Alabama Short Stories: Recent Episodes
Shawn Wright
Alabama Shorts Stories takes over where our 4th grade Alabama history class left off. We dig a little deeper and find the stories that make Alabama a unique place to live and to visit. It's the perfect listen for when you are a little behind on your Alabama history.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Alabama Short Stories Podcast! I'm your host, Shawn Wright. As always, it's a pleasure to have you with me. I want to take a moment to remind you about something you might already be familiar with: my books, "Alabama Short Stories, Volumes 1 and 2."
"Volume 1" features stories from our first three seasons. It includes thirty tales about iconic statues, daring pilots, high school athletes, painters, and musicians. You'll also find intriguing stories about falling stars, aliens, and close encounters.
"Volume 2" continues with stories from seasons four to six. This collection includes another thirty stories about athletes and their fans, movie stars, and lives that have become movies. You'll meet beauty queens, devils, a Spider, and even the Beatles. These stories highlight builders, memorable moments, and extraordinary individuals who have helped shape Alabama into the state it is today.
Both volumes are packed with photos to help bring these stories to life.
If you’ve enjoyed the podcast, these books are perfect for you. They’re also great for anyone interested in history – specifically Alabama's rich and diverse history and the American South. Growing up in Alabama, I had heard some of these stories, but during my research, I uncovered many more fascinating tales that I knew others would enjoy.
You can get these books through online retailers like Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Bookshop.org. If you own a bookstore and would like to stock these titles, you can find them through IngramSpark.
If you prefer to listen, the stories are also available on Audible.com. However, these are the same stories you can enjoy for free on this podcast, just organized in book order. It's perfect for people who don't want to listen to individual stories on podcasts and prefer long-form audio.
Thank you for your continued support of Alabama Short Stories. I hope you enjoy the books and find them to be a great addition to your collection. They also make fantastic gifts for those hard-to-buy-for family members. Take care, and happy reading!
Purchase Volume 1
Amazon
Books-A-Million
Bookshop.org
Purchase Volume 2
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Support the Show.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Rickwood Field was built in 1910 so that Rick Woodward would have a showplace for his baseball team the Birmingham Barrons. Little did he know that 114 years later, Major League Baseball would host a game on this same field. The field has hosted concerts, football, and baseball games over its existence. It was also home to the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Southern League. There were many famous players that suited up at the field but none more so than a son of Fairfield, Alabama, Willie Mays.
Support the Show.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
At the end of World War II, another war started, the Cold War. To win the minds and hearts of people around the world against the Soviet Union, the U.S. State Department put together a show of modern art that was to tour the world. The show, “Advancing American Art,” did not win the hearts and minds of some of its people. It was recalled and put up for auction at pennies on the dollar. Auburn University recognized an opportunity and bought 36 paintings, the basis for the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.
Support the Show.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
The University of Alabama accepted a bid to play in the 1926 Rose Bowl against powerhouse University of Washington. This was the first time a team from the South was invited to play in this historic event. The underdog Alabama team won the game in no small part because of the play of Johnny Mack Brown. Learn the story of this game and how Brown went from being the “Dothan Antelope” to one of Hollywood's leading men and stars of Western movies.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
We have grown up hearing stories about the gold rush. But it’s always the California gold rush they are talking about. An event so huge that years later, San Francisco’s NFL team called themselves the ’49ers after the prospectors of the 1849 gold rush. But the first gold rush started in the east and as prospectors followed the gold vein, they discovered gold in east Alabama. Learn the story about this event and what happened to the prospectors when the gold ran out.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Mrs. Irene, as she was known to neighbors, was born with a sixth sense. From a young age, she was able to find things, easter eggs, misplaced items, or the missing hunting dog. Her father tried to shield her from the scrutiny fortune tellers received in the community. Instead, Irene Teel became popular with people driving miles for her advice and wisdom. When a small child went missing, and the National Guard was called in, it was Mrs. Rena who was the most helpful.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Music is a vital part of our lives in Alabama, and it covers all genres. This story is about one genre of music called Sacred Harp. It is named after the book of songs of the same name. at the beginning of the 20th century, these songs sounded antiquated to modern listeners. Worried that this style would go away, teachers presented Sacred Harp music as a virtue, a tradition that would be passed down the generations. And some of the most influential teachers and guardians of this tradition were from right here in Alabama.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Zelda Sayre was born and raised in Montgomery, the daughter of a lawyer and politician. She was a socialite and caught the interest of young men from as far away as Atlanta. No one swept her off her feet until she met a young soldier stationed in Montgomery named F. Scott Fitzgerald. Their marriage and volatile relationship became the story ideas for books such as “The Great Gatsby” and made them the poster children of the Jazz Age.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Spider Martin was a commercial photographer in Birmingham, Alabama, who billed himself with a little tongue-in-cheek as the “world’s greatest photographer.” He worked for corporate clients and earned his fair share of awards for his work. But his real claim to fame was as a photographer for the Birmingham News when he stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge documenting what the Alabama State Troopers did to John Lewis and the rest of the peaceful marchers in 1965. He would be with marchers until they arrived at the Capital in Montgomery. This is Spider’s story.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Roads in Alabama go as far back as when indians followed the trails that animals had created. These trails would be widened and “improved” as more people and bigger vehicles used them. When the car came along, it was apparent that we must have good roads and we needed them fast. The good roads movement sprang up to encourage and push state and local governments to build and maintain roads. This is the story of those roads here in Alabama.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Cudjo Lewis was a captive aboard the Clotilda when it entered Mobile Harbor, the last slave boat to the United States in 1860. The story was well known to locals in Mobile but two writers, Emma Langdon Roche and Zora Neale Hurston, went to find Cudjo and tell their version of his story. Over 80 years later, Ben Raines would find the remains of the Clotilda and bring the story to light again.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
I hope you have enjoyed the first 5 seasons of the Alabama Short Stories podcast. When I released season three, I published the book, Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1. This was the perfect solution for those who like their podcasts in written form. And as a bonus, it had pictures to illustrate the stories.
