Time: 2:00 p.m. CST Location: NORTH Huntsville Library, 3011 Sparkman Dr., Huntsville, AL 35810 The meeting is open to members and non-members alike!
Breaking Barriers:
Desegregation of Huntsville City Schools and its Lessons for the Future
Presented by Sonnie Hereford IV and Dr. Beth Hereford Patin
Sonnie Hereford IV (Rocket City Civil Rights) and Dr. Beth Hereford Patin, his daughter and an assistant professor at Syracuse University, will use family photographs, videos, and digital storytelling tools to share Sonnie’s experience as one of the first Black students to desegregate Huntsville City Schools. They will discuss the desegregation of Huntsville City schools and its significance in the broader context of the Civil Rights Movement by detailing the specific events, protests, and legal actions that led to the eventual desegregation of these schools.
HMCHS is happy to partner with Innerspace Brewing Company to present history movie nights! While these nights are geared towards students, anyone is welcome to attend.
The kick-off event, includes 3 weeks of history-making horror films. We will also tell some Huntsville Ghost Stories.
Beginning in November, we will host monthly movie night that features Alabama. That could be in storyline, Alabamians represented in cast and crew, or even in-state filming locations.
To celebrate History Month, the Special Collections Department at the Downtown Huntsville Library is looking at how Huntsville and Madison County have changed over time. In this series, Heather Adkins will talk about different aspects over the past 200 years that contributed to the substantial growth of this area.
Location: 2nd Floor Events Room, Downtown Huntsville Library When: Tuesdays in October, at 6:30 p.m.
October 3 – Industry Development John Hunt settled in Huntsville in 1805, and the rockets came to town in 1949. How did we spend 144 years as an agriculture economy before seemingly flipping a switch to space and defense industries?
October 10 – Land & Housing The majority of Madison County used to be farmland. Now we have the arsenal, Huntsville and Madison are constantly expanding, rural towns now have fast food and housing complexes, and we have business districts and research parks. It all amounts to land development.
October 17 – Recreational Spaces Land for housing and business is just one aspect of how Madison County’s landscape has changed. Land used for parks, greenways, and conservation has been developed, as well.
October 24 – Diversity Huntsville is an incredibly diverse area. Even before the space and defense industries brought an international labor force, the demographics of the area split very early on.
October 31 – Education Availability of and access to education has dramatically over time. We’ll look at how shifts in education effected local communities.
About the Presenter:
Heather M. Adkins is the Manager of Special Collections at the Downtown Huntsville Library and the President of the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society.
She is a Certified Archivist, with a Masters degree in Public History. She has worked in the archives field for nearly 15 years.
Beginning in 2024, the newsletter will be available in digital format ONLY.
Per agreement of the Board, the digital format:
Will be freely accessible to both members and non-members
Aid in wider proliferation of HMCHS information, including details about programming, meetings, etc.
Invites greater viewership and subscription, with potential to gain members
Only requires member email addresses as a form of contact
Is less cost prohibitive than paper, printer, and mailing fees
Will NOT contain advertising/spam and will NOT sell personal information
“What do I need to do to sign up?” – Nothing at this time.
The Board will migrate all known member email addresses to the new digital newsletter. All remaining members will be contacted for updated information.
The digital newsletter will be emailed quarterly, per usual. To avoid missing it, add hmchistoricalsociety.gmail.com@hubspotfree.net to your email’s address book.
A printable PDF version of the newsletter will be made available on the website.
Test runs of the digital format will take place in September and December, with official changeover to occur in 2024.
Every year, the Board recognizes individuals in the community that go above and beyond spreading the love of history. In 2023, we chose two historians that have proven many times over that they are dedicated to the proliferation of Huntsville history. Join us at the Fall meeting to present the award to:
William H. Hampton (pictured above at the Huntsville Revisited Museum) developed a love for history when only a child while listening to the stories shared by great-grandparents, grandparents, and older relatives on what he calls the “Front Porch Experience”. The fascination for stories evolved into a life-long love and pursuit of history. William is involved with many organizations, and he fulfilled a dream of creating his own museum in 1978 when he opened the Huntsville Revisited Museum, which showcases local history. It was recognized as a non-profit organization, in June 2020. Nominated by Arley McCormick
Alex Luttrell (pictured above, far right) has championed historic preservation through his chairmanship of the Historical Markers Committee. He became the chair in 1992, and in the three decades since, has made possible the creation of dozens of markers. He has proven to be an excellent liaison between local individuals/groups and the Alabama Historical Association, which oversees markers in the state of Alabama. Nominated by Jacque Reeves
Autumn is a lovely metaphor for change. It is a time when nature is winding down and preparing for an eventual metamorphosis. The historical society has been working through a transformation of its own for the majority of 2023. We’re adapting to hopefully breathe new life into HMCHS. The first of these updates debuted at the Summer meeting, in the form of our updated logo and overall graphic design. And now, in time for the Fall meeting, we are excited to present our new website. The URL is the same, but content is more user-friendly. As we embark on our metamorphosis, I encourage you to explore all the new and old things this historical society has to offer.
