Rethinking Alabama Politics from the Civil War to the Present: A History Symposium

Image of the state of Alabama with several well-known political figures superimposed.

Join the Department of History on Monday, October 3, 2022 for Rethinking Alabama Politics from the Civil War to the Present: A History Symposium. This event brings together today’s leading historians on Alabama history for a reappraisal of post-Civil-War era Alabama history.

Lunch will be served for graduate students and panelists. Students should contact Brian Martin to RSVP.


Camelia Room, Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library,
The University of Alabama
Monday, October 3, 2022
9 am – 5 pm
Refreshments Available

 

9 am Panel 1 – Civil War and Reconstruction

  • Moderators: Brian Martin and A. J. Blaylock, The University of Alabama
  • Professor Ben Severance, Auburn University Montgomery, “The Rosetta Stone of Confederate Politics in Alabama: Legislative Voting Patterns in the 1863 Election of Senators.”
  • Professor William Warren Rogers Jr., “On Researching and Writing Alabama Reconstruction History: Observations and Opportunities.”
  • Professor Bertis English, Alabama State University, “Fighting the Good Fight of Faith: The Reverend Thomas Corwin Steward and African American Education in Perry County, Alabama, 1867–1874.”

10:30 am – Short Break

11 am Panel 2 – New South Era to World War II

  • Moderators: Luke Voyles and Virginia Cain, The University of Alabama
  • Assistant Professor Kathryn Tucker, Troy State University, “Lovers versus Legislators: Interracial Marriage as a Challenge to the Politics of Jim Crow.”
  • Professor Jennifer Brooks, Auburn University, “The Gagliano Brothers and John Prentiss: Exploring Immigrant-African American Encounters in New South Alabama.”
  • Professor Kari Frederickson, The University of Alabama, “Soft Power: Marie Bankhead Owen and the Politics of Race and Class in Alabama.”

12:30 – 2 pm – Lunch for Graduate Students, Yellowhammer Room, Gorgas Library

2pm Panel 3 – From Civil Rights to the Present

  • Moderators: Isabella Garrison and Joshua Sander, The University of Alabama
  • Associate Professor John Giggie, The University of Alabama, “Forgetting and Remembering Bloody Tuesday, June 9, 1964.”
  • Professor Steven P. Brown, Auburn University, “Cracking and Packing: The Ongoing Significance of Reynolds v. Sims.”
  • Professor Derryn Moten, Alabama State University, “‘Doughnuts and Coffee:’ Alabama’s First Sitdown Protest.”

4 pm – Keynote Address

  • Dr. Steve Murray, Director, Alabama Department of Archives and History, “Rethinking the Civil War to the Present in Alabama Politics.”

5 pm – Closing Reception, Gorgas House