Vol. 5 No. 1 New BHC Office ythian Building J AN., 2015 JOIN OUR LIST To join our email list send us an email at: bjhm@bham.rr.com IN THIS ISSUE age 2 Notes from the Director Featured New Artifact age 3-5 Arthur Rothstein Centennial age 6 An exhibit featuring the artifacts and storyline of the Birmingham History Center at the Alabama ower Archives Museum 600 North 18 th St. Birmingham, AL 205-257-2067 ythian Building age 7 Weld for Birmingham Article Exhibit Dates: - May 15 August 8, 2014 310 18 th Street North, Suite 401, Birmingham, AL 35203 Tel/Fax 205-202-4146 www.birminghamhistorycenter.org Thomas E. Jernigan, Sr. Memorial
Note from the Director age 2 The best that can be said about the year 2014 and the Birmingham History Center is that we are still here, hanging on. Our 13,000 item artifacts collection and wonderful exhibits remain in storage while we operate on a budget with one shoestring. But hope remains eternal, there are always possibilities, so we are looking forward to the new year and the hope that we will have some good news soon. Meanwhile, we continue to provide a service for the citizens of Birmingham we still collect. The importance of this was brought home to me when a young reporter from Weld for Birmingham, Cody Owens, called up and asked, What s new? I took him and a photographer to our storage unit and showed him some of the priceless things we have saved from the dumpster. The result was a wonderful article in Weld in December of 2014 which can be found on page 7 of this newsletter. Artifact of the Month Tutwiler Hotel rint In November of 2014 the management and staff of the current Tutwiler Hotel held an event to celebrate the 100 th anniversary of the opening of the original Tutwiler in 1914. The BHC was proud to exhibit a case of Tutwiler memorabilia from its collection (still on display in the hotel lobby) on that occasion. We were also pleased to receive a limited edition print of the current Tutwiler to add to our collection. The Tutwiler Hotel by Kate Smith, rint 11 of 25 As the foremost interpreter of metropolitan Birmingham s history, we will enable the public to understand more about the city s past and present and to shape its future.
Arthur Rothstein Centennial 1915-2015 age 3 Arthur Rothstein Born in Manhattan in 1915, Arthur Rothstein became one of the most famous and prolific photographers of the Great Depression. After graduating from Columbia University, Rothstein was hired as part of the photo unit of the Resettlement Administration (RA), which became the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in 1937. The unit, which included such famous photo journalists as Walker Evans, Marjory Collins, and Dorothea Lange, were employed to publicize the living conditions of the rural poor in the U.S. Farmer and Sons in Dust Storm, Oklahoma, 1936 erhaps Rothstein s most famous photograph We will recognize our responsibility to help build a better future locally, regionally, nationally, and globally through history. We will bring a credible and authoritative historical perspective to bear on civic issues, and we will help to shape the future by fostering historical scholarship and understanding.
Rothstein Centennial (cont.) age 4 In February of 1937, Rothstein visited Alabama, an assignment which came from the interest generated by congressional consideration of farm tenant legislation sponsored in the Senate by John H. Bankhead, a moderate Democrat from Alabama. While most of his time was spent taking pictures at Gee s Bend, he stopped in Jefferson County for a few days and took some iconic photos, many of which have found their way into the collection of the Birmingham History Center. In 1940, Rothstein became a photographer for Look magazine. He died thirty years ago in 1985. Senator John Hollis Bankhead, II Sign, Birmingham, Alabama, February 1937, Arthur Rothstein Every museum needs help to achieve its vision. Fortunately, we are not alone in wanting to help people make meaningful and personal connections to history. Throughout greater Birmingham, there are many who share this passion. We need their help.
Rothstein Centennial (cont.) age 5 Negro Road Gang, Jefferson County, Alabama February 1937, Arthur Rothstein Coal Miners, Birmingham, Alabama, February 1937, Arthur Rothstein Steelworks, Birmingham, Alabama February 1937, Arthur Rothstein We will recognize our responsibility to help build a better future locally, regionally, nationally, and globally through history. We will bring a credible and authoritative historical perspective to bear on civic issues, and we will help to shape the future by fostering historical scholarship and understanding.
ythian Building - Office Suite 401 age 6 Artifact of the Month We are very pleased with our new office on the 4 th floor of the ythian Building on 18 th Street North. It has enough space for our needs, has a great view of downtown Birmingham, and a nice little conference room. The building also has quite a history, having been the home of the first enney Savings Bank in Alabama. It was built in 1913, designed by Wallace Rayfield, the second formallyeducated practicing African American architect in the United States. It is on the National Register of Historic laces. As the foremost interpreter of metropolitan Birmingham s history, we will enable the public to understand more about the city s past and present and to shape its future.
Weld Article December 11, 2014 age 7
Birmingham History Center The Birmingham History Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 2004 by a group of preservation-minded citizens who wanted a repository and exhibit platform for artifacts of local history Thanks primarily to a bequest from the Thomas E. Jernigan, Sr. foundation and other donors, the History Center operates from offices at 1807 Third Avenue North in Birmingham, adjacent to the Alabama Theatre. Mission Statement The Birmingham History Center seeks to educate and entertain the general public by collecting, preserving and presenting the comprehensive history of the Birmingham region. 310 18 th Street North, Suite 401 Birmingham, AL 35203 Stamp Officers Dr. Bayard Tynes, Chairman Fox De Funiak, III, Co-resident Garland Smith, Co-resident Samuel A. Rumore, Jr., Vice-resident Alice Williams - Treasurer Board of Directors William A. Bell, Jr. Harry Bradford Thomas Carruthers, Jr. atrick Cather Connie Grund Wyatt R. Haskell Anne Heppenstall Mary Hubbard Thomas E. Jernigan, Jr. John Nixon Terry Oden William A. Tharpe Scott Vowell Lee Woehle