Alabama History Podcasts

Air Date: August 4, 2025 Donna Castellano, Executive Director of the Historic Huntsville Foundation, discusses the programs that the HHF has pursued. She discusses the Harrison Brothers Hardware store (HHF headquarters), the eleven National Historic Register nominations the HHF has made and the research projects into women’s and Black history that ensued from them, HHF walking tours, pop-up museum installations, funding, and the future of the HHF. Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4ap4c36y Links mentioned in the episode -- Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/ AHA James Ray Kuykendall Award: https://www.alabamahistory.net/james-ray-kuykendall-award Historic Huntsville Foundation: https://www.historichuntsville.org/ Harrison Brothers Hardware: https://harrisonbrothershardware.com/ National Register of Historic Places: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/index.htm Old Town Historic District: https://oldtownhuntsville.org/ Twickenham Historic District (EOA): https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/twickenham-historic-district/ Alice Boarman Baldridge: https://www.historichuntsville.org/alice-boarman-baldridge/ Six Black Women Voters: https://www.historichuntsville.org/black-suffragists/ Newspapers.com: https://www.newspapers.com/ Cornerstones of Freedom walking tour: https://huntsvillebusinessjournal.com/news/2025/05/30/cornerstones-of-history-walking-through-huntsvilles-black-business-legacy/ Footsteps to Statehood walking tour: https://www.historichuntsville.org/events/footsteps-to-statehood-a-walking-tour-through-history/ Daniel Brandon: https://cityblog.huntsvilleal.gov/brick-by-brick-constructing-the-history-of-henderson-and-daniel-brandon/ Justice for the Johnsons exhibit: https://www.historichuntsville.org/justice-for-the-johnsons/ Road to Lydia Drive exhibition: https://www.waaytv.com/news/lydia-drive-to-become-huntsvilles-first-historic-civil-rights-district/article_b3d1ca36-b10a-11ee-bad2-e3ebcceee6fb.html Heinz Hilten (Collection at UAH): http://libarchstor.uah.edu:8081/repositories/2/resources/29 Werner von Braun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun The Alabama History Podcast's producer is Marty Olliff. Founded in 1947, the Alabama Historical Association is the oldest statewide historical society in Alabama. The AHA provides opportunities for meaningful engagement with the past through publications, meetings, historical markers, and other programs. See the website www.alabamahistory.net.

Air date: July 7, 2025 Alabama Historical Association president for 2025-2026, Dr. Matthew Downs, discusses the AHA’s program for the upcoming year. He describes the October 24-25, 2025 Fall Pilgrimage in Guntersville and the April 9-11, 2026 annual meeting in Fairhope. Downs also talks about the importance of the Alabama Review that he edits and two AHA projects – the Speakers Bureau and the AHA Digitally Enhanced Marker map. Transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/mw79d3ms Links mentioned in the episode Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/ Alabama Review: https://www.alabamahistory.net/the-alabama-review Downs’s book Transforming the South: https://lsupress.org/9780807157145/transforming-the-south/ Alabama History Podcast Episode 15 (Downs on Transforming the South): https://soundcloud.com/alabamahistory/aha-015 Guntersville Historical Society: https://www.facebook.com/guntersvillehistoricalsociety/ Alabama History Podcast Episode 71 (Guntersville Historical Society): https://soundcloud.com/alabamahistory/aha-071 Lisa Shaul’s book Midnight Cry: https://ugapress.org/book/9781588385338/midnight-cry/ Fairhope, AL: https://www.fairhopeal.gov/ Coastal Alabama Community College Fairhope Campus: https://www.coastalalabama.edu/about/locations/fairhope/ Explore the Eastern Shore: https://www.exploreeasternshore.com/ AHA Speakers Bureau: https://www.alabamahistory.net/speakersbureau AHA Digitally Enhanced Marker Project: https://www.alabamahistory.net/historical-markers-index Alabama Heritage Magazine: https://www.alabamaheritage.com/ Encyclopedia of Alabama: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/ Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame: https://www.samford.edu/alabama-mens-hall-of-fame/Default Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame: https://awhf.org/ The Alabama History Podcast's producer is Marty Olliff. Founded in 1947, the Alabama Historical Association is the oldest statewide historical society in Alabama. The AHA provides opportunities for meaningful engagement with the past through publications, meetings, historical markers, and other programs. See the website www.alabamahistory.net.

