyfa in which he sprinkles humorous and Alabamians held a great interest in the war. But a closer anecdotes and quips on top of grim or mundane stories. In look uncovers several items in the collections that reveal a letter after the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge, for which his important information about those fi ghting in the war. heroics earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, March Research materials covering the period during US involve- told his friend Hattie that he had “one billion cooties (of the ment are signifi cant, and researchers will fi nd letters, pho- big red German variety)” before describing what happened tographs, and artifacts in over eighty discrete manuscript there. Th e collection also includes a canteen, a fork, an and photograph collections at the University of Alabama. unusual fl oral ditty bag, and a mess kit, as well as photo- For example, members of the Hughes family from Ala- graphs and colorful service certifi cates. (Soldiers and sailors bama recently donated materials that their family created, used ditty bags—usually made from plain material—to received, and kept during World War I. Two brothers, Arley hold small, often personal items.) Someone, perhaps March and Eli Hughes, of Kennedy, Alabama, served in the Army’s himself, neatly cut most pages from the leather pocket diary Eighty-fi rst Infantry, and over one hundred letters, along he carried with him in Europe. with photos and Eli’s uniform, document their activities. Th ere are several other items relating to World War I at Th e Hoole Library also houses items originally belonging the University of Alabama, and though most of the soldiers to Alabama native Walter B. Jones. Before Jones attained his represented served in the Army, the Hoole Library does PhD from Johns Hopkins University, served as the Alabama have letters and photographs refl ecting the war experiences w w w . A l a b a m a H e r i t a g e . c o m A L A B A M A H E R I T A G E : F A L L 2 0 1 4 55 of those serving in the Marines and the Left, from top to bottom: Sailors on a ship near Navy. Additionally, though combat soldiers Pensacola, Florida; photo of unidentifi ed nurse, wrote many of the letters, a number of the who was most likely a member of the US Navy; soldiers served in other positions crucial African American member of the Twenty-fi fth to the war eff ort, such as engineer, baker, Infantry Division baseball team, taken during a medical offi cer, and machine gun instructor. stateside game held during the war. While most of the World War I resources represent southern white families’ experi- a catalog of over fi ve hundred photos of sol- ences during the war, researchers can also diers, including portraits and candid shots fi nd items relating to the African American taken in both the US and Europe. Although experience. Over 350,000 African American many of the photographs in the collec- men served in the armed forces during World tiont are unidentifi ed, they provide a visual War I. As Jim Crow laws were still very much document of the war and include service- in eff ect, African American soldiers and civil- men from diff erent military branches. ians encountered harrowing, often violent situ- Th ey show camp life stateside and in ations. Materials in Special Collections attest to Europe and include photos of European this struggle. For example, in 1917 Joseph Cot- civilians. Numerous other manuscript and ter Jr., an African American writer, described photograph collections contain smaller potentially volatile events in Louisville, Ken- numbers of photographs. tucky, where white soldiers refused to salute Researchers interested in seeing any African American offi cers. His letter to friend materialsm discussed here may go to Acu- Louise Matthews is part of the Matthews menm at http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/ to search family papers and explains that an aged Civil oro browse the digital collections, or they War general had neutralized the situation maym visit the reading room and view them and averted further incident when he issued inin person. Th e Division of Special Collec- a statement in the Louisville Courier “in tions has also created an exhibit, “Glimpses which he took the soldiers to task, saying of the Great War Abroad and At Home,” that all offi cers were to be saluted.” Other that showcases archival materials from the letters from Cotter to Matthews discuss race collections. While this examination focuses relations during the period and with Army of- on manuscripts, photographs, and arti- fi cers. In a letter in the Huston family papers facts, the Libraries Division of Special Col- written on April 20, 1918, a soldier wrote from lections also holds numerous published Europe that several friends had “tumbles” after items relating to World War I. Research- refusing to salute African American offi cers, ers can search for these in the university adding, “I haven’t met one yet, thank good- libraries’ online catalog at www.lib.ua.edu. ness, but I would do just like the rest.” Th e Hoole Library contains approximately one thousand Donnelly Lancaster Walton received her undergraduate and photographs from the World War I era. Many are studio graduate degrees in history from Auburn University. After portraits of soldiers in their new uniforms before they head- working as an archivist at the University of Alabama at ed to the front. Rev. Wylheme Ragland and his son Frederick Birmingham archives for several years, she joined the faculty Kennedy donated a collection of early-twentieth-century of the University of Alabama Libraries as the archival access photos that include several large portraits of both white and coordinator in 2001. Louis A. Pitschmann, standing editor of African American soldiers and sailors. Th e collections also the “Revealing Hidden Collections” department of Alabama include a great deal of photos that soldiers, friends, and fam- Heritage, is dean of the University Libraries at the Univer- ily members probably took with a Brownie or similar camera. sity of Alabama and director of the Alabama Center for the Th e Wade Hall Collection of World War I Photographs has Book, which co-sponsor this department.