With season six of the podcast upon us, I am proud to announce volume two of the book, Alabama Short Stories. There are 30 more stories covering seasons four through six with photos. There are 50 more pages in this book for the same great price. I don’t know, I guess my stories are getting longer. But they are still short.
You can buy both volumes of the book online at Amazon.com. They come in paperback, hardback and Kindle versions.
If you would like to support your local bookstore, you can purchase paperback versions at Bookshop.org where every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.
You can also purchase the books online at major brands such as Barnes and Noble. Just search for Alabama Short Stories.
Volume two will be published on March 1, 2024.
Thanks again for listening and reading Alabama Short Stories.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Welcome to Alabama Short Stories. This is Shawn Wright, and I am happy to say that Season 6 starts on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, with more great stories about the state of Alabama.
I will start the season with a story in the news the past couple of years. It’s about Cudjo Lewis and the writers who have been telling this former slave's story for the past 100+ years, and we find the Clotilda in the process.
We take driving on our well-maintained roads around the state for granted, but can you imagine what it would be like without them? Some Alabamians did and became part of a movement of good roads that turned out great.
There is a story about a photographer with a funny name, Spider Martin. A well-known photographer around Birmingham, he made his name on the road from Selma to Montgomery and got to know Dr. King along the way.
Music is a vital part of our lives in Alabama, and for centuries now, groups of people have been holding on tight to a tradition of singing named after a book of songs. Learn the story of Sacred Harp and the people keeping it alive and thriving.
While her husband may be remembered as a great writer, the people of Alabama know that F. Scott Fitzgerald would be nothing without his wife, Zelda Sayre of Montgomery. Listen to their story and how their volatile relationship made them the poster children of the Jazz Age.
I tell the story of a woman who was a psychic and the rush for gold. Both of these stories are in east Alabama, and while they don’t relate, they were both sought out for their life-changing discoveries.
There is a story of Johnny Mack Brown; he traveled to Pasadena with the University of Alabama’s team for football glory and turned that success into stardom as a movie cowboy.
The CIA battles communism with modern art only to find out that the real fight is at home among its people. Auburn University benefits from the pearl-clutching outrage and buys paintings for pennies on the dollar, the basis for their fine art museum.
And we end the season by telling the story of America’s oldest baseball park and the players who played there. Specifically, a son of Fairfield, Alabama, who went on to greatness playing for the San Fransisco Giants.
While you are waiting for the season to start, you can help the podcast out. Call a friend or two and recommend the podcast to them. You can subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast app. And if you are listening on Apple, make sure to rate us. It helps drive listeners to the show.
Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy season 6
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Armistice Day was created at the end of what we now know as World War I. At the end of World War II, one Birmingham native felt a need to celebrate all veterans, and he set out to honor them. Raymond Weeks took his fight to Washington, D.C., and then put his words into action by leading what has become the largest and oldest Veteran’s Day Parade in the nation in his hometown of Birmingham. Listen to this episode to determine if his effort to create a holiday was successful.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
When Alabama Power made plans for Lewis Smith Dam in a rural area of Northwest Alabama, they knew they had plenty of time to clear the basin of trees, buildings, and other potential obstructions before the lake filled. Then the rains came, and the basin started to fill up fast. Learn about the area of Smith Lake and what happened when the rains came.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
What do you do when you have one of the largest buildings in Birmingham that feature a smooth glass finish with lights to illuminate each window. Create art, of course! Learn about how the Regions building changes light colors and has created designs for the holidays, Olympics, and Golf Tournaments for the past 50 years.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
John Henry was a steel-driving man or maybe just a folk tale. John Henry died while competing against a steam drill in West Virginia, or did he? Some think this folk hero, or real-life hero, died here in Alabama at a tunnel south of Leeds close to Dunavant. Listen to the story, and you decide if he was real and where he died. I think you know where we stand on this issue.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Carrie Tuggle and her husband, John, moved to Birmingham in 1883 in search of better work opportunities and social life. They threw themselves into work and growing their family. They both actively participated in the Knights of Pythias, a national fraternal organization. Carrie was a social worker and would see young boys in the court system being sent to prison with adults. It was too much for her to bear. The couple would start the Tuggle Institute to give youth another chance and change the lives of many in Birmingham. Carrie also helped create the Jefferson Family Court.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Harper Lee and Truman Capote are two of this country's most celebrated writers. Lee for her Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill A Mockingbird, and Capote for In Cold Blood, among others. Both writers got their start behind a battered old typewriter brought home by Lee’s father when they were children. They grew up as next-door neighbors in the town of Monroeville, Alabama. They would play a part in each other's most celebrated novels, yet the competition drove them apart as adults. Find out about the unique friendship they shared for most of their lives.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Hugo Black was a U.S. Senator from Alabama who supported FDR’s New Deal. When an opening on the Supreme Court became available, the President knew he wanted an ally on the court, and Hugo Black was his first choice. If the President had done a little due diligence, he would have discovered that his candidate had a checkered past. In 1923, at the end of a trolley line in Shades Valley and by the remains of a race track and dried lake bed, the Klan had held one of the largest Klan events in the country, initiating 1,250 members, including a Birmingham lawyer named Hugo Black.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Yolande Betbeze was a college student at Mobile’s Spring Hill College when she saw an opportunity to help her get out of the South. She won the Miss Torch contest, which sent her to Miss Alabama and then to the Miss America Pageant, which she won in 1951. Miss America was just the start for Betbeze, as her reign created controversy and helped create a competing pageant that exists today. Listen to her story and hear what happened to her once her reign was over.
Support the show
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Buy Volume 1 of the Book. https://a.co/d/9VhY9cO
- Buy the newly released Volume 2 of the Book. https://a.co/d/ef1yunC
- Want to support your local book store? You can do that by purchasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 through Bookshop.org, which gives back to local bookstores.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
We all know someone who feels they are their team's “number one fan.” They go to all the games, buy all the gear, and take the day off from work when their team loses. Many fans meet this description for the University of Alabama, but none can hold a candle to William Ralph Price, known to everyone as “Shorty.” Shorty Price would do his best to fire up the crowd during a game, usually getting escorted out of the stadium for his efforts. Learn about this perpetual candidate for Alabama Governor and his path to Crimson Tide glory.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1 at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org or other online bookstore.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
A Russian immigrant moves to Selma and sees his first banana. He finds out they are shipped to the port of Mobile, and he hatches a plan. This small move to sell “unsellable” bananas sets off a career that will see Sam Zemurray become the leader of one the largest banana importers in the United States. His reach will go farther than Mobile as he has a hand in overthrowing Central American governments. Learn about how Sam Zemurray goes bananas.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1 at Amazon.com, Bookshop.org or other online bookstore.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
Season 5 of the Alabama Short Stories podcast is just around the corner, and I can’t wait for it to get started. Hey, this is Shawn Wright, your host for another trip around the state of Alabama to learn about the characters that make Alabama, well… Alabama.
I am going to kick off the season with a story about Sam the Banana Man and his role in getting the banana that’s sitting on your counter from Central America to you just so you can throw it out when it’s too ripe.
There’s a story about Shorty Price. If you grew up an Alabama fan, I am sure your ears just perked up. Auburn fans, you won’t want to miss this one.
There is Alabama’s first Miss America who inadvertently helped start the Miss USA pageant. A Supreme Court justice whose appointment was almost derailed because of an initiation at a Klan rally at Edgewood Lake in what would become Homewood.
I tell the story of Truman Capote and Harper Lee growing up together in Monroeville and it being told on the silver screen in a little movie called “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Have you ever heard of it?
There is the story of Carrie Tuggle, who, wanting to keep black children out of adult jails, built the Tuggle Institute and helped start the Jefferson County Family Court.
John Henry was a steel-driving man, and some people think this folk hero's tale of his race against a steam power drill happened close to Dunnavant and not in West Virginia.
Regions Bank lights up the Birmingham night sky during the holidays, and Alabama Power builds a lake that fills up much faster than everyone expects.
Our final story, just in time for Veteran’s Day, is about how Veteran’s Day got its start in Birmingham, thanks to the efforts of Raymond Weeks.
If you are hearing this teaser, then you are probably already a subscriber, and thank you for that! Do me a favor and tell your friends to subscribe to the podcast. There are 40 stories waiting for them to hear, and ten more this season.
Another way you can support the show is to rate and review it on Apple Podcast and Spotify. You can also purchase the book “Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1,” which features the first three seasons, available for purchase at Amazon.com and online bookstores. If you want to support local bookstores, you can find the book at Bookshop.org.
Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy season 5 of the Alabama Short Stories podcast.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
Mardi Gras was started in Mobile, Alabama. Don’t let anyone from New Orleans tell you otherwise. After the civil war, one man is credited with getting it started again by dressing like a Chickasaw Chieftan and marching through the streets of Mobile. Joe Cain is celebrated to this day with his own parade during the Mardi Gras season.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
Terror has been used as a way to keep people in line for centuries. In Birmingham, with easy access to mining supplies, the klan used dynamite as their tool of terror. But they didn’t count on the resiliency of the citizens in the North Smithfield Community that earned the name Dynamite Hill. By the time four little girls died at the hands of a bomb while at church, Birmingham had already earned its nickname as Bombingham.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
When conservators removed plaster to ensure the grand staircase in the state capital in Alabama was still safe, they were shocked to find out that they were built by a bridge builder. His name was Horace King. Born a slave, he became one of the south’s pre-eminent builder of bridges, homes, and a staircase or two.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
John Lennon was giving a tour of his home to a reporter when he commented on the popularity of his band, the Beatles. “We’re more popular than Jesus now.” This one innocuous line made its way across the ocean to the studios in a radio station in Birmingham, Alabama, where the morning team took offense. Those two DJs would start a worldwide movement to Ban The Beatles.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
Lonnie Johnson tinkered so much that the neighborhood kids called him “The Professor.” He won first place in a state-wide science fair in high school and embarked on a career in the military. He later worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to work on the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn. Despite excelling in all these fields, he will forever be known as the person who made a better squirt gun.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
A Japanese war bride who went by the name of Katie Parsons, moved to Birmingham and fell in love with it. When she discovered she had an inoperable brain tumor, her dying wish was to have a garden in her memory in Birmingham. Here about how the town came together to create a garden that was bigger than her dream.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
The daughter of Senator John H. Bankhead of Alabama. Tallulah would forge her own path in life on the stage and on the screen. This outspoken woman charmed audiences and shocked prudes with her talents and antics. Learn how this woman from Alabama became a star on the stage, screen and in the tabloids.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
In 1986, the English goth band Siouxsie and the Banshees released their album Tinderbox and setoff to tour the United States. One of their venues was the unlikely Alabama Theater in downtown Birmingham. Find out about the goths and see if they could hold their own against the Mighty Wurlitzer.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You see a lot of things driving up and down I-65 in Alabama. Broken-down cars, the odd mattress, the remains of every conceivable animal, and the devil, Beelzebub himself. Yes, you read that right; the devil is holding court on I-65. Learn about the sign that implores you to “Go To Church, or the devil will get you!"
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white rider in Montgomery, Alabama. This episode is not about her. It is about a 15-year old high school student who sat down for her constitutional rights and was arrested nine months before.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
Hey, this is Shawn Wright, the host of the Alabama Short Stories podcast. I am happy to announce that season 4 of the podcast is almost here.
I capped off three great seasons by publishing the book “Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.” Now I am ready to share ten more episodes of extraordinary people, places, and events.
This season I tell the story of a woman who would not move from her seat on a Montgomery bus only to be arrested, and her name is not Rosa Parks. There is a story of a Japanese war bride whose dream was to have a garden built in her memory in Birmingham after discovering she had an incurable brain tumor.
Another woman, the daughter of a senator from Alabama and a member of the Bankhead family, would go on to star on Broadway and in Hollywood.
There are stories of inventors and engineers. One man has worked with the space program, but his greatest achievement is probably making a better water gun. The other man is a former slave who learned how to build bridges and helped remodel the Alabama State Capital building, where he also served in the state house of representatives.
There is a story about a devil on I-65 warning you to go to church. And if you don’t go and feel that you are more popular than Jesus, I have a story about what could happen to you, at least it happened to one famous band from England.
Not-so-famous bands from England also have their story told, such as when goths crossed paths with the Mighty Wurlitzer at the Alabama Theater.
I have a story about how Birmingham earned the nickname “Bombingham.” We finish the season with a tale about the man who saved Mobile’s Mardi Gras.
You can hear these stories and more by visiting alabamashortstories.com or, better yet, subscribe to the podcast, listen to past season episodes, and have each new episode downloaded and ready to listen when they become available.
If you want to support the podcast, buy the book “Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1,” at Amazon.com. There are other options to help out in the notes section and on the website. And if you want to support the show without spending any money, rate the show on Apple podcasts. I don’t think I have to tell you that the more stars, the better. I am not telling you to make it rain like stars falling on Alabama… well, maybe a little. Make it rain, my friends!
Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy season 4 of the Alabama Short Stories podcast.
Support the showSupport the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Buy the book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at TeePublic.com.
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
I hope you have enjoyed season 3 of Alabama Short Stories. If you haven’t heard the first two seasons, I encourage you to go back and give them a listen. If you prefer to read instead, I’ve got you covered. The book Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1, has been published on Amazon.com and contains all 30 stories from Seasons 1-3, and best of all, it contains pictures. Something that we can’t show on a podcast.
