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History Day at Mt. Meigs

“Alabama History Day has given me light in this dark part of my life. It gave me an example of how throughout history, people have made a way in spite of hard times.” 
—G.M., a student at L.B. Wallace School for adjudicated youth, Mt. Meigs, Alabama 

 

G.M. was one of 30 students at the L.B. Wallace School who participated in a first-of-its-kind Alabama History Day program. Students had the chance to research topics of their own choosing — and then creatively share their findings — just as all other Alabama students do at school, regional, and statewide History Day contests each year.

This barrier-breaking program for adjudicated youth at Mt. Meigs — an Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS) campus mostly comprised of 16-to-19-year-old boys — was the result of a collaboration between the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the Alabama Writers’ Forum, and DYS.

Over a 10-week program this school year, students at Mt. Meigs participated in a Writing Our Histories program, led by Susan R. DuBose, Ph.D., a leading historian and educator in Alabama. Dr. DuBose and the school’s teachers helped students learn the core principles of primary research and how to develop speaking skills to present their research to a panel of judges.

“The dedicated DYS teachers and staff, along with Dr. DuBose, created an environment where our students could connect with history and learn in ways they had never experienced before this program,” says Tracy Smitherman, Ed.D., superintendent of the Alabama DYS School District. “The students enjoyed it, the exceptional teachers and staff loved it, and as the superintendent, I love that this program inspired them to love learning.”

The Alabama Humanities Alliance and Alabama Writers’ Forum collaboratively developed the Writing Our Histories curriculum — building on the AWF’s well-established Writing Our Stories program, which also takes place on DYS youth campuses. Over the program’s first 25 years, 63 anthologies and 19 chapbooks have been published, showcasing the work of approximately 1,500 students.

The 10-week Writing Our Histories pilot program culminated in an Alabama History Day contest on October 4, on the Mt. Meigs campus. Students presented their research as exhibits that colorfully highlighted what they’d learned on topics ranging from World War II and the Civil War to Alabama athletes and the civil rights movement. Students confidently and enthusiastically talked about what they’d learned, answering questions from Alabama History Day judges who work professionally as educators, historians, and authors. Teachers from other DYS campuses also attended to observe and bring the experience back to their own classrooms.

“Alabama History Day has brought me to the perception to always move forward and to keep your focus on the right opportunity,” one student, K.M., shared. “As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, ’The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ These words hold true through all times, for there have been occasions when good things during hard times have been accomplished through perseverance and hope. I want to thank everyone for providing me with a chance to advance my growth as an independent individual.”

Alabama History Day will “move forward” at Mt. Meigs, too. The pilot program had such a significant and positive impact on participating youth this fall that an agreement is already in place to carry Alabama History Day into 2025 and beyond with the Alabama Department of Youth Services.

Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., at the Awards Ceremony for Alabama History Day 2024 at Mt. Meigs.

“We take great joy in offering programs that empower all Alabamians to be storytellers and humanities champions, at every stage in life,” says Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., Alabama History Day coordinator at the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “We want every child to succeed, no matter their circumstances, and we have seen firsthand how empowering and transformational the History Day program can be to students from different backgrounds and parts of our state.”

Alabama History Day is the state contest of National History Day, a history competition that engages middle school and high school students in robust and creative historical research. To learn more about History Day — and how your school, classroom, or student can participate, visit alabamahumanities.org/alabama-history-day.

Learn more about the partnering organizations for Alabama History Day at Mt. Meigs:

AHA to honor Rick Bragg, Roy Wood Jr.

On December 2 in Birmingham, the Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA) will recognize writer Rick Bragg and humorist Roy Wood Jr. as 2024 Alabama Humanities Fellows — the highest humanities honor in the state.

The two will be honored during a ticketed event at UAB’s Alys Stephens Center. The evening will feature an in-depth conversation between Bragg and Wood Jr., two of Alabama’s finest, and funniest, writers and storytellers. The event will also see additional individuals receive awards for supporting the humanities in Alabama, as well as a celebration of AHA’s 50th anniversary.

Additional special guests include:

 

EVENT DETAILS:

Note: Copies of Rick Bragg’s books will be available for sale in the Alys Stephens Center lobby, thanks to our friends at Thank You Books.

 

ABOUT THE HONOREES:

While they utilize different mediums and styles, Bragg and Wood Jr. share something at their core: They are insightful storytellers who challenge us all to think, to empathize, and to explore what it means to be human.

Rick Bragg has long been lauded as one of the most distinct, illustrative storytellers in American literature. He’s authored more than a dozen books, but it’s his first, All Over but the Shoutin’, that became a sort of anthem for the people of the mountain South — and it is that regard, more than any award he has won, that Bragg holds most dear.

