Alabama Humanities Alliance

09/19/2022

: The U.S. Constitution is the oldest written national constitution in the world. Learn why it still matters today.

Check out the links below for teaching and learning resources from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the US National Archives, the National Portrait Gallery, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Park Service, and more!

https://www2.ed.gov/policy/fund/guid/constitutionday.html

https://edsitement.neh.gov/teachers-guides/commemorating-constitution-day

09/12/2022

Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama. But one of the greatest athletes our state has ever produced didn’t stay long, with his family joining the Great Migration northward while Owens was still a boy.

Would Owens have become an Olympic legend if he stayed in Alabama? And how did Alabamians of his era respond to their native son’s greatest achievements?

Find out in Wayne Flynt’s essay in our “sports and humanities” issue of Mosaic magazine:

https://alabamahumanities.org/mosaic-magazine/mosaic-2022-the-sports-issue/

Jesse Owens Museum Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium Alabama Sports Hall of Fame & Museum

09/07/2022

What’s it like to walk in the footsteps of Alabama’s civil rights foot soldiers? The ones who marched in Birmingham, Selma, Tuskegee, Montgomery, and beyond to make the promises of America a greater reality for more Americans?

Read a pair of reflections from two teachers who participated in Stony the Road We Trod: Exploring Alabama’s Civil Rights Legacy. Stony is a National Endowment for the Humanities institute, presented by the Alabama Humanities Alliance – with the goal of helping teachers across the country bring the civil rights movement to life in their classrooms.

https://alabamahumanities.org/mosaic-magazine/the-transformative-power-of-the-fullness-of-history/

https://alabamahumanities.org/mosaic-magazine/feature-story-newfound-information-and-inspiration-for-the-classroom/

08/29/2022

“This isn’t just a birthplace. It’s a place of birth. Do you know who John Lewis was? He was of the soil of Troy. His body came from the soil of Troy, from the food of these gardens. This is where his story began.”
–Bernard LaFayette Jr., co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, fellow Freedom Rider, and longtime friend of John Lewis

Thank you to the The John R. Lewis Legacy Institute for inviting us to help dedicate a new historical marker commemorating the life and work of John Lewis.

The marker stands on the Lewis family’s longtime land in rural Pike County. Now, Alabamians – and people from all over the world – can visit the birthplace of John Robert Lewis. And read the origin story of The Boy from Troy, who served as one of the youngest leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and, as a U.S. representative, would become known as the Conscience of Congress.

It was an honor to attend the dedication, especially in the same year that we honored Lewis as an Alabama Humanities Fellow. Kudos to the JRL Legacy Institute for an uplifting event and for their good work in preserving Lewis’ legacy through efforts that promote civil rights education and community service engagement.

08/26/2022

Don’t miss out, Alabama : 2022 applications due by September 2!

AHA's competitive Riley Scholarships come with $1,000 awards. All Alabama K-8 teachers are eligible to apply in support of history- and civics-related projects in their schools and classrooms.

Learn more and apply:
https://alabamahumanities.org/program/jenice-riley-memorial-scholarship/

Alabama Education Association Alabama School Library Association Alabama Department of Education Alabama History Institutes

08/24/2022

Bringing a public humanities project to life in your community? Planning for a future cultural event or other humanities-rich program?

Apply for a Mini Grant from AHA’s Alabama Public Humanities Grants! We offer Mini Grants monthly to provide maximum flexibility – with no cost-share matches required.

Learn more and apply now at alabamahumanities.org/grants.


National Endowment for the Humanities Alabama Museums Association Alabama Library Association Alabama Historical Association Alabama League of Municipalities Alabama Association of Nonprofits

08/18/2022

Did you know: Five years before our nation ratified the ( in 1920), Alabama women went to bat for the right to vote – quite literally – during a baseball game at Rickwood Field.

Read the story, by Alex Colvin of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, in our latest issue of Mosaic magazine!

https://alabamahumanities.org/mosaic-magazine/mosaic-2022-the-sports-issue/


Alabama Sports Hall of Fame & Museum MLB Cathedrals National Women's History Museum

08/17/2022

If you’ve read “The Sports Issue” of our Mosaic magazine, then you already know about 'Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899." The film tells the tale of the University of the South’s undefeated 1899 football season, which included a 2,500-mile train trip to play five games in six days – all victories over Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Tulane, and Ole Miss.

The Tennessee-focused doc is filled with Alabama flavor – from the team’s two Alabama-born stars to a soundtrack created by musician and historian Bobby Horton, an Alabama Humanities Fellow. The film’s writer/producer, artist, and designer all hail from Alabama, too.

