Author Archives: kgmatheny

Life in the mines: Desegregated labor unions

Posted on February 18, 2014 by kgmatheny | Posted in: African-American History, Audio, Industrial, Interviews, Southern History | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Normally, we do a post on labor unions for labor day, but it seemed appropriate to bring up the subject for Black History Month, too. African Americans in Birmingham-area mines and industrial plants were often important leaders in efforts to … Continue reading →

Papers of H. D. Clayton Sr., General, statesman, and UA President

Posted on February 4, 2014 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Civil War, Everyday Life, Genealogy, Letters, Newly Online, Southern History | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Over the last few months, we’ve been digitizing the papers of Henry De Lamar Clayton, Sr. As our student worker Ellyn and I see the final box of materials in sight, it seems like a good time to give an … Continue reading →

UA Army ROTC Scrapbooks

Posted on January 22, 2014 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Photographs, Scrapbooks, UA History | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Since last fall, we’ve had the opportunity to digitize a sizable set of large scrapbooks from a surprising source: the University of Alabama Army ROTC. Who knew that military men and women could be so interesting! Dating from 1953 to … Continue reading →

Thought for the Day: 19th century poetry and the daily newspaper

Posted on January 14, 2014 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Newspapers | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Newspaper clippings are a common type of content in larger collections of personal or family papers. Though a lot of them help record news about the family or about important current events, many are simply interesting pieces of writing someone … Continue reading →

Hidden Gem: Peter Jennings at Emphasis ’69 (audio)

Posted on January 7, 2014 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Audio, Everyday Life | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“It is nice to be invited back to Alabama, instead of sent here.” –Peter Jennings, referring to his previous trips to the South during the civil rights movement In April of 1969, the Emphasis program at UA, a yearly symposium dedicated … Continue reading →

‘Tis the Season to be Jolly

Posted on December 19, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Photograph Albums, Photographs | Leave a comment

Here are a few photo selections from our digital archives of people gathered during this Holiday Season. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Symbols of liberty

Posted on December 11, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Music, Sheet music, World War I | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Wade Hall Sheet Music collection features a great deal of music from the first two decades of the 20th century, especially music related to World War I. Maybe because America took so long to enter the war, it seems … Continue reading →

Augusta Evans Wilson, novelist and Confederate patriot

Posted on December 2, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Civil War, Letters, Southern History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

In the 19th century, more and more women became not just occasional novel writers but full time authors. Hoole Special Collections Library houses the papers of Georgia native Augusta Jane Evans Wilson, who published nine sentimental novels, including Beulah, the … Continue reading →

John F. Kennedy assassination, 50 years on

Posted on November 22, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Periodicals | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A local reflection on the assassination of our 35th President, from our campus newspaper, The Crimson White, December 5, 1963. Click on the image to see the spread up close, or take a look at the transcription below: It Is … Continue reading →

Women and Their Cars

Posted on November 15, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Everyday Life, Photographs | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Over a hundred years ago, Alice Ramsey and her friends took the first all-female cross country automobile trip. You can read about Ramsey’s experience at Smithsonian Magazine online — what they ate, where they stayed, how they found their way … Continue reading →