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Birmingham History Center Volume 2, Number 4 July 1, 2012

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In this Issue

1731 First Avenue North, Suite 120, Birmingham, AL 35203 Tel. 205-202-4146 Website - www.birminghamhistorycenter.org

Page 2 Letter from the Director Featured New Artifact

Page 3-4 On Exhibit Louise Wooster’s Scrapbook

Page 5 Book. Blog and Speaker

Page 6 Enduring Business: Vulcan Materials Company

Page 7 Memorabilia Road Show

BHC is a Blue Star Museum

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Birmingham History Center Newsletter

Letter from the Director/Jerry Desmond

Featured New Artifact

May and June have been very interesting months at the History Center. We had a successful Memorabilia Road Show on May 5th and hosted the opening session of the Alabama Preservation Conference on May 10th. Visitors from ten different organizations took tours of the Center, including the Hoover Seniors, Tours By Linda, and groups from area churches.

May. The Birmingham was launched on March 20, 1942 by Hattie Green, the wife of the Mayor Cooper Green. She was commissioned on January 29, 1943. The ship, nicknamed “Mighty B” by her crew, suffered heavy damage on at least three occasions. After the war, the ship was decommissioned and eventually sold for scrap in 1959.

Several months ago we were quite pleased to receive a letter from the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia, informing us that they had an original builder’s plate pattern for the U.S.S. Birmingham, the World War II Light Cruiser named for the Magic City. They wanted to know if we would like to have it in our collection. We immediately informed them that we did want it and a Deed of Transfer was signed at the end of

In addition, these two months have produced a banner crop of new artifacts, including: An original builder’s plate pattern for the USS Birmingham, Louise Wooster’s (Birmingham’s most famous Madam) scrapbook, mementos and photographs of Charley Boswell, former multi-winner of the National Blind Golf Championship, several Harper’s Weekly illustrations about Birmingham, a real estate property map book of Jefferson County and dug items from Irondale Furnace, to mention just a few.

Finally, we are pleased to offer free admission to veterans and their families during the summer months as part of the Blue Star Museum project. We hope that area veterans will also fill out a brief questionnaire about their service for our records.


On Exhibit Louise Wooster’s Scrapbook

(Continued on Page 4)

Every major 19th century city in America has a kind-hearted madam legend. Birmingham is not an exception. Much of Louise Catharine Wooster’s (1842 – 1913) story cannot be authenticated. Was she the one true love of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin? Did she receive a letter from him in 1867, two years after his death in a Virginia barn? Did scores of Birmingham’s finest gentlemen send their empty carriages to her funeral? Did she and her “girls” tend to the sick during the city’s cholera epidemic in 1873? Was she the model for Belle Watling, the fictional madam in Gone With the Wind? Recently her scrapbook was donated to the History Center by Bertie Jones of Northport. Mrs. Jones’ great-great grandmother, Sally Ann Martin of Tuscaloosa (1847 – 1929), was a friend of Lou Wooster. She acquired, at Lou Wooster’s

BHC Executive Director Jerry Desmond reading a section of Lou Wooster’s Scrapbook


On Exhibit – Louise Wooster’s Scrapbook (Continued from page 3)

death, the scrapbook and a couch from Wooster’s cottage at 1909 Avenue D (now 4th Avenue South). These items were passed down in the family until their existence was discovered by Dr. Marvin Whiting, former curator of the History Center. The couch was donated several years ago, but the scrapbook finally has found its final home in June of this year, after spending several years in Florida.

On exhibit - There are no known photographs of Lou Wooster. At left, local artist Eleanor Bridges imagined her this way, helping Dr. Luckie nurse victims of the 1873 cholera epidemic.

Louise C. Wooster’s autograph from her scrapbook, donated by Bertie Jones.

On exhibit – Couch from Lou Wooster’s cottage in the city’s Southside, donated by Bertie Jones.


Check out a great feature on our website – 1731 Blog Avenue. Go to http://birminghamhistorycenter.org/ and click on the Blog button at the top of the page. Interact with our panel, ask questions, make comments – we want to hear you talk back. Have an idea for an article about Birmingham History? Contact us and became a guest columnist on the blog.

Need a Public Speaker for Your Meeting or Event?

Our Executive Director, Jerry Desmond, is available to give talks about the History Center or other topics in local or American history. Donations to the Center are accepted but not required, last minute requests are considered. Call 205-202-4146 or e-mail at [email protected].

Wire Desmond

The History Center has 2nd edition hardcover copies of Historic Birmingham and Jefferson County by James R. Bennett on sale for $45.00, tax included (we also have the soft cover version for sale at $25.00, tax included). For an extra $6 we will ship it anywhere in the country. Pick one up at the center or call 205-202-4146 to reserve your copy.

http://birminghamhistorycenter.org/


This Edition’s Featured Enduring Business

Our latest Enduring Business sponsor is Vulcan Materials Company. The company is a stone quarrier, manufacturer, and the largest supplier of construction aggregate in the United States. It is headquartered at 1200 Urban Center Drive at Liberty Park. It employs more than 8,000 people at 319 facilities in 21 states, the Bahamas and Mexico, and had $2.4 billion in sales in 2010. In addition to sand, gravel, crushed stone and other raw aggregates, the company manufactures asphalt and concrete.

1909

The company was founded in 1909 as the Birmingham Slag Company by Solon Jacob and Henry Badham. It was purchased outright in 1916 by Charles Ireland, an Ohio banker, who placed his sons, Glenn, Eugene, and Barney in charge of the company while he secured heavy equipment left over after the construction of the Panama Canal. They opened a new processing plant in Ensley, along with additional plants in Fairfield and Wylam. Following a merger in 1956, the company was renamed the Vulcan Materials Company.

Honoring area companies that have been in business for at least 75 years.

Donald M. James Chairman and Chief Executive Officer


Birmingham Memorabilia Roadshow

A great time was had by all at our Birmingham Memorabilia Roadshow on May 5th. Many interesting items came through the door. Many thanks to our participating board members and volunteers. We look forward to the 2nd Annual Road Show next year.

(Clockwise from top left: Gerald and Clarence Watkins, Bryding Adams, Patrick Cather, and Graham Boettcher)

Stamp 1731 First Avenue North Birmingham, AL 35203

Birmingham History Center

Recently opened in the Spring of 2010, the BHC features

exhibitions of historical events of Birmingham and Jefferson

County from the 18th century to the present. Admission

charged: $4 adults, $3 seniors and veterans, $2 students,

children under 6 free. Visa, Discover, Master Card accepted;

tickets available also by phone. Group rates available, free

parking. Open 9:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday – Friday, Saturday

10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Located at the corner of 18th Street and

First Avenue North in Birmingham at the historic Young and

Vann Building.

Directions

Officers

Dr. Bayard Tynes, Chairman

Fox De Funiak, III, Co-President Garland Smith, Co-President

Thomas M. West, Jr., Vice President Samuel A. Rumore, Jr., Treasurer

Board of Directors

William A. Bell, Jr.

Slade Blackwell Patrick Cather

Jeremy Erdreich Connie Grund

Angela Fisher Hall Wyatt R. Haskell Mary Hubbard

Thomas E. Jernigan, Jr. Henry S. Lynn, Jr.

Corey Nixon Terry Oden

Dr. Dennis Pappas Kathryn Porter

Erskine Ramsay, II William A. Tharpe

Alice Williams

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