Watch the 'Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899’ premiere on Alabama Public Television tomorrow at 7 p.m.

https://aptv.org/apt-news/unrivaled-sewanee-1899/

08/09/2022

For three weeks in July, 27 teachers from 17 states came to Alabama to learn how they can better teach about the civil rights movement -- and Alabama's pivotal role in advancing human and civil rights.

"Stony the Road We Trod: Exploring Alabama's Civil Rights Legacy" is a National Endowment for the Humanities institute, presented by the Alabama Humanities Alliance with the partnership of civil rights scholars, foot soldiers, museums, and sites of memory statewide.

Thank you to all our teachers and projects leaders for their curiosity, camaraderie, and passion! A special thank-you to Dr. Martha Bouyer, Ph.D., an Alabama Humanities Fellow and our Stony project director. And to our lead teachers, Bonnie Belshe and Christina Fanning!

U.S. Civil Rights Trail Alabama Civil Rights Tourism Association Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium Bethel Baptist Church of Collegeville Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument

08/09/2022

Photos from Alabama Humanities Alliance's post

08/08/2022

Don't miss the "Swimming Together" exhibit before it closes August 27 at the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum - UA Museums.

The The University of Alabama Department of History exhibit traces the history of the former Queen City Park swimming pool within the broader context of public pools nationwide. The exhibit also examines the pool's path from segregation to integration, and invites residents to share how and where they learned to swim.

Plus, you can see cool remains of the 1943 WPA-built pool: aqua-tiled bathhouse walls, art deco water fountain, and even corners of the pool itself that still peek out of the ground where it's been filled in and sodded over.
https://museums.ua.edu/swimming-together/

The University of Alabama Museums Flow Tuscaloosa Selvage Collective City of Tuscaloosa – Government Discovering Alabama

08/04/2022

Thank you to all the teachers who joined in our Alabama History Day SUPER Teacher workshop last week!

It was a thrill to work with -- and learn from -- teachers from Baldwin County Public Schools, Birmingham City Schools, Chambers County School District, Elmore County Public Schools, Macon County Schools, Montgomery Alabama Public Schools - Official Site, and more. We can't wait to see the "Frontiers in History"-themed Alabama History Day projects from your schools this year!

Learn more:
https://alabamahumanities.org/program/super-teacher/
https://alabamahumanities.org/program/alabama-history-day/
National History Day Alabama Education Association Alabama Department of Education

08/03/2022

Up to $10,000 available for public humanities projects! To be considered for a Major Grant from Alabama Humanities, complete your Summer 2022 preliminary application by August 15!

Full info and to apply: alabamahumanities.org/grants

P.S. We also offer monthly Mini Grants up to $2,500 – deadline the first of each month.

08/02/2022

Congratulations and thank you to teachers from all over the country who joined us the past three weeks for "Stony the Road We Trod: Exploring Alabama's Civil Rights Legacy."

This National Endowment for the Humanities teaching institute offered an immersive, three-week field study of the civil rights movement in Alabama. Teachers met icons and foot soldiers of the movement, visited key sites of memory statewide, and accessed primary documents in museums and libraries.

Now, 27 teachers from 17 states have first-hand experiences and new curriculum ideas they can use back home to bring the civil rights era to life in their classrooms and schools. We can’t wait to hear about the projects they create!
Federation of State Humanities Councils Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium

07/27/2022

Read historian Wayne Flynt on Joe Louis and Jesse Owens in the latest issue of Mosaic magazine. Now there’s a combination of sports and humanities greats.

https://alabamahumanities.org/mosaic-magazine/mosaic-2022-the-sports-issue/

Learn more about Jesse Owens' life and Alabama roots at the Jesse Owens Museum. Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public Library.

07/12/2022

Applications now open for our 2022 Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarship! Due by September 2. This competitive $1,000 award is available to K-8 Alabama educators who want to enhance history- and civics-related teaching in their schools and classrooms.

Since 2003, we’ve named 97 Riley Scholars and awarded more than $100,000 in teacher scholarships. Learn more and apply at https://alabamahumanities.org/program/jenice-riley-memorial-scholarship/.

07/11/2022

We’re welcoming educators from across the country to Alabama for an immersive, three-week field study of the modern Civil Rights Movement. “Stony the Road We Trod: Exploring Alabama’s Civil Rights Legacy” is a teaching institute presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

The program, which runs July 10-30, enables teachers to learn how events in Alabama impacted not just the South and the nation, but the world. Birmingham will serve as the host city for the institute, with field research taking place in Selma, Montgomery, and Tuskegee — all key “battleground” sites in the struggle for human and civil rights.