We all have friends and family who are just not interested in listening to podcasts, and my guess is that they are also difficult to buy presents for. And with Christmas right around the corner, why not get them a copy of “Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1.” It is available as a hardback, paperback, and kindle version. You can find it by searching on Amazon.com for Alabama Short Stories or my name, Shawn Wright. You can also find a link in the description and on alabamashortstories.com.
This podcast has been a labor of love, and while it is free to listen to, it’s not cheap to produce. Every book you purchase helps to offset the cost of presenting these stories. We are already working on stories for season 4 and hope to bring them to you at the beginning of the new year.
Thanks again for listening to Alabama Short Stories.
Buy it at Amazon.com
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Kudzu covers every part of Alabama, and we assume it grows with wild abandon, swallowing up parked cars and buildings in its path. In this Alabama Short Stories podcast episode, we learn about how it came to Alabama and how much more time we have before the vine overtakes us. You will also hear the Alabama Short Stories Players present the radio play "Gone With The Kudzilla."
https://alabamashortstories.com/kudzu/
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Have you ever heard the phrase "Stars Fell on Alabama?" Of course, you have. If you grew up in Alabama, you can't avoid it. You probably can't remember the first time you heard it, but it has always been around. Is it a slogan, a song, a book, or an event? Yes, to all those and more. Hear the story about a celestial event that inspired generations of Alabamians on this Alabama Short Stories podcast episode.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
- Buy the Book. https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Short-Stories-Shawn-Wright/dp/1735582239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660505378&sr=8-3
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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The USS Alabama, BB-60 was a South Dakota class battleship that served in the North Atlantic and Pacific during World War II. At the war's end, she was mothballed and stored in the Pacific Reserve Fleet in Puget Sound outside Bremerton, Washington. Twenty years later, the Navy announced in 1962 that the South Dakota class of battleships would be sold for scrap. In this episode of the Alabama Short Stories podcast, you will learn about Mobile and state officials who sprang into action to save the ship and bring her home to the port of Mobile.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
- Buy the Book. https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Short-Stories-Shawn-Wright/dp/1735582239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660505378&sr=8-3
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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Alabama has its fair share of interesting town names. Of course, we would. A lot of cultures have passed through our state. The French, Spanish, and English all have left their mark. So did the different Indian nations. They left names we use today, some with our own Alabama pronunciations. There are also town names that make no sense at first glance until you learn their backstory. In this Alabama Short Stories podcast episode, we will learn about some of our state's more unique town names and why townspeople chose those names.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
- Buy the Book. https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Short-Stories-Shawn-Wright/dp/1735582239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660505378&sr=8-3
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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Cholera came to Birmingham in 1873 and hit the new town hard. By the end of the summer, over half of its citizens had fled the city. Only the sick, the physicians caring for them, and the prostitutes stayed behind. This Alabama Short Stories episode tells the story of one of those prostitutes that stayed behind, Louise Wooster. Not only did their service in nursing the sick and burying the dead help at the moment, but their service helped save a city on the verge of tremendous growth.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
- Buy the Book. https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Short-Stories-Shawn-Wright/dp/1735582239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660505378&sr=8-3
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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Creating a single emergency number was tossed about for more than a decade before the FCC and AT&T worked together on a solution. On January 12, 1968, AT&T announced that 911 would be the emergency code in the United States. There was no plan for a “first” call, and seeing an opportunity, Bob Gallagher, president of Alabama Telephone Company, decided to be the first in the country. In this episode of the Alabama Short Stories podcast, learn about that first call and what it took to implement.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free, but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
- Buy the Book. https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Short-Stories-Shawn-Wright/dp/1735582239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660505378&sr=8-3
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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The outdoor board has been ubiquitous around the state of Alabama. Signs are found up and down the interstate, in our towns, on back roads, and in every imaginable place. But in New York City, specifically Times Square, the creativity and scale of the outdoor boards have been taken to another level. And we have the son of Anniston, Alabama, to thank for that. Douglas Leigh began creating his “spectaculars” in the 1930s and made his mark on the Great White Way, influencing the signs we see today in Times Square. Hear about Douglas Leigh’s story on this Alabama Short Stories podcast episode.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
- Buy the Book. https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Short-Stories-Shawn-Wright/dp/1735582239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660505378&sr=8-3
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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What is a zoo without an elephant? That is precisely what Birmingham citizens thought when the zoo opened in Avondale Park. Park officials set out to find their elephant, choosing an Asian elephant from the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. She was named Miss Fancy and made her debut at the Birmingham Home Products Show. In this Alabama Short Story podcast episode, you will learn about Miss Fancy’s adventures in Birmingham and beyond.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
- Buy the Book. https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Short-Stories-Shawn-Wright/dp/1735582239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660505378&sr=8-3
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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Alabama is known for its many aviators and astronauts. In this episode of the Alabama Short Stories podcast, you will learn about a woman who decided that if Charles Lindbergh could fly across the Atlantic, so could she. Ruth Elder left Anniston, Alabama, learned to fly, and became one of Alabama’s first women aviators. You will hear about some of her accomplishments and if she made it across the Atlantic or not.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
- Buy the Book. https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Short-Stories-Shawn-Wright/dp/1735582239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660505378&sr=8-3
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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In the summer of 1976, Hollywood descended on Mobile, Alabama, to tell the story of a small child who aliens had abducted.