Still, the native of Possum Trot, Alabama, has won awards aplenty, including a Pulitzer Prize for reporting, as well as a James Beard Award, the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer, and the Fitzgerald Literary Prize. For the past two decades, Bragg has also served as the Clarence Cason Professor of Writing at the University of Alabama

In an essay for AHA’s Mosaic magazine, the author Cassandra King — and Alabama Humanities Fellow herself — had this to say about Rick Bragg:

Rick’s works aren’t just important, they’re the essence of why we need the bond of storytelling today more than ever.

King also noted something that applies as much to Wood Jr. as it does to Bragg: “There is a commonality in our stories,” King wrote, “in the way the past has formed who we are and how we got here. No Southern storyteller can truly tell the tales of his or her life without delving into the past.”

 

Roy Wood Jr. mines both past and present for his material as a comedian, writer, and producer. The Birmingham native got his feet wet at 95.7 JAMZ-WBHJ before launching a career as a stand-up comic. He has released three specials, with a fourth due out in 2025, and became a nationally known satirist thanks to his eight-year-run on the Emmy-winning “The Daily Show.”

Wood Jr.’s father was the renowned civil rights journalist, Roy Wood Sr., and it’s no surprise the son’s humor intersects often with history, news, and civic engagement.

In 2021, Wood Jr. produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, The Neutral Ground. In 2023, he headlined the White House Correspondents Dinner. And just this fall, he has begun hosting a new show on CNN, “Have I Got News For You.”

Wood Jr. has also returned often for projects in his beloved Alabama, including: filming a TV project in Birmingham; narrating Alabama Public Television’s Alabama at 200 documentary; serving as an ambassador and correspondent for the MLB at Rickwood game in 2024, and hosting the “Road to Rickwood” podcast on the field’s baseball and civil rights history.

In an essay for AHA’s Mosaic magazine, the UA American Studies professor Jeffrey Melton, Ph.D., noted that Wood Jr.’s work covers a lot of the same terrain his father did, albeit with humor:

Wood Jr.’s method is clear: ‘If I can get you to laugh at it, then I can get you to listen.’

 

For more info: alabamahumanities.org/honors-bhm

For tickets: my.alysstephens.org/3382

This event is offered as part of AHA’s Alabama Colloquium series. Earlier this year, the Alabama Humanities Alliance honored musicians Brittany Howard and Jason Isbell in a similar event in Huntsville.

The Alabama Colloquium series is made possible due to the support of presenting sponsors Regions Bank, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Huntsville Utilities, and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. All proceeds from the series support AHA programming that helps Alabamians connect with each other, our shared history, and the vibrant, complex communities we call home. 

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded 50 years ago, in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. AHA promotes impactful storytelling, lifelong learning and civic engagement. Through our programs and grantmaking, we provide Alabamians with opportunities to connect with each other, with our shared history, and with the vibrant and complex communities we call home. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

About the Alabama Colloquium
Each year, the Alabama Humanities Alliance presents the Alabama Colloquium to celebrate how the humanities lift up our state and bring Alabamians together. We also bestow the title of Alabama Humanities Fellow on individuals whose outstanding work in the humanities has positively impacted our state, nation, and world. Honorees include the likes of Harper Lee, Bryan Stevenson, E.O. Wilson, Odessa Woolfolk, W. Kamau Bell, Wayne Flynt, and more. alabamahumanities.org/honors

‘That is the magic’

On August 26, a record-breaking Alabama Colloquium crowd of nearly 1,100 in Huntsville saw Brittany Howard and Jason Isbell honored as AHA’s newest Alabama Humanities Fellows. The pair joined in conversation to share about their Alabama roots, their musical journeys, and the power of storytelling in song.

It was a special occasion made even more so by the presence of much-beloved musician Patterson Hood, who introduced each honoree. And the night ended with a pair of songs played by our honorees — soul-deep performances that al.com’s Matt Wake noted “anyone with a heartbeat could feel. Wow. Just wow.”

Photos from the event are available on AHA’s Facebook page.

Video of Howard and Isbell in conversation and song are on AHA’s YouTube channel.