In all, the Alabama Humanities Alliance selected 27 educators from 17 states to participate, via a competitive, nationwide application process. The ultimate goal of Stony the Road is to equip teachers with first-hand experiences and primary resources that they can use to bring the civil rights era to life in their classrooms and schools.

07/08/2022

Attorney of the civil rights movement. Dismantler of legal segregation. Alabama Humanities Fellow. And, now, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient – the highest civilian honor in America.

Congratulations to Mr. Fred Gray, a lifelong champion of justice and equity. And he’s not done yet. The attorney for civil rights leaders from Rosa Parks to Martin Luther King Jr. – not to mention survivors of the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study – Mr. Gray, now 91, still practices law in Alabama today.

Learn more about Fred Gray’s life and work in his profile in the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

07/07/2022

Happy opening day of The World Games 2022 Birmingham! Want a primer on how sports have shaped our culture and identity here in Alabama? Check out our new edition of Mosaic magazine: “The Sports Issue.”

Included: An article on “The World Games in context,” featuring thoughts from longtime sports journalist Kevin Scarbinsky, Steve Murray of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Birmingham’s Mayor Randall Woodfin, Governor Kay Ivey, and more:https://alabamahumanities.org/app/uploads/2022/07/Mosaic_TWG_2022.pdf

Artwork: Detail of “Proxy Stadium” by Chris Boyd Taylor (Walking Cubes Studio), artist and associate professor at The University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Read more from "The Sports Issue:"
https://alabamahumanities.org/mosaic-magazine/mosaic-2022-the-sports-issue/

Sweet Home Alabama Alabama State Council on the Arts Alabama Historical Association City of Birmingham Government

07/05/2022

Our 2022 edition of Mosaic magazine is out now, exploring the intersection of sports and the humanities in Alabama. Download it here:https://alabamahumanities.org/app/uploads/2022/06/MosaicMagazine_6.23.22_SINGLES_WEB.pdf

Yes, we Roll Tide and War Eagle. We also feature:

-Historian Wayne Flynt on Joe Louis and Jesse Owens.
-A deep dive on the Mobile roots of Cuba’s national pastime.
-Jermaine Funnymaine Johnson on what it means to be a fan.
-Rece Davis of College GameDay fame sharing his favorite football moments in the state.
-Alex Colvin of the Alabama Department of Archives and History on the suffrage movement’s moment at Rickwood Field.

And much more. That includes museums and historic sites statewide that dug up some fascinating sports artifacts. And a host of writers and filmmakers who offer their recs on the best books and films on sports with Alabama connections.

Finally, a special thanks to The World Games 2022 Birmingham for their distribution partnership. Copies of this issue will reach TWG volunteers, athletes, and venues across Birmingham during the upcoming Word Games competition.

For those on our mailing list, you should receive your print edition in the next couple weeks. Everyone else can download a digital version of the issue – and sign up to receive Mosaic in the future: alabamahumanities.org/mosaic-magazine

06/30/2022

Congrats to AHA project scholar Jim Brown on the publication of his new creative nonfiction read, 'Distracted by Alabama: Tangled Threads of Natural History, Local History, and Folklore.' The book is published by the University of Alabama Press.

Part memoir, part folklore, part oral history, 'Distracted by Alabama' is – at its roots – all about the humanities. Dr. Brown explores a dozen Alabama-centric topics that have consumed both his professional and personal life – from the Cahaba River and the spotted salamander to sacred harp singing, railroad callers, and the preservation of Native American and pioneer fishing techniques. The book involves colorful descriptions of Alabamians from whom Brown has learned Alabama folk traditions throughout his life. You’ll also find tales of Brown’s time as a hired paddler for a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History Survey, fishing expeditions with fellow historian Wayne Flynt, and his friendship with Alabama’s famed “herb doctor” Tommie Bass.

Dr. Brown is professor of history emeritus at Samford University and past president of the Alabama Folklife Association. He’s also a longtime Alabama Humanities collaborator, helping to pilot our SUPER Teacher program and serving as a project scholar on Smithsonian exhibits traveling the state – such as he did in 2021-2022 for 'Water/Ways,' alongside Bill Deutsch, aquatic ecologist emeritus at Auburn University.

