The Yellowhammer State

History, Ephemera and etc. from Alabama

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Here’s one museum you can enjoy without even getting out of your car: a drive-thru museum in Seale, Ala.

Created by artist Butch Anthony, it’s a collection of odd items — many of which people have given him — that he has decorated and set up inside shipping containers cut out with large display windows.

There’s a gallstone from 1971 billed as the largest with a poem it inspired, a two-headed duck in a domed jar and an assortment of fossils.

“Then I’ve got it mixed with my artwork,” he says. “I take old portraits from like the 1890s, but then I put bones on top of them, sort of like an X-ray, like you can see through them. That’s the kind of art I do. I call it Intertwangleism. Sort of like cubism. That’s my ism.”

An Alabama Museum You Can Enjoy From The Driver’s Seat

Photo: Timothy Hursley/Courtesy of Butch Anthony

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The Shameful Racial History That Led To A Severe Tuberculosis Outbreak In Alabama

The community's long history of distrust in the medical industry has left residents reluctant to share their personal information with a doctor.

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About a month ago, I was talking with someone (who, it’s worth noting is infinitely smarter than me -- they’ve got an M.S. in chemistry from University College London, world traveler, etc.) and they said they were stunned at how “backwards” Alabama was when they moved here.  Their example was “Birmingham didn’t even have Uber”.

I had to take a step back to not swear and sputter, because frankly, I doubt anyone in Marion cared much when Birmingham got Uber, given that they were still dealing with an outbreak of a disease that’s been all but eradicated, even in developing countries. 

As we head into election season, I’d like for all of ya’ll to take a step back and really learn about some of the things that are going on in your state and your community, especially the poorer and less-publicized areas.  We’re all fortunate enough to live in an era where we can learn about virtually anything going on anywhere instantaneously, but often times we’re preoccupied with our own creature comforts instead of the the basic well-being of other folks.

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Selma to Montgomery march, 1965

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Photograph of Dr. Joseph Patt’s Veterinary Hospital at the corner of St Michael and Joachim in downtown Mobile. Dr. Patt’s emergency horse drawn ambulance is shown in the front of the building. E A Bruinner publishing rented the second floor. 

Photograph from the Erik Overbey photograph collection held by the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the Universtiy of South Alabama.  

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Store in Skyline Farms, Ala., 1930

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OPEN YOUR EYES, SHEEPLE!!!!!

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BBQ Sign, Pell City, Alabama

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Home to one of the biggest Vietnamese-American communities in the South

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Union Springs, Alabama, the Bird Dog Field Trial Capital of the World

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Abandoned chuch in Oakland, just past Burgreen Gin on the Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road in Limestone County, Alabama

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Near Abernathy, Alabama 

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Bison/Buffalo

Blountsville, Alabama

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Young Girl at Great Freedom March, Selma, Alabama, 1965, Bruce Davidson

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“Three children of A. J. Donaldson, miner, who lives in company housing project. Tennessee Coal, Iron & R.R. Company, Edgewater Mine, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama.”, 7/26/1946

Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, Photographer. Series: Photographs of the Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry, 1946 - 1947. Record Group 245: Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War, 1937 - 1948

In 1946 the Department of Interior and the United Mine Workers agreed to a joint survey of medical, health and housing conditions in coal communities to be conducted by Navy personnel. Under the direction of Rear Admiral Joel T. Boone, survey teams went into mining areas to collect data and photographs on the conditions of these regions, later compiled into a published report. The bulk of the photographs were taken by Russell W. Lee, a professional photographer hired by the Department of Interior for this project.

There are currently 1,300 digitized photos from the project now available in the National Archives Catalog.

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Maylene, Alabama