Finally, below is an essay about the evening, written by the event’s moderator, Ann Powers, NPR Music’s critic and correspondent. Powers’ essay first appeared in the September 1 edition of the NPR Music newsletter

 

***

 

How Alabama shaped Jason Isbell and Brittany Howard

By Ann Powers (NPR Music)

 

Though I lived there for a shorter time than I did anywhere else, I still have some Alabama in my veins. Huntsville is where I headed Monday to meet up with two artists who, in recent years, have done a lot to deepen music lovers’ perceptions of that state. Jason Isbell was fresh from performing his song “Something More Than Free” at the Democratic National Convention; Brittany Howard would soon head into rehearsals for fall national tour. They’d carved out time that evening to be recognized as Alabama Humanities Fellows by the Alabama Humanities Alliance — an honor also granted to senators, [historians], educators, writers and artists. Along with another great songwriter (and my good friend), the Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood, I’d been tapped to help bestow the prize, sitting with Isbell and Howard for a warm conversation punctuated with much laughter and the occasional shout-out to family members in the audience (Howard’s dad and Isbell’s mom were both sitting up front.)

We could have talked about anything — politics, production techniques, the never-ending debate over what musical categories like “Americana” and “country” mean — but instead, Howard and Isbell ended up sharing stories of home.

“I can’t get Alabama out of me because I was made from this stuff,” Howard said. “I am red clay, you know what I’m saying? Like, I was playing in it. My mama told me not to eat the poke salad berries and I didn’t, you know? I was getting chased by water moccasins and that’s just in me. I remember waking up and my great aunt Brenda would be playing, like, ‘90s country music. I never could understand what they were talking about. It was a real small speaker, but I could kind of understand the vibe. And I’d just be like, yeah, it’s a beautiful country morning.”

Hood had introduced both Howard and Isbell that evening with his own anecdotes about meeting them as artistic embryos: Isbell first gained national fame as a teenage guitarist for the Truckers, while the band helped launch Howard’s former group, Alabama Shakes, toward stardom by taking them on tour early on. In a speech in which every joke landed like a kiss, Hood conjured the spirit of the strivers these two now-established talents once were.

Living in Tuscaloosa in the mid-2010’s, I saw one of those early Shakes shows at the beautiful BAMA Theater. After watching Howard captivate the audience and then sell every single piece of band merch she had from behind a card table in the lobby, I knew that she would become the festival-headlining, Grammy-winning generational voice she is now. Around that same time, Isbell, after an alcohol-related crash and burn that found him relocating to Nashville, where he got sober and serious at 33, released Southeastern, the album that established him as a songwriter on par with legends like John Prine and Lucinda Williams. Like me, Howard and Isbell found in Nashville a better footing for their growing careers.

But Alabama has always stayed with them. “This night is actually being sponsored by the Athens Appreciation Society!” Howard said, chuckling, after several rows of old friends caused a ruckus when she said the name of the small town where she grew up. As we talked, names of favorite clubs and hangouts filled the air. “I feel like I should talk about Athens, too,” Isbell quipped. (Born in Green Hill, he was raised in the more cosmopolitan, though still semi-rural, Muscle Shoals area, an hour away.) “That Subway there, right off the freeway, that’s where I used to meet up with the Truckers!”

Our talk unfolded in this way, punctuated by the names of fondly remembered clubs like the Nick in Birmingham and famed Tuscaloosa dive the Chukker, where generations of dirty rockers who never made it nationally burned out their amps amid the cigarette smoke. House parties came up, too, like the one in which Isbell, who knew Hood casually and had already impressed him, sat tensely on the stairs while the Truckers played and a SPIN reporter took notes. (That reporter, in fact, was my husband Eric Weisbard — we’d heard the Truckers at a tiny Pittsburgh festival the year before and were doing our best to convince our New York media friends of their greatness.) Missing a guitarist who’d gone AWOL, the Truckers were burning things down anyway — but Isbell thought they could use a hand.

“I just remember sitting there for the first third of the show and thinking, if they take a break, I’m just going to go tell them I can play the guitar parts on this,” he recalled. “Like it was just going through my head over and over and over and over… finally they took a break and I went up to Patterson and I was like, ‘You need somebody to play the third guitar on this, I can do that.’ And he was like, ‘Fine….’ And I was so excited. I was so excited. And then I was in the van the next day.”

That house party wasn’t exactly like the ones happening all across indie rock American at the turn of the 21st century, and that’s for Alabama reasons, too. The northern edge of the state, most music lovers know, is home to Fame and Muscle Shoals Studios, where many of the greatest albums of the classic rock and soul era were recorded with session men like Hood’s bassist dad, David, providing support. Even before he joined the Truckers, Isbell was learning about musical professionalism from Fame studios head Rick Hall, who put him on staff as a fledgling songwriter at 21. “I always had plenty of songs to turn in,” he recalled of the brief period when he was learning at the feet of Hall and local heroes like Spooner Oldham and Donnie Fritts. “I would come in and demo the songs and, you know, they loved them, but they were like, ‘I don’t think Tim McGraw is going to sing this.’” He wasn’t going to become a Music Row songwriter like his high school best friend and bandmate Chris Tompkins — who’d go on to pen Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats,” among many other hits — but Isbell learned a lot about hard work and songcraft in those days.