To learn more, check out Edward Journey’s review of 'Distracted by Alabama' in the Alabama Writers' Forum, Inc.: https://www.writersforum.org/news_and_reviews/review_archives.html/article/2022/06/20/distracted-by-alabama-tangled-threads-of-natural-history-local-history-and-folklore

06/29/2022

We’re hosting our first-ever Alabama History Day summer camp this week in Tuskegee! Participating students are getting ready for History Day 2023 – learning about primary research, digging deep on topics that intrigue them, and taking field trips to historic sites.

Thank you to our camp teachers and field trip hosts for sharing their time and expertise this week — including at Tuskegee University and the Tuskegee History Center (both pictured here). We’re thrilled to keep growing this exciting program across the state!

Not familiar with Alabama History Day? AHD is a state-level affiliate of National History Day, a year-long program that offers students a creative and dynamic way to engage with history. Every fall and winter, students conduct research on a topic of interest relevant to the year’s theme. Then, they present their findings in the spring through the creative outlet of their choosing: a research paper, a dramatic performance, an interactive website, a designed exhibit, or a documentary film.

The theme for Alabama History Day 2023 is Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.

Learn more at https://alabamahumanities.org/program/alabama-history-day/.

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY Tuskegee Human & Civil Rights Multicultural Center Alabama Department of Archives and History Federation of State Humanities Councils National Endowment for the Humanities

06/20/2022

For more on , check out these resources from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/juneteenth

Our offices are closed today (6/20) for the Juneteenth holiday.

is the oldest continuous celebration of the official end of slavery in America. On June 19, 1865, the news of emancipation for enslaved African Americans reached Galveston Island, Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

In 2021, this date became our eleventh national holiday, and it became an Alabama state holiday this year. It is celebrated and commemorated around the U.S. with parades, festivals, cookouts, readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, family reunions, and historical reenactments.

On August 31, 1865, only a few months after news of emancipation reached Galveston Island, delegates assembled in Montgomery to write a new constitution for a war-torn . Following guidelines established by President Andrew Johnson, the delegates withdrew the state's secession ordinance, repudiated Alabama's $20 million war debt, banned the institution of slavery, and conferred certain legal rights upon formerly enslaved people.

The constitutional convention ordinance seen here abolished slavery in Alabama. It is part of our permanent collection along with all of Alabama’s six constitutions.

06/17/2022

This is a fantastic funding opportunity for historic sites statewide. Note the June 30 deadline!

Deadline is approaching to apply for a grant with The Alabama Historical Commission's State Historic Preservation Office. Historic sites who meet the eligibility requirements can submit an application until June 30, 2022, 4 PM. Applicants must submit an official 2023 Historic Sites Grant application available on the AHC website at ahc.alabama.gov/resources/grants.aspx.

06/10/2022

: A very important conversation tomorrow...with some very hopeful outcomes. This will be both an in-person and virtual event, hosted at the Shelby County Historical Society -- featuring panelists from TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY, Alabama State University, and The Ridge Macon County Archaeology Project.

Learn more: https://kleinartsandculture.org/kac-news-updates/aha-funds-panels-by-wallace-house-interpretation-group

The Wallace House Interpretation Group will discuss “Expanding the Boundaries of Plantation Interpretation” on June 11 from 1-2:30 at the Shelby County Historical Society, 1854 N Main St, Columbiana, AL 35051. We will post the zoom link to watch on June 11th.

05/19/2022

New SUPER Teacher workshop now open for applications! Join us July 28 at the Alabama Department of Archives and History – learn new ways to support student literacy and deepen an appreciation for poetry in the classroom!

Dr. Zanice Bond, associate professor of English at TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY, will lead this workshop examining the poetry of Alabama’s poet laureate, Ashley M. Jones. Other guest scholars come from Alabama State University and the Alabama Writers' Forum, Inc..

Participating teachers will receive 5 CEU credits, a $75 stipend, copies of Jones’ poetry books, and additional teacher resources.

For full details and to register:
https://alabamahumanities.org/app/uploads/2022/05/SUPERteach_Flyer_07.28.22_FINAL.pdf

Learn more about our SUPER Teacher programs here: alabamahumanities.org/program/super-teacher

05/12/2022

Alabama teachers: Want to bring some project-based learning to your classroom?

Our July 19-20 SUPER Teacher workshop explores the 2023 National History Day theme, "Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas." Alabama educators selected for this special two-day workshop in Wetumpka will receive a $100 stipend, nine CEU credits, and new History Day resources. Full details: https://alabamahumanities.org/program/super-teacher/

All Alabama educators in grades 6-12 are eligible. Given the creative opportunities for students to showcase their research, teachers of , , , , , , and graphic design are strongly encouraged to apply. Hope you can join us for this two-day workshop at The Kelly-Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery!