By Billy Ray Warren Florence City Historian According to tourism professionals, more and more people, it seems, enjoy historic walking tours. There are others, though, who, for various reasons – primarily physical limitations – cannot participate in actual tours. So, come with me on a brief armchair tour of old Florence: 1. We gather on the […]
By Julia McGee M.A. in public history from the University of North Alabama, December, 2019 Former MSNHA graduate assistant While every moment I spent in the University of North Alabama’s master of public history program was wonderful and insightful, the most memorable part was being able to help create an exhibit last year on Dr. Wendell […]
By Joshua Grigsby MSNHA graduate assistant Talking to a co-worker today made me think about how much culture changes over relatively small distances. We began speaking about accents and how they are much different only 50 miles away. Much like accents, food culture also changes based on regions, and I can’t think of a better […]
By Lee Freeman, Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, Local History-Genealogy Department NOTE: This article quotes language from contemporary newspapers, documents, reports and letters that was commonly used at the time but today we consider to be racist and offensive. On Jan. 24, 1867, Scottish immigrant and Florence educator Dr. David R. Lindsay (1821-1898), brother of Alabama Gov. […]
By Lillian Glanton Founder, Muscle Shoals Song Rooms Event coordinator, Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival I was 17 years old and looking at myself in a mirror when I said, “I want to be the future of Muscle Shoals music.” I have always had a heart for the Shoals and knew I was made to make […]
By Vicki Goldston Founder, “Golden Spices Magazine” Forty-plus years ago, we discovered a medical philosophy that invited us to connect, rather than dissect, our techniques for healing. That approach is holistic medicine, which says that mind & body & spirit are not separate but influence each other and affect our total well-being. Dr. Deborah Carter, naturopathic […]
From Project Say Something The mission of Project Say Something is to confront racial injustice through black history by using communication, education and community empowerment to reconcile the past with the present. Recognizing that black history was under-represented in the historical markers and the cultural resources in the Shoals, PSS developed a project to serve […]
By Julia McGee Former MSNHA graduate assistant In the summer of 2019, I interned at the Lawrence County Archives, in Moulton–and learned much more than I was prepared for. Records at the Lawrence County Archives list names of enslaved people. To complete the University of North Alabama’s master of arts in public history requirements, I […]
Today, Belle Mont Mansion is often a beautiful setting for weddings and bridal portraiture, but what would a wedding be like in the late 1800s? To discover, we turn to The North Alabamian newspaper (editor A.H. Keller), publised in Tuscumbia, on Nov. 24, 1882. Col. and Mrs. Gus A. Henry (Ella Winston), according to the […]
By Carrie Barske Crawford, Ph.D. Director, Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area I grew up in what was once a thriving textile mill town in Connecticut, though by the time I lived there almost all of the mills had shut their doors. The enormous brick buildings with their floor to ceiling windows stood empty, either empty and […]
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