Ten years younger than Isbell, Howard found a different community in Athens the way indie kids have in countless small towns. Growing up on a small farm, she took solace in what records she could get her hands on. “I usually found music through friends,” she said. “CDs were 14 dollars apiece, you know, there’s no way that was happening.” She’d learned about prog rock and metal from a Pink Floyd-loving classmate at 14 and was avidly scouring the internet for similarly heavy music on her clunky desktop computer when she saw an older kid walking down the East Limestone High School hall wearing an At the Drive-In t-shirt. That was Zac Cockrell, who became the Alabama Shakes’ bassist and continues to collaborate with Howard on her solo work. Overcoming her shyness, she gave him a demo she’d made in her bedroom; soon they were jamming, adding members from other local bands and the nearby music store, Railroad Bazaar. “I knew about the Drive-By Truckers from North Alabama,” she said. “I saw them touring the world. And I remember saying, if they can do it, I can do it. Big inspiration. Woo!”

Listening to these stories, I recognized their universal qualities: young dreamers diving into new experiences and finding footing with assistance from mentors who recognize their spark; dirty little rooms vibrating with noise that points toward a future nobody beyond their walls knows is possible. Such miracles happen all the time in towns from Muscle Shoals to Tunis to Tokyo. But the particulars shaped Howard and Isbell. Alabama humidity, the long nights she’d spend fishing or chasing fireflies because it was too hot to sleep, helped form Howard’s sensibilities, and the “post-genre” eclecticism that makes albums like her latest, What Now, great stems from a community that’s more diverse than outsiders would expect. “There’s a lot of different kinds of folks there,” Howard said of Athens. “That’s something I couldn’t appreciate until I left home. People who have everything, people who have nothing. And I got to experience all kinds of people…. Especially when we’re young, we were all trying to figure out how to get out. We’re like, oh, it’s going to be so much better out there …. But as time goes on, I appreciate Athens so much.”

For Isbell, the Shoals area offered not just a chance to play music every day, but the conviviality of great players and songwriters who weren’t just faces on a poster he hung in his bedroom but friends who became like family. His distinctive blend of high craft and deep vulnerability is rooted in those teenage encounters with men and women who looked just like his own working-class folks, but who’d written and recorded some of the most beloved songs of all time.

“People like Spooner Oldham and Donnie Fritts and especially David Hood,” he said, “I was just shadowing those folks when I was growing up. Now I kind of cringe to think of some of the questions I asked them. They were patient. I remember asking David, ‘How do you do this? How do you get there, become a musician and that’s your only job?’ And he would say, ‘Show up on time, make sure all your gear works and be nice.’ I was like, ‘I want the magic, David!’ And he just said, ‘That is the magic.’” Small town magic. Home-grown magic. It’s different depending on where you call home — but the experience of carrying it with us connects us all.

 

Learn more about the Alabama Colloquium and AHA’s Alabama Humanities Fellows here: alabamahumanities.org/alabama-humanities-honors   

Alabama Humanities Alliance sends 35 students to National History Day

Birmingham / August 14, 2024 — This June, 35 student winners from Alabama History Day traveled to the University of Maryland to compete in National History Day, alongside peers from across the United States. Alabama’s student-scholars presented their historical research on the 2024 theme “Turning Points in History” to well-respected historians, professors, and other judges. Several Alabama students’ projects were selected for showcases at Smithsonian museums.  

 

The Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA) offers Alabama History Day to schools, teachers, and students statewide in its role as a state affiliate of National History Day. The program’s legacy is beginning to take shape as a competition that transcends background and opens opportunities for all who are curious to learn more about our past. In 2023, The Bezos Family Foundation selected AHA and Alabama History Day as one of four states in the country to pilot their Inclusive History Initiative designed to increase outreach to rural and urban communities.  

 

Here’s how the competition works: National History Day establishes a new theme each year; in 2025, the theme is “Rights and Responsibilities.” Students choose their own topic of interest within the broader theme. Then, they work either individually or with teammates to conduct research, find primary sources, and creatively present their findings as exhibits, websites, papers, documentary films, or dramatic performances. The program also provides educators (grades 6-12) with a dynamic, project-based learning tool they can incorporate into their lesson plans year long.  