Air Date: June 2, 2025 Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/fk7hby52 Dr. David Chase Stephens (AU ’24), winner of the Alabama Historical Association’s 2025 Sarah Woolfolk Wiggins Award for the best dissertation in Alabama History, discusses his dissertation entitled “To Obstruct and Resist: Paradise v. Allen, Integration Efforts, and the Alabama State Troopers” (Dec. 2024). Stephens examines the strum und drang of integrating the Alabama State Troopers by hiring and promoting Black and women officers. He examines the four major lawsuits at the heart of these efforts as well as resistance to integration that Gov. Guy Hunt dropped in the mid-1980s. Links mentioned in the episode: Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/ Sarah Woolfolk Wiggins Dissertation Award: https://www.alabamahistory.net/wiggins-dissertation-award Stephens, “To Obstruct and Resist: Paradise v. Allen, Integration Efforts, and the Alabama State Troopers”: https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/9481 Paradise v. Allen / NAACP v. Allen: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/paradise-v-allen/ Alabama Department of Public Safety: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/alabama-law-enforcement-agency/ US v. Frazer (1970): https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/317/1079/1415562/ Mieth v. Dothard (1976): https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/418/1169/1602972/ Dothard v. Rawlinson (1977): https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/433/321/ Gov. George Wallace: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/george-c-wallace-1963-67-1971-79-1983-87/ Gov. Fob James: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/forrest-fob-james-jr-1979-83-1995-99/ Gov. Guy Hunt: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/guy-hunt-1987-93/ Cowie, Freedom’s Dominion: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jefferson-cowie/freedom%E2%80%99s-dominion-winner-of-the-pulitzer-prize/9781541672819/?lens=basic-books Founded in 1947, the Alabama Historical Association is the oldest statewide historical society in Alabama. The AHA provides opportunities for meaningful engagement with the past through publications, meetings, historical markers, and other programs. If you enjoyed this edition of the Alabama History Podcast, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Theo Moore, founder and executive director of Hiztorical Vision Productions, discusses receiving the 2025 Jakeman Award for Digital History (large project category) from the Alabama Historical Association. He talks about his past, current, and future films; his motivations for founding Hiztorical Vision Productions; and his plans for the future – including creating a studio, museum, and event space. Transcript at this link: https://tinyurl.com/vpfz6ece Links to things mentioned in the episode: Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/ Hiztorical Vision Productions: https://hiztoricalvp.org/ Crown: the County of Lowndes (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD6cQejngU4&t=1s Hobson City: From Peril to Promise (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byUHSHlieT0&t=4s Afrikan by way of American (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRfhA2DzuJg&t=9s Remembering John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital at Tuskegee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcjOu0y84Jg Georgia Documentary Film Festival: https://filmfreeway.com/GeorgiaDocumentaryFilmFestival Lanett Film Festival: https://filmfreeway.com/LanettCityFilmFestival Southern Film Festival: https://filmfreeway.com/SouthernFilmFestival Heritage House (Africatown museum): https://clotilda.com/ Tuskegee Institute Advancement League (TIAL): https://snccdigital.org/location/tuskegee-al/ Dr. Gwendolyn Patton: https://snccdigital.org/people/gwen-patton/ Sammy Younge, Jr.: https://snccdigital.org/events/murder-of-sammy-younge-snccs-statement-on-vietnam/ Founded in 1947, the Alabama Historical Association is the oldest statewide historical society in Alabama. The AHA provides opportunities for meaningful engagement with the past through publications, meetings, historical markers, and other programs. If you enjoyed this edition of the Alabama History Podcast, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Bert Harris, former president of the East Alabama Museum and the Genealogical Society of East Alabama, plus Jayson and Laura Hill, discuss Opelika’s history, tour sites, and other amenities the AHA will enjoy for its April 2025 annual meeting. Transcript of episode: https://tinyurl.com/5a26sz5r Links to items mentioned in the episode: Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/ ; Opelika, AL: https://www.opelika-al.gov/ ; Museum of East Alabama: https://eastalabama.org/ ; Treaty of Cusseta, 1832: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/treaty-of-cusseta-1832/ ; Creek Removal: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/creek-indian-removal/ ; Montgomery and West Point Railroad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_and_West_Point_Railroad ; Rousseau’s Raid: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/rousseaus-raid/ ; Textile mills: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/textile-industry-in-alabama/ ; Norma Rae: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_Rae ; John Herbert Orr: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/john-herbert-orr/ ; Yoholo Micco: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/opothle-yoholo/ ; Booker T. Washington: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/booker-t-washington/ ; Booker T. Whatley, How to Make $100,000 Farming 25 Acres: https://archive.org/details/bookertwhatleysh0000what ; Spring Villa (the Penn Yonge House): https://www.opelika-al.gov/321/Spring-Villa-History ; Salem-Shotwell Bridge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem-Shotwell_Covered_Bridge ; Darden House (John Wesley Darden): https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/media/darden-house-in-opelika/ ; Heritage House: https://heritagehouse1913.com/about/ ; Brownfield House: https://auburnopelikaalrealestate.com/brownfield-house-in-opelika-al/ ; John Emerald Distilling Company: https://johnemeralddistilling.com/about/ ; Winston Smith T Hardware and Building Supply: https://www.smithtbuildingsupply.com/ ; Opelika Sportsplex: https://www.opelika-al.gov/391/Opelika-Sportsplex-Aquatics-Center ; Beans Mill: https://stephanielane2012.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/beans-mill/