The Mobile economy had been suffering since the close of Brookley Field seven years earlier. But Hollywood needed what no other location had, huge, empty airplane hangers. Director Steven Spielberg and actors Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Francois Truffaut, and Bob Balaban and their crew descended on the town, making a small contribution to Mobile’s economy.
This short story is about the making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Mobile, Alabama.
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Hey, this is Shawn Wright, the host of the Alabama Short Stories podcast. I am happy to announce that season 3 of the podcast is almost here.
There was a great response to the first two seasons, and this upcoming season will not disappoint. It’s ten episodes of extraordinary people, state icons, unique events, and questions that need to be answered.
We tell a story about the bright lights of Hollywood coming to Mobile to film the story of a toddler kidnapped by aliens. Then there is a story about a man from Anniston who moved to New York City and turned the lights up on the Great White Way.
Another woman left Anniston, learned to fly, and decided that if Charles Lindbergh could fly across the Atlantic, why couldn’t she? We find out if she made it or not.
We tell about an outbreak of cholera that prompted over half the citizens of the newly incorporated Birmingham to move away. You will learn about a famous madam who, with other women of the night, stayed behind to care for the sick, Ultimately saving the city.
We tell the story of a fancy elephant in Birmingham’s Avondale neighborhood, stars falling on Alabama, and the town that made the first 911 call. It had to happen somewhere.
We finish the season by answering lingering questions, such as: “How did the USS Alabama get to Mobile?” “How did that town get it’s name?” And “if I park my car next to the kudzu patch, will it be there when I return?”
You can hear these stories soon, wherever you like to listen to podcasts or on the website at alabamashortstories.com.
But wait, there is more! I am proud to announce that the book “Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1” will soon be available on Amazon.com. This book features all the stories from seasons 1-3 with photos. The book will make an excellent gift for that Alabama history buff in your family, and your purchase will help us to continue to share great Alabama short stories with you.
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This is our third and final story featuring Red Mountain in Birmingham. The statue of Vulcan has been standing on a pedestal above lone pine gap on Red Mountain since 1939. Not long after that, he would be seen holding a green or red popsicle until 1999 when he came down from the mountain for a much-needed refurbishment and not because of the end of the world mentioned in episode 4. This is the story of the neon “torch,” why it was there and not the spear we see him holding today.
This is our final story of season 2 of the Alabama Short Stories podcast. We hope to be back sooner rather than later for season 3. Keep your eye open by staying subscribed to the podcast or visiting the website.
I hope you have enjoyed this labor of love to the state that I have called home all my life.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
Originally from North Carolina, William Rufus King would move to Alabama and become instrumental in the establishment of Alabama as a state, writing the first constitution and creating Alabama. He would also serve the country at the national level as well. He became Vice-President of the United States with President Franklin Pierce, but he would never serve a day. This is King’s story on the Alabama Short Stories podcast.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
In season 1, we learned about a man from Germany who moved to Alabama to paint portraits. We also learned about a woman who painted on spider webs. In this episode of the Alabama Short Stories podcast, we learn about a man who painted on an entirely different canvas, the roofs of barns. If you have ever seen a barn roof promoting Rock City, then Byers and his crew painted it. He was born in Alabama and lived in Georgia and Tennessee. He would come home to open Sequoyah Caverns, using the marketing skills he learned working with Rock City. This is his story.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
Andrew Jackson Beard was born a slave on a plantation near Pinson, Alabama. After gaining his freedom, he went on to become a farmer, millwright, and prolific inventor. Even though he could not read or write, Beard went on to own patents for plows, rotary engines and was to make trains safer and more efficient, becoming a millionaire in the process. This is his story on the Alabama Short Stories podcast.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
This is our second story about Red Mountain this season and it is about the actual mountain. For decades there had been talk about tunneling through the mountain to help travelers coming from Homewood, Mountain Brook, and towns to the south. Officials even brought in a famous New York tunnel engineer to assess the plans. Finally, someone suggested they cut a slice out of the mountain and the rest is history.