 

In the spring of 2025, Alabama History Day will take place at Troy University in Montgomery. Eligible first- and second-place winners of the state competition are selected to represent Alabama at National History Day in Maryland and Washington, D.C. 

Meet Alabama’s 2024 National History Day Qualifiers 

View our NHD Albums 

 

Student Success Stories 

At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, all eyes were on emerging student filmmakers Ddwayne Lockett James and Ethan Gwinn (Murphy High School, Mobile) and their documentary, Rediscovering Roots in the Harlem Renaissance: How Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon Contributed to Clarifying African American Ancestry. The screening was held at the museum’s Oprah Winfrey Theatre and the students’ work was acknowledged by the museum’s deputy director, Dr. Michelle D. Commander, who presented outstanding documentaries with a Certificate of Achievement during the ceremony.   

 

A timely exhibit by Kristian Pittman (Alabama School of Fine Arts, Birmingham), “The Other Side of the Tracks: The Legacy of Redlining,” also set him apart from his peers. Pittman’s tabletop exhibit was displayed at the National Museum of American History. Back home, Pittman also had the chance to present his research at a forum hosted by Birmingham’s Coalition for True History’s, as part of a conversation exploring ideas for teaching about redlining and housing discrimination in a K-12 setting.  

 

And Isaac Livingston’s research (Westminster Christian Academy, Huntsville) took him to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. There, he had the chance to meet with both U.S. Rep. Dale Strong and U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville about his research and website on “The Tennessee Valley Authority: A Turning Point in Southern History.” He also had the opportunity to share with Alabama’s elected officials about what Alabama History Day meant to him in learning more about his past and his region’s history.  

 

Finally, budding historical researchersNakeria Woods (Murphy High School, Mobile) and Ashton Dunklin (Clark-Shaw Magnet School, Mobile) won “Outstanding Affiliate Entry” awards at National History Day. Judges select only two exceptional projects from each state to receive the honor. Woods, a senior, was recognized for her paper, “Zora Neale Hurston’s Anthropological Eyes: An Examination of the Anthropological Work and Impact of Zora Neale Hurston.” Dunklin’s junior documentary, The NBA and ABA Merger, was praised for its stand-out research.  

 

Educator Spotlight 

Educators make our program possible, and National History Day’s 2024 Patricia Behring Teacher Award nominees represent the best in history education. Alabama’s nominee, Kathy Paschal, a social studies teacher at Stanhope Elmore High School since 1999, is emblematic of excellent educators who give students the skills they need to succeed. Her mentorship helped cultivate the talent of 2023’s “Outstanding Affiliate” award winner, Maleah Beaufort, for Beaufort’s dramatic performance of, “Stonewall: Are We Moving Forwards or Backwards?” Paschal’s gift for teaching was also recently recognized by Alabama Public Television’s Excellence in Education, program honoring K-12 educators across Alabama.  

 

Alabama History Day 2025 

Do you want to join the fun? Research for the “Rights and Responsibilities” theme can begin as soon as fall of 2024. Contact Alabama History Day Coordinator Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., to learn how you can bring Alabama’s premier history research competition to your schools, classrooms, and communities. 

 

Alabama History Day sponsors and partners 

Alabama History Day is made possible thanks to AHA’s partnership with National History Day. Support for the program comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “A More Perfect Union” initiative and from Alabama Power. The Alabama Humanities Alliance also awards special topic prizes of excellence thanks to partnerships with the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Alabama Historical Association, Alabama Public Television, David Mathews Center for Civic Life, Interstate Character Council, National Maritime Historical Society, and Sons of the American Revolution. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org/alabama-history-day. 

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance  

Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. AHA promotes impactful storytelling, lifelong learning and civic engagement. We provide Alabamians with opportunities to connect with our shared cultures and to see each other as fully human. Through our grantmaking, we help scholars, communities and cultural nonprofits create humanities-rich projects that are accessible to all Alabamians — from literary festivals and documentary films to museum exhibitions and research collections. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.  

Meet AHA’s 55 grantees from 2023

Birmingham / April 22, 2024: Curious what kind of public humanities projects the Alabama Humanities Alliance funds through its grant program? Take a look at AHA’s final list of 2023 grant recipients.

In 2023, AHA awarded 55 grants totaling more than $342,000 to support public humanities programs across the state. Collectively, this funding helps to promote a greater appreciation and understanding of our history, literature, philosophy, culture, civics, and more.

