Category Archives: Audio

Flashback to Emphasis ’68: Roy Wilkins

Posted on March 18, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: African-American History, Audio, UA History | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Forty five years ago this week, The University of Alabama began its second annual symposium on contemporary issues. Known as Emphasis, it ran from 1967-1971, with varying degrees of success. This week, we revisit some of its more memorable speeches and … Continue reading →

Hidden Gem: comedian Dick Gregory at Emphasis ’70

Posted on January 4, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: African-American History, Audio, UA History | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

When he took the stage at UA in October 1969, African-American comedian Dick Gregory joked that he’d meant to be there six months before, for the previous Emphasis program, but he’d been in jail at the time and couldn’t make … Continue reading →

Be Thankful for the Right to Vote

Posted on November 5, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: African-American History, Audio, Interviews, Southern History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“A non-voter is not a half a citizen.” — Interview with H. D. Coke, 1984 Like Coke, many of the elderly African Americans interviewed for the Working Lives Oral History Project remember the struggle to register to vote during the … Continue reading →

Fred Shuttlesworth

Posted on April 30, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: African-American History, Audio, Cool Collections, Interviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

On May 3, 1963, peaceful demonstrators, many of them teenagers, are beaten back in downtown Birmingham by fire hoses and police dogs.  The extreme tactics, ordered by police commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor brought international attention to Project C, the name … Continue reading →

Easter Music by Harald Rohlig

Posted on April 6, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Audio, Music, World War II | Tagged , | Leave a comment

This week we will feature pipe organ music by Dr. Harald Röhlig in honor of Easter weekend. World renowned organist, Harald Röhlig is a composer and pipe organ designer. His career as a musician began in Germany during the 1930s. … Continue reading →

Robert F. Kennedy’s Visit to UA

Posted on January 20, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Audio, UA History, Vietnam War | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Did you know that Robert F. Kennedy gave a speech at the University of Alabama in March of 1968, just months before he was assassinated? Kennedy was invited to the University to speak as part of the Emphasis Program, which … Continue reading →

Working Lives Oral History Project

Posted on January 13, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: African-American History, Audio, Cool Collections, Industrial, Interviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Digital Collections not only feature manuscripts and photographs, but also audio. One of our audio collections is the Working Lives Oral History Project. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, this project focuses on black … Continue reading →