Alabama History Podcasts

Air Date: December 1, 2025

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/6t9d8yhs

Clayton Davis, Historic Resources Manager at the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, discusses the National Heritage Area program, the history of the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, and the three heritage themes that Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area emphasizes.

Links mentioned in the episode:

Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/

Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area: https://msnha.una.edu/

National Heritage Area Program: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/heritageareas/index.htm

National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/index.htm

University of North Alabama: https://una.edu/

Shoals Storytelling Festival: https://www.shoalsstorytelling.com/

City of Florence: https://florenceal.org/

MSNHA “Stories” Heading: https://msnha.una.edu/stories/

MSNHA River Heritage: https://msnha.una.edu/stories/river-heritage/

MSNHA Native Heritage: https://msnha.una.edu/stories/native-american-heritage/

MSNHA Music Heritage: https://msnha.una.edu/stories/music-heritage/

Florence Mound Museum: https://www.florencealmuseums.com/home/indianmoundmuseum

Cane Creek Canyon: https://msnha.una.edu/sites-attractions/cane-creek-canyon-nature-preserve/

TVA: https://www.tva.com/

National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/2287/index.htm

National Register of Historic Places: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/index.htm

Fort Henderson: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/fort-henderson-historic-site/

United States Colored Troops: https://www.thenmusa.org/articles/united-states-colored-troops-in-the-american-civil-war/

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: November 3, 2025

Dr. John Giggie, associate professor of history and director of the Summersell Center for the Study of the South at the University of Alabama discusses his 2024 book, Bloody Tuesday, The Untold Story of the Struggle for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa that received the Alabama Historical Association’s 2025 Clinton, Jackson and Evelyn Coley Book Award. In addition to the book and the Civil Rights Movement events it covers, Giggie talks about “shared authority” in doing first person and community scholarship.

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3uxwr7t3

Links mentioned in the episode –

Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/

AHA’s Clinton Jackson and Evelyn Coley Book Award: https://www.alabamahistory.net/coley-book-award

Dr. John Giggie: https://history.ua.edu/people/john-m-giggie/

Bloody Tuesday, The Untold Story of the Struggle for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/bloody-tuesday-9780197766668?cc=us&lang=en&

Tuscaloosa, AL: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/tuscaloosa/

First African Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa: http://www.firstafricanchurch.org/discover/our-history.html

Reverend T.Y. Rogers: https://tavm.omeka.net/exhibits/show/african-american-history/item/50

SCLC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Christian_Leadership_Conference

Bloody Tuesday, June 4, 1964: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/tuscaloosa-campaign-and-bloody-tuesday/

Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/bloody-sunday/

James Bevel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bevel

Robert (Bobby) Shelton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Shelton_(Ku_Klux_Klan)

Ku Klux Klan: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/ku-klux-klan-in-contemporary-alabama/

Joe Mallisham: https://tavm.omeka.net/items/show/1102

Tuscaloosa Bus Boycott, 1964: https://civilrightstuscaloosa.org/trail/stop-7/

Charles Steele: https://tavm.omeka.net/exhibits/show/african-american-history/item/736

Reverend TW Linton: https://cbn.com/article/not-selected/thomas-linton-living-saint-civil-rights-history-0

Tuscaloosa Civil Rights Trail: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/tuscaloosa-civil-rights-trail/

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: October 6, 2025

Dr. Virginia Cain, 2023 graduate of the University of Alabama, discusses her article, “Red Mountain Ladies, How Prostitution Shaped Birmingham, Alabama, from 1871 to 1920,” published in the Alabama Review, April 2023 that won the Alabama Historical Association’s 2025 Milo Howard Award for best article in the Alabama Review in the previous two years. Dr. Cain also discusses a companion article she published in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly about a Nashville madam, and her dissertation, “We Built These Cities on Rocks and Hos,” that compare late 19th century prostitution in Birmingham and Nashville.