AHA offers Mini Grants (up to $2,500), Major Grants (up to $10,000), and Media Grants (up to $15,000) to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions statewide. Awarded projects take many shapes but each, in some way, helps connect Alabamians to our past, to the world around us and, ultimately, to each other.

Interested in applying for an Alabama Public Humanities Grant in 2024? Visit AHA’s grants page to learn more and consider talking with our grants director about project eligibility.

The most important elements for any potential grant project include:

1. Public participation
2. Strong humanities content
3. Direct involvement of humanities scholars.

For example, AHA often funds the following types of projects:

  • Lectures and panel discussions
  • Conferences, symposia, and festivals
  • Community history projects
  • Book or reading discussions
  • Teacher workshops
  • Temporary and traveling exhibitions
  • Oral history projects
  • Documentary films or series
  • Podcasts, apps, digital media

 

MEET OUR 2023 AHA GRANTEES 

Note that all Major Grants and Media Grants are evaluated by an independent review panel of humanities scholars and practitioners. Learn more about AHA’s 2024 Grants Review Panel.

Photo at top: A story quilt presented as part of Project Threadways’ oral history project and symposium (Florence, 2023 grantee). 

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded 50 years ago, in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. AHA promotes impactful storytelling, lifelong learning and civic engagement. Through our programs and grantmaking, we provide Alabamians with opportunities to connect with each other, with our shared history, and with the vibrant and complex communities we call home. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

Brittany Howard, Jason Isbell: AL Humanities Fellows

Huntsville / April 18, 2024 — Grammy-winning musicians and north Alabama natives Brittany Howard and Jason Isbell will soon receive the highest humanities honor bestowed in their home state.

On August 26 in Huntsville, the Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA) will recognize Howard and Isbell as Alabama Humanities Fellows. This ticketed event at the Von Braun Center will feature an in-depth conversation between the duo, and each honoree will perform a song for the occasion. Proceeds benefit AHA’s public humanities programming statewide.

Tickets are now on sale via the Von Braun Center (in person) and Ticketmaster (online). You can also learn more about the event at alabamahumanities.org/honors.

 

About the honorees

Howard and Isbell share deep roots in north Alabama — Howard in Athens, Isbell in Green Hill and Muscle Shoals. And the two are among the most acclaimed artists of their generation, with a combined 11 Grammy Awards between them.

They’ll be joining good company as Alabama Humanities Fellows. Past honorees include the likes of Imani Perry, Bryan Stevenson, Howell Raines, Fred Gray, E.O. Wilson, Harper Lee, Kathryn Tucker Windham, W. Kamau Bell, and Wayne Flynt.

While Howard and Isbell are, of course, impeccable musicians, it is their great talent as songwriters and storytellers that makes them Alabama Humanities Fellows. They adroitly weave key elements of the humanities — history, literature, and philosophy — into their songs.

“Brittany Howard and Jason Isbell use their lyrics and their lives to examine what it means to be human — and they challenge all of us to see the humanity in each other,” says Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, “Their lyrics require us to think, and to bring the same level of curiosity and empathy to our own lives.”

The August 26 event honoring Howard and Isbell is part of the Alabama Colloquium series and presented by the Alabama Humanities Alliance, which is celebrating 50 years of storytelling in 2024. All proceeds from the event support AHA programming that helps Alabamians connect with each other, our shared history, and the vibrant, complex communities we call home. 

 

Event details: 

The highlight of the event will feature an in-depth conversation between Howard and Isbell, moderated by NPR music critic Ann Powers. The honorees will receive their awards from another legendary north Alabama musician-songwriter, Muscle Shoals native Patterson Hood, co-founder of the Drive-By Truckers.

Hood has personal connections with each honoree. In the early 2000s, Isbell was a member of the Drive-By Truckers. In 2011, Hood heard Howard and her original band, the Alabama Shakes, play at a bar in Florence, Alabama; Hood invited them to open a series of shows for the Drive-By Truckers, helping to introduce Howard and the Alabama Shakes to a larger audience.

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded 50 years ago, in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. AHA promotes impactful storytelling, lifelong learning and civic engagement. Through our programs and grantmaking, we provide Alabamians with opportunities to connect with each other, with our shared history, and with the vibrant and complex communities we call home. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

About the Alabama Colloquium
Each year, the Alabama Humanities Alliance presents the Alabama Colloquium to celebrate how the humanities lift up our state and bring Alabamians together. We also bestow the title of Alabama Humanities Fellow on individuals whose outstanding work in the humanities has positively impacted our state, nation, and world. In 2024, AHA will present two Colloquium events. The first, in Huntsville on August 26, will honor Brittany Howard and Jason Isbell. The second, in Birmingham, will take place December 2 and honor author Rick Bragg and humorist Roy Wood Jr.