56 A L A B A M A H E R I T A G E : F A L L 2 0 1 4 w w w . A l a b a m a H e r i t a g e . c o m Contributors

CREATING “THE MUSCLE SHOALS SOUND” Huntsville Museum of Art (1984–1995). Since retiring he has been researching diverse topics, including the architectural BY CHARLES L. HUGHES photography of Frances Benjamin Johnston and the natural ice Charles L. Hughes is assistant professor of history at Okla- trade in the South, and has written articles about the adventur- homa State University. A native of Wisconsin, he received his er Zachariah Cox and the origins of Alabama’s boundaries for PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the Encyclopedia of Alabama. He recently identiﬁ ed Th omas 2015 the University of North Carolina Press will publish his Freeman’s 1807 “Mother Map” for Madison County, Alabama. ﬁ rst book, Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in Robb currently serves on the boards of the Friends of the Ala- the American South. He has taught and written extensively on bama Archives and the Alabama Historical Association. Robb race, music, and southern history. would like to thank Meredith McDonough for her excellent work in producing the high-resolution scans of the seal. ALABAMA’S JEWISH SERVICEMEN IN WORLD WAR II COMING OF AGE IN GEE’S BEND BY DAN J. PUCKETT BY MARY STANTON

Dan J. Puckett is an associate professor of history at Troy Mary Stanton is a freelance writer who specializes in south- University. He received his PhD at Mississippi State Univer- ern white civil rights activism. Her work includes From Selma sity and is the author of In the Shadow of Hitler: Alabama’s To Sorrow: Th e Life & Death of Viola Liuzzo (1998), Freedom Jews, the Second World War, and the Holocaust, published Walk (2003), Journey Toward Justice (2006), and Th e Hand of by the University of Alabama Press. His work has appeared Esau (2006). She has also written for Southern Exposure, Th e in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Alabama Heritage, and Journal of Southern History, Griot, Th e Gulf South Historical Southern Jewish History, among other places. Puckett has been Review, and Southern Jewish History. Her latest book, Ala- a Starkoﬀ Fellow at the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the bama Reds, Whites, Blacks & Bluebloods, a social history of the American Jewish Archives, a Chancellor’s Fellow at Troy Uni- Great Depression and the New Deal in Alabama, is currently versity, a member of the Alabama Holocaust Commission, and under contract with the University of Alabama Press. Stanton serves on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Historical has taught at the University of Idaho, New Jersey’s College of Association and the Board of Trustees for the Southern Jewish St. Elizabeth, and Rutgers University. Historical Society. PLACES IN PERIL 2014: ALABAMA’S AN INVISIBLE MAP REVEALED: ENDANGERED HISTORIC LANDMARKS THE FIRST STATE SEAL OF ALABAMA BY MICHAEL PANHORST BY DAVID M. ROBB JR. Michael Panhorst, PhD, coordinated the Places in Peril David M. Robb Jr. is an art historian, has served as a mu- program in 2014. He is a historian of art and architecture seum director, and is now a regional historian and museum and a member of the board of the Alabama Trust for Historic consultant. He has been intrigued by map making and design Preservation. His book, Th e Memorial Art and Architecture of ever since his college art history studies. Following curator Vicksburg National Military Park, is forthcoming this autumn appointments at the National Gallery of Art, the Walker Art from Kent State University Press. His photo essay about the Center, and the Kimbell Art Museum, Robb served as direc- earliest Civil War monuments is forthcoming in Southern tor of the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia, and at the Cultures 20, no. 4 (November 2014).

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68 A L A B A M A H E R I T A G E : F A L L 2 0 1 4 w w w . A l a b a m a H e r i t a g e . c o m Alabama Heritage

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