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yhfyt58t

Links mentioned in the episode –

Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/

AHA’s Milo B. Howard Award: https://www.alabamahistory.net/milo-b-howard-award

Alabama Review: https://www.alabamahistory.net/the-alabama-review

Birmingham, AL: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/birmingham/

Birmingham Public Library Archives: https://www.cobpl.org/locations/central/archives/

Louise Wooster: https://bhamwiki.com/w/Louise_Wooster

Nashville, TN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Nashville,_Tennessee

Tennessee Historical Quarterly: https://tennesseehistory.org/publications/tennessee-historical-quarterly/

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: September 15, 2025

Dr. Pete Sparks, president of the Guntersville Historical Society, discusses the Alabama Historical Association Fall Pilgrimage in October 2025. He examines four highlights of Guntersville history, describes the sites on the pre-pilgrimage tours, and talks about the local buildings on the pilgrimage tour proper.

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/254zxwpd

Links mentioned in the episode –

Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/

Guntersville Historical Society: https://www.facebook.com/guntersvillehistoricalsociety/

AHP Episode 71 (SoundCloud link): https://soundcloud.com/alabamahistory/aha-071

Guntersville, AL: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/guntersville/

Marshall County, AL: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/marshall-county/

Andrew Jackson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson

Treaty of New Echota, 1835: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_New_Echota

Trail of Tears: https://www.nps.gov/trte/learn/historyculture/index.htm

Lake Guntersville State Park: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/lake-guntersville-state-park/

Guntersville Dam and Lake: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/guntersville-dam-and-lake/

Guntersville Museum: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/guntersville-museum-cultural-center/

Cathedral Caverns State Park: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/cathedral-caverns-state-park/

Kate Duncan Smith DAR School: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/kate-duncan-smith-dar-school/

Midnight Cry: A Shooting on Sand Mountain: https://www.ugapress.org/9781588385338/midnight-cry/

Dr. Lesa Carnes Shaul: https://www.uwa.edu/news/uwa-professor-pens-true-crime-thriller-about-1950s-shooting-on-sand-mountain/

Col. Montgomery Gilbreath House: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235551

Henry House: https://www.henryhouse1893.com/story

First Presbyterian Church: https://tennesseerivervalleygeotourism.org/entries/first-presbyterian-church-guntersville/b48dc844-3322-419a-a5e1-1b5925fb66cc

First United Methodist Church: https://tennesseerivervalleygeotourism.org/entries/first-methodist-church-of-guntersville/527e03cf-412a-42f0-a69a-28cf66dc9920

John Allan Wyeth: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/john-allan-wyeth/

Old Rock School: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Rock_School_(Guntersville,_Alabama)

Old Post Office and DeSoto Mural: http://wpamurals.org/guntersv.htm

Guntersville Railroad Depot: https://gvdepot.org/history/

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: 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/

Episode 81 – Dan Puckett discusses the Alabama Holocaust Commission

Air Date: January 7, 2025

Dan Puckett, chair of the Alabama Holocaust Commission, discusses the Commission’s history, mission, program of work, and future. He also talks about adding Holocaust studies to Alabama’s 2024 Social Studies Standards for K-12 education, the purposes of Holocaust education, and his 2014 book, In the Shadow of Hitler: Alabama’s Jews, the Second World War, and the Holocaust (University of Alabama Press). Dr. Puckett is a professor of history at Troy University.

Transcript here (caveat – possibly not 100 % accurate): https://tinyurl.com/mur9ap82

Links mentioned in this episode:

Alabama Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/

Alabama Holocaust Commission: https://alabamaholocaustcommission.org/

Alabama Department of Archives and History: https://archives.alabama.gov/

Yom HaShoah (via Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_HaShoah

Gulf Coast Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education: https://www.gcholocaustcenter.org/

Alabama Holocaust Education Center: https://ahecinfo.org/

Alabama State Department of Education Social Studies Standards (available after ca. mid-January 2025): https://www.alabamaachieves.org/acad-stand/

Birmingham Public Library Department of Archives and Manuscripts: http://www.cobpl.org/locations/central/archives/

(Book) In the Shadow of Hitler: https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817381073/in-the-shadow-of-hitler/