Alabama History Day 2024 winners announced

BIRMINGHAM / March 18, 2024 — This month, the Alabama Humanities Alliance presented its annual Alabama History Day contest, an accessible, statewide history research competition for middle and high school students. A total of 167 students traveled from schools across the state to compete at Auburn University at Montgomery’s campus on March 8, 2024. Eligible first- and second-place winners will represent Alabama at National History Day in Maryland and Washington, D.C., scheduled for June 9-13, 2024.

Throughout the 2023-2024 academic school year, Alabama teachers incorporated History Day as a project-learning tool in their classrooms. Students conducted primary research on topics of their own choosing related to this year’s History Day theme: Turning Points in History.

At the March 8 state contest, students creatively presented their research to judges — in the form of documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, or websites. The Freedom Rides Museum and Rosa Parks Museum enriched students’ experience by providing guided tours full of told and untold Alabama stories.

Alabama History Day continues to grow statewide
In 2024, the state’s first-ever regional contest was held in South Alabama. Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., serves as AHA’s History Day coordinator and has worked persistently to develop the program. Dr. Snider, and a pair of teacher ambassadors designated to serve North and South Alabama, provide virtual and in-person assistance to educators and administrators interested in offering History Day to their students.

“A program like Alabama History Day provides an invaluable opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds to delve into a history topic of their choice,” expressed Dr. Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., Coordinator of Alabama History Day. “Through this process, we aim to cultivate more informed and responsible citizens who understand the complexities of history and its relevance to contemporary society.”

The Alabama Humanities Alliance invites teachers, judges, and students from across the state to participate in Alabama History Day 2025. Next year’s date and theme will be announced this summer. Teachers use Alabama History Day as a project-based learning tool, and to spark creativity, camaraderie, and healthy competition in the classroom. AHD staff offer “Alabama History Day & Donuts” in-person introductions, as well as more immersive teacher workshops, student summer camps, and virtual Q&As for judges and teachers.

Alabama History Day is made possible thanks to AHA’s partnership with National History Day. Support for the program comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “A More Perfect Union” initiative and from Alabama Power. The Alabama Humanities Alliance also awarded 2024 special topic prizes of excellence thanks to partnerships with the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Alabama Historical Association, Alabama Public Television, David Mathews Center for Civic Life, Interstate Character Council, National Maritime Historical Society, and Sons of the American Revolution.

Learn more at alabamahumanities.org/alabama-history-day.

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. AHA promotes impactful storytelling, lifelong learning and civic engagement. We provide Alabamians with opportunities to connect with our shared cultures and to see each other as fully human. Through our grantmaking, we help scholars, communities and cultural nonprofits create humanities-rich projects that are accessible to all Alabamians — from literary festivals and documentary films to museum exhibitions and research collections. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

 

PRESS CONTACT: Phillip Jordan | 205.558.3998 | [email protected]

AHA announces new board members

BIRMINGHAM / January 23, 2023 — The Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA) has appointed Clay Lofton and Ansley Quiros as new members of AHA’s board of directors. The two will help support AHA’s efforts as it enters its 50th anniversary in 2024.

“We’re excited to have Ansley and Clay join us,” says AHA Executive Director Chuck Holmes. “They each bring unique experiences and perspectives to AHA that will strengthen the organization and keep us leaning forward. Plus, simply put, they are two of the nicest and smartest people you’ll ever meet.”

Learn more about AHA’s newest board members:

Clay Loftin, government relations manager for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBS), where he works with the Alabama Legislature, executive branch, and Alabama’s congressional delegation. He is responsible for legislative advocacy and healthcare policy efforts to ensure access to quality, affordable healthcare for more than 2 million Alabamians. Loftin’s passion for his home state has also led him to serve as a board member for the Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama (’17-’20) and on the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Jr. Executive Board (‘21-’23). He’s also in the current Alabama Leadership Initiative Class VI.

Ansley Quiros, Ph.D., is an associate professor of history at the University of North Alabama and co-directs the Civil Rights Struggle in the Shoals Project. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Vanderbilt, and she studies twentieth-century United States, focusing on race, politics, and religion. Quiros’ work has been publicized in The Washington Post, North Alabama Historical Review, and Atlanta Studies. Her debut novel, God With Us: Lived Theology and the Black Freedom Struggle in Americus, Georgia, 1942-1976, was published by the University of North Carolina Press. She is currently working on a biography of civil rights activists Charles and Shirley Sherrod.

