Giggie – Department of History

History of Us Featured in Recent Edition of Collegian

February 2, 2021

A History of Us An article about Dr. Giggie’s “History of Us” class, the first Black History class taught in an Alabama public high school, was featured recently in the College of Arts & Sciences magazine, Collegian. “On a January morning, 18 Central High School students sat around a circle of tables in their first period class. It’s silent, but it’s not tense—there’s an air of thoughtfulness, of students searching to find their answer to the question posed moments before. […]

Summersell Center Accepting Applications for Short-Term Research Fellowships

January 31, 2020

To support the study of southern history and promote the use of the manuscript collections housed at The University of Alabama, the Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South and The University of Alabama Libraries will offer a total of eight research fellowships in the amount of $500 each for the 2020-2021 academic year. Eligible researchers will have projects that entail work to be conducted in southern history or southern studies at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections […]

John Giggie to Speak About Race, Medicine, & the Founding of the National Museum of Peace and Justice

October 29, 2018

As part of The Art of Medicine Rounds sponsored by the College of Community and Health Sciences, Prof. John Giggie will be offering a talk entitled, “Race, Medicine, and Southern Landscapes: The Founding of the National Museum of Peace and Justice.” It will be held on Thursday, November 1, at 5.30 in UMC Classrooms 1-3.

Students in Dr. Giggie’s Southern Memory: Lynching in Alabama Course Visit EJI Offices.

October 26, 2017

Students in Dr. Giggie’s HY 400 – Southern Memory: Lynching in Alabama course visited the Equal Justice Institute in Montgomery, Alabama on October 18th as part of their work to better understand and encourage awareness of racial violence during the post-Reconstruction era in Alabama. The students, who are researching ten African-Americans lynched in Pickens County between 1883 and 1933, presented their findings to the officials at EJI. The students have been working in a variety of sources – newspapers, journals, […]

Mississippi State University Professor Jason Morgan Ward to Speak Thursday, Oct. 12, at 5 PM

October 10, 2017

The Summersell Center of the Study of the South and The University of Alabama Department of History will host Professor Jason Morgan Ward of Mississippi State University on Thursday, October 12, 2017, at 5 o’clock in room 30 ten Hoor Hall. Ward is the author of Hanging Bridge: Racial Violence and America’s Civil Rights Century (2016) and Defending White Democracy: The Making of the Segregationist Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936-1965 (2011). Ward’s talk is entitled, “Lifting the Veil: […]

Mississippi State University Professor Jason Morgan Ward to Speak Thursday, Oct. 12, at 5 PM

October 3, 2017

The Summersell Center of the Study of the South and The University of Alabama Department of History will host Professor Jason Morgan Ward of Mississippi State University on Thursday, October 12, 2017, at 5 o’clock in room 30 ten Hoor Hall. Ward is the author of Hanging Bridge: Racial Violence and America’s Civil Rights Century (2016) and Defending White Democracy: The Making of the Segregationist Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936-1965 (2011). Ward’s talk is entitled, “Lifting the Veil: […]

UA Students enrolled in a Southern memory course tell the stories of Tuscaloosa County lynching victims.

September 21, 2017

This article appeared originally on The University of Alabama’s Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility’s website. by Erin Mosley and Jamon Smith Dr. John Giggie describes the eras most Americans refer to as Reconstruction, the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties as periods of racial terror for a significant portion of the country’s population. “At a time when the United States was in fact growing and prospering, many African-Americans feared for their lives,” says Giggie, associate professor of history and […]

Students to Help Unveil Marker for Victims of Lynching

February 26, 2017

Please join Professor John Giggie and students from his seminar on Southern memory course as they gather with Bryan Stevenson and members of the Equal Justice Initiative for the unveiling of a historical marker to the victims of lynching in Tuscaloosa County. Prof. Giggie’s students have spent the semester researching the eight documented lynchings in Tuscaloosa County and will present on the meaning of their work during the unveiling ceremony. The group will gather at 2803 6th Street (Google Maps […]

Summersell Center Sponsors Upcoming Public History Internships in Community

December 15, 2016

The Summersell Center for Southern History’s Public History Initiative is sponsoring a series of local internships with organizations in the community during the Spring 2017 semester. Students will be partnered with on-campus and local organizations, such as the Gorgas House, Hoole Special Collections, and local churches and clubs, to conduct research and create projects that communicate their history to the public. Projects include a variety of end-products, such as curating an oral history exhibit, helping lay the groundwork for a […]

Summersell Initiative in Public History Students Explore Options for History Majors

November 30, 2016

Archives, genealogy projects, museums, libraries — all of these are potential career paths for history majors, combining historical knowledge with technical skills and a love of the public. Drs. John Giggie, James Mixson, and Dan Riches , along with the Summersell Center for the Study of the South, have teamed up to create a track for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in public history. The Summersell Initiative in Public History is a year-long program: over the Fall 2016 semester, […]