Not only was travel over the mountain improved, but the Red Mountain Expressway Cut was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the United States Department of Interior and as a National Site of Geological Interest by the American Geological Institute. The strata exposed by the cut were formed over 160 million years of geologic time.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
Tuscumbia native Tom Hendrix had learned about his relatives through the stories his grandmother would tell him. A trip to Oklahoma and a meeting with a woman named Minnie Long would change the course of his life. 8.5 million pounds of stone later, Hendrix had finished a project to honor his great-great-grandmother Te-lah-nay. This is their story on this episode of the Alabama Short Stories podcast.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
What do you do when it’s December 31, 1999, and the end of the world is upon you? You celebrate at Birmingham’s iconic The Club of course, where the view of the apocalypse is unsurpassed. This is the story of the private club, “The Club” and the Y2K problem when our robot-overlords would soon rise up. This is the first story of three that happen along Red Mountain in Birmingham on the Alabama Short Stories podcast.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
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John Pratt lived in the sleepy town of Centre, Alabama where he was a writer, lawyer, and teacher. He eventually owned and edited the local paper. Pratt wrote a lot in his many careers. So much so that in an effort to cut down on the writer’s cramp, he invented a machine to write for him. In this episode of the Alabama Short Stories podcast, we learn about John Pratt’s road to inventing the typewriter.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
When you think of ice hockey, you don’t think of Birmingham, Alabama. At least you didn’t in the mid-1970s when the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA came to town. For the next few seasons, some of the greatest hockey players of all time would come to the civic center coliseum including Bobby Hull, Wayne Gretzky, and the subject of this episode, Gordie Howe. In a professional career that started in 1946, Howe would score one of his most iconic goals in his career in the football capital of the south. This is his story on the Alabama Short Stories podcast
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
What do Erskine Hawkins, Sun Ra and Cleve Eaton all have in common? They were all students of Fess Whatley, famed Birmingham band leader at A.H. Parker High School. Whatley would end up training musicians that would populate some of the largest bands during his teaching tenure. Learn about Fess Whatley and student Erskine Hawkins in this, the first episode of Season 2 of the Alabama Short Stories podcast.
Support the Podcast
The podcast is free but it’s not cheap. If you enjoy Alabama Short Stories, there are a few ways you can support us.
- Tell a friend about the podcast.
- Buy some merchandise from the Art Done Wright store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art
- Make a donation to the podcast. You can find links in the footer at AlabamaShortStories.com.
You can listen to the podcast on the website or wherever you prefer to listen and subscribe to podcasts.
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/shawnwrightAL)
Welcome to Alabama Short Stories Season 2. I’m your host, Shawn Wright.
We have another season of great Alabama short stories that you may not have learned about in your Alabama Civics class or read in books.
We have stories about the inventor of the typewriter and the Janney coupler used on trains. Both men were successful in their own ways, and they came from entirely different backgrounds.
I tell stories about a man who spent his life on the highways of the south painting on barns and another man who spent a big part of his life building the largest stack wall in the world to honor a relative.
There are stories of Alabama’s only United States vice-president and a band director who taught and influenced some of the most renowned musicians of the past century.
We have a story about a Canadian hockey player whose major milestone will be forever linked with the football capital of the south.
And finally, there are three stories on the same mountain. One story is about going through the mountain instead of going around it. Another is about Vulcan’s famous popsicle that would be lit in green or red depending upon the day’s events. And there is the story of The Club at the end of the world. When you are faced with the apocalypse, it’s time to party.
I hope you will join me for season 2 and if you haven’t heard season one just yet, make sure you listen to those stories as well. You can listen to the podcast at AlabamaShortStories.com or wherever you prefer to listen to podcasts. I’ll see you at Alabama Short Stories.
Help Support Alabama Short Stories
The Alabama Short Stories podcast is free but it's not cheap. You can help the podcast by making a donation at my PayPal link or better yet, purchase some of our products from the store. You can buy shirts, stickers, and accessories at TeePublic.com. You will not only find Alabama Short Stories merchandise but other southern-inspired designs as well.
Shop the store at Tee Public, https://www.teepublic.com/user/wright-art.
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Some of the people we will talk about on Alabama Shorts Stories are inventors. You may be surprised at all the items that were created right here in Alabama. The windshield wiper for instance. This simple idea was a game-changer and today we probably take the windshield wiper for granted. As the saying goes, "you don't miss it until they're gone."
In this final episode of season 1 of Alabama Short Stories, we learn about Mary Anderson and how a cold and rainy trip to New York City gave her the inspiration to create the windshield wiper.
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Birmingham has its share of statues around town. There are statues of people in Kelly Ingram Park, Linn Park, the UAB campus, Samford's Campus, the Birmingham Museum of Art, Five Points South, Rickwood Field, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Even Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations is on 4th Avenue North at 18th Street. I could go on and on about statues around town.
The big three in Birmingham are Vulcan, Miss Electra, and Miss Liberty. And until 1989, they could see each other from their perches in and around downtown Birmingham.
Our subject on this episode of Alabama Short Stories is Miss Liberty. Learn why she is in Birmingham, her journey to get here and why she relocated to the suburbs.