The Alabama Humanities Alliance also extends its thanks to departing board member, Joseph Aistrup, Ph.D., From 2021-2022, Aistrup served as chair of AHA’s board. He is a professor in Auburn University’s Department of Political Science; he previously served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University from 2013-2021.

The Alabama Humanities Alliance’s board of directors represents communities and perspectives from across the state. To learn more, meet our full board.

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we connect Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

AHA names three new Riley Scholars

BIRMINGHAM / November 14, 2023 — The Alabama Humanities Alliance has named educators Lexia Banks, Abby Crews, and Willie Davis III as its 2023 Riley Scholars. The competitive Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to K-8 educators who excel in teaching history, civics, and geography. Each Riley Scholar receives $1,000 to support creative history- and civics-related classroom projects.

Funded through the W. Edgar Welden Fund for Education, this scholarship is named in memory of the late Jenice Riley — a passionate educator and daughter of former Alabama governor and first lady Bob and Patsy Riley.

Since 2003, the Alabama Humanities Alliance has named 104 Riley Scholars and funded more than $100,000 in teacher scholarships. In 2023, at least 162 Alabamian students will benefit from these scholarship their teachers have received.

 

About our 2023 Riley Scholars

Lexia Banks, Magic City Acceptance Academy (Birmingham)
7th Grade, Charter School

Project: 7th Grade Trip to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
The trip will elevate the school’s Social Movements unit by commemorating the 60th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing through a tour of the BCRI. Students will leave with a better understanding of Alabama’s history and how it impacts their future.

 

Abby Crews, Mulkey Elementary School (Geneva)
5th Grade, Social Studies

Project: Living History Wax Museum
Students will select a person of positive influence who has significantly contributed to society from the Living History Wax Museum exhibits. After researching, learners will prepare biographical presentation boards, dress as their selected icon, and present a short speech to family and community members. Participants will increase their proficiency and skills in reading, writing, public speaking, and critical thinking.

 

Willie Davis III, Charles F. Hard Elementary (Bessemer)
Kindergarten 

Project: A Community of Helpers
Students will listen to “read-alouds” and receive visits from community helpers to inform them about public service occupations. Learners will increase their appreciation for civil servants through art, literature, and more as community helpers inspire them.

 

Support our teacher scholarships

Alabamians are invited to support these Riley Scholarships through our W. Edgar Welden Fund for Education.

To contribute:

To learn more about the Riley Scholarships, visit alabamahumanities.org/jenice-riley-memorial-scholarship. Or contact Laura Anderson, AHA’s director of partnerships and outcomes, at [email protected] or 205.558.3992.

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance

Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we connect Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

Introducing Alabama History Day teacher ambassadors

BIRMINGHAM / November 9, 2023 — The Alabama Humanities Alliance proudly announces the appointment of Rebecca Heaton and Cheryl Burch as Alabama History Day teacher ambassadors for North and South Alabama. In their roles, Heaton and Burch will serve as key points of contact for teachers and educators interested in participating in Alabama History Day.

Rebecca Heaton, teacher ambassador, North AL.

Heaton and Burch will support the efforts of Alabama History Day coordinator Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., in expanding outreach to both rural and urban areas across the state. Their collaborative outreach includes Alabama History Day and Donuts — a new initiative providing accessible school visits to facilitate helpful discussions about Alabama History Day.

Rebecca Heaton, AHA’s teacher ambassador for North Alabama, brings a wealth of experience to her role. Her involvement with History Day dates to 2008, when she covered stories about the competition as a journalist in Fairbanks, Alaska.

In 2018, Heaton directed the Alaska History Day Competition and served as a program coordinator for the Western History Association. She lives in Huntsville, where she’s pursuing a public history and architecture degree.

Cheryl Burch, teacher ambassador, South AL.

Cheryl Burch, AHA’s teacher ambassador for South Alabama, has a strong background in education. Her journey with History Day began as an 8th-grade Ancient World History teacher at Phillips Preparatory Academy. Burch’s dedication led her to sponsor History Day at Phillips, where she earned Alabama’s Patricia Behring Middle School Teacher of the Year award.

Building upon her expertise, Burch assumed the role of National History Day Master Teacher, conducting training workshops for NHD educators. Burch is enjoying her recent retirement, splitting her time between Mobile and Simpsonville, South Carolina.

This dynamic duo will play a crucial role in strengthening the impact of Alabama History Day, increasing engagement in broader communities, and bringing history to life for students across the state.

To learn more, visit alabamahumanities.org/alabama-history-day. Or contact AHD program coordinator Dr. Snider at [email protected] or 205.558.3996.

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we connect Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.