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In an earlier episode of the Alabama Short Stories podcast, we talked about the painter William Frye. An artist who learned the ways of the masters at Heidelberg University in Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) and painted on traditional mediums such as stretched canvas.
In this episode, we learn about Huntsville's own Anne Clopton. A self-taught painter, Clopton took a different path and chose to paint on spider webs.
Find out about her choice of medium and why she chose a spider web on this episode.
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My parents have a set of portraits hanging in their living room of Ephraim H. Foster and his wife Susan A. Watkins. My third great-grandparents. Painted before the civil war, these portraits were passed down in the family to their daughter Bettie Foster. To her daughter, Susie Pointer, then to my grandmother Elizabeth Malone and finally to my father. Interest in these portraits was instrumental in me learning more about my family history.
Portraits have always been more than a record. They have also been used to show power, wealth, social standing, or some other qualities of the sitter. It is also all we had before the invention of the camera. A medium that would eventually let everyone, no matter their class or wealth, keep a record of who they were. Portrait artists were not just in the capitals and largest cities of our nation; they were all over, even in the Antebellum South.
This episode is about the artist. A man who traveled a long way to Alabama for his profession.
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Sylacauga is known for many things. Most famously for its fine white Madre Cream marble, which has is used in buildings all over the world. In Washington D.C. alone, it has been used in some form in the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the U.S. Supreme Court building, in addition to the state of Alabama Capitol and the State Archives in Montgomery.
And Sylacauga is known as the hometown of television star Jim Nabors, better known to all of us as “Gomer Pyle.”
But this episode is not about one of those Sylacauga stories. This is a story about Ann Hodges and her encounter with an object from space and how it changed her life.
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Not only do we get radio from towers located around the state, but we can also now get it from satellites. We can also get a form of radio as podcasts which you download to your phone or electronic device to listen to at your leisure. Some may argue that podcasts are not radio at all, but we can all agree that radio has been around all our lives. In Alabama, it started almost 100 years ago.
There were very few companies in the early 1920s that had any experience with the high-powered electricity it took to build and run a radio station. If it was going to get done, Alabama Power was going to have to do it.
Here the story of how radio came to our state and why it came here, it may surprise you. Find out the story on this episode of the Alabama Short Story podcast.
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In 1974 Homewood High School and its football team were only three years old. The coach was only 26 years old. To think that a team this new, this young, could break into the Alabama State 4A football playoffs was unthinkable. But that was right where they stood after beating rival Mtn. Brook 48-6 to finish with a 9-1 record.
At the end of the regular season, Tuscaloosa High School had an identical record but was declared the Region 7 champions, with a 5-1 regional record besting Homewood's record.
Soon after, Tuscaloosa was disqualified sending Homewood to the playoffs. Before either team made it to the field, they had to battle each other in court. Here what happened in this episode of the Alabama Short Stories podcast.
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Alabama is lucky to have its share of astronauts who were born in Alabama or while working with NASA, lived here for a time, specifically in Huntsville. There is a chance you could run into an astronaut in Alabama. It's a slim chance but still a possibility.
If you grew up in the '70s and made the annual pilgrimage to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, you have a really good chance to meet Mrs. Baker. She made her trip into space before the Mercury astronauts and lived out her life at the center. You will hear her story on this episode of Alabama Short Stories.
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Thirty short years after the first basketball game was played in Springville, Massachusetts, Greenville High School’s basketball season was just getting started. Sports fans in Greenville knew this team was special and that they would go far. The city council appropriated money to have electric lights on the ball court. Everyone in town went to the games. The talk of the town was that these boys would do them proud.
The enthusiasm paid off when the team was invited to the 1921 state basketball tournament. The newly formed Alabama High School Athletic Association was holding its first state-wide basketball tournament in Birmingham. This episode is the story of that team and their trip to Birmingham.
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University of Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant was featured in many commercials during his time as a coach. None stood out more than one he was in for South Central Bell, the regional phone company. Listen in this podcast about how the commercial came about and where the iconic line about his mama came from.
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Hi, my name is Shawn Wright, the host, and creator of Alabama Short Stories. The podcast that was created to celebrate those stories about Alabama that you don’t hear about often, if ever. They are the stories that were not shared in your fourth-grade civics class.
In the first season, we share two different stories of Alabama high school sports teams that had to overcome obstacles on their way towards a state championship. One team gets there and another doesn’t.
We tell the stories of two distinct painters in Huntsville. One trained in Europe before making his way to the American south while another spent her life in anonymity painting on spider webs.
In Birmingham, one company starts the first radio station in Alabama while another decides it can best promote its company with a replica of Lady Liberty.
We talk about sending monkeys into space and having to watch out for objects returning from space. And we talk about the windshield wiper. You can thank a woman from Birmingham for helping us see our way.
To start it off, we tell the story of University of Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and a call to his mama.
Join us to hear these stories in season one of the Alabama Short Stories podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to Podcasts. You can also listen on the website at alabamashortstories.com.
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