Huntsville Madison County Historical Society
Preserving the Past to Enrich the Future
Note that while we certainly HOPE that these panelists will be available, we’re still waiting to hear back from some of them. Updates will be made as soon as we know more.
Join us for an afternoon movie marathon, featuring some of your favorite holiday movies The event is free and open to the public (no registration required).
December 15, 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at InnerSpace Brewing Company
2414 Clinton Avenue, Huntsville, AL
Pizza, beer, and soda will be available for purchase.
Movie schedule to be posted the week prior to the marathon.
Whether it’s cookie-baking, misunderstandings, or a strategic dance break, you’ll be sure to see them on your bingo card.
We love a ! While we watch the movies, grab a bingo card and play along. We’ll play all day, so come and go as needed.
Location: Auditorium, Downtown Huntsville Library (915 Monroe Street)
Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m.
For the Winter Meeting on December 8, we’ll explore cultural impact of the German rocketeers on Huntsville, focusing on the living legacy and educational works of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. Featuring a special string quartet performance by HSO.
Topic: The History of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, Its Legacy and Works
Curtis Lindsay is the General Manager, Music Librarian, and Program Annotator of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, where he plays an integral role in artistic programming and planning. A native of Athens, Alabama, he is a collaborative pianist, composer/arranger, conductor, and writer. Locally he has performed with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, the Huntsville Youth Orchestra, the Rome, Georgia Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Sul Ponticello, and many ensembles of the University of North Alabama and the University of Alabama-Huntsville. He has served as a staff accompanist for the Alabama chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and has been active as an accompanist and repetiteur in musical theatre and opera as well. His compositions and arrangements for various media have been programmed across the United States and around the world.
Topic: German Rocketeers and Their Cultural Impact on Huntsville
Cait Monroe is a native of Hazel Green, Alabama. She has a master’s degree in public history with a concentration in preservation from the University of North Alabama. She is the Archivist in the Special Collections Department of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system, where she assists with research and local history preservation projects. She serves as Chairperson on the Madison County Cemetery Rehabilitation Authority, First Vice Regent of the Hunt’s Spring Chapter NSDAR, and board member for the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society. Cait has a passion for local history and cemetery preservation and has built a career around her love of learning and sharing history with others.
More information soon!
HMCPL is the public’s library. They empower individuals to create their own futures, explore the universe of ideas, and connect with the community and the world.
Location: Auditorium, Downtown Huntsville Library (915 Monroe Street)
Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m.
For the Fall Meeting on September 8, we’ll explore the complex history of alcohol in Alabama and one of its most proliferate businesses: breweries
Sarah Bélanger is a writer and photographer. She wrote the book North Alabama Beer: An Intoxicating History, and her articles have appeared in numerous magazines, including Alabama Magazine, The Magazine Lifestyle, and Huntsville Event Magazine.
She worked as a beer blogger for the Huntsville Madison County Visitors Bureau and has been an adjunct journalism professor at the University of North Alabama and Samford University.
Her food photography has appeared in dozens of books and magazines, including Southern Living, Cooking Light, and Pillsbury.
As an avid storyteller, she has performed at the Southern Fried Film Festival and with Bramble Stories. She is a regular contributor to WLRH’s Sundial Writers Corner.
She lives in North Alabama with her husband and is working on her second book.
Daniel Rhodes is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He received a Bachelor of Science in History from the University of West Alabama in 2019 and has received his Master of Arts in Public History from the University of North Alabama in 2023. Professionally, he serves as one of the archaeologists at Pope’s Tavern in Florence, AL and currently serves as the second Vice President for the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society.
Carie Partain is Huntsville native who found herself looking for new challenges in Feb 2009, as if being a newly single parent wasn’t enough. So, she agreed to meet an interesting fella at a fundraiser for something at this new art venue and the rest is…well history. The event was the Huntsville Blast Off, the first fundraiser for Free the Hops in Huntsville, the venue was Lowe Mill, and the guy would much later become her husband Rich Partain, a legend in his own right in the Alabama beer community.
Carie worked alongside so many other amazing volunteers to build the HSV Chapter of FTH, progressing from Marketing & Promotions, to Event Coordinator, then onto the state level VP and President of the organization. When the organization merged with the Alabama Brewers Guild, she held a seat on the Guild board, until she transitioned off in the fall of 2022.
Jason Sledd is one of the Co-Founders of Green Bus Brewing (GBB). Jason’s brewing career started in his home kitchen and quickly transitioned to the garage shortly after cracking the glass stovetop. A basic propane and extract based brewing setup quickly grew to an all-grain electric brewhouse along with multiple fermentation chambers, a seven tap kegerator, and brewing supplies everywhere. Jason will be quick to tell you that every home brewer thinks about opening a brewery…most are just smart enough to stop there. After getting some advice from a local brewery owner, and finding the right set of partners and investors, Green Bus Brewing moved from the garage in SE Huntsville to just off the square in Downtown Huntsville. Opening its doors in September of 2016, GBB has brewed and served over 60 different unique beer recipes along with Cider, Mead, Wine, and Hard Seltzer.
Creator, Researcher, & Host,
Lily Flagg’s Signal Podcast
Photo credit: White Rabbit Studios
HMCHS Members are invited to a historical tour at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity. The tour will include indoor and outdoor elements, with light walking. Parking is available in the parking lot across from the church, as well as street parking in the surrounding area, such as on Courthouse Square and on Greene Street.
Join us for an all-day movie marathon, featuring the work of Alfred Hitchcock. The event is free and open to the public (no registration required).
July 27, 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. at InnerSpace Brewing Company
2414 Clinton Avenue, Huntsville, AL
Pizza, beer, and soda will be available for purchase.
Femme fatales…
Hoodwinked leads…
The twist you never saw coming…
Hitchcock loved his movies tropes, and we do, too! While we watch the movies, grab a bingo card and play along. We’ll play all day, so come and go as needed.
On May 21, the City of Huntsville held the ribbon cutting for its new city hall. Multiple HMCHS board members were present for this historic day, and of course took the opportunity to get a selfie from within the new city hall with the “old” 1965 city hall in the background.
This “new” city hall features eleven custom Huntsville-related art pieces, many of which showcase our city’s history by incorporating well-known figures and location. These art installations will be highlighted in guided tours of City Hall the second Saturday of each month. Interested parties can find more information about these tours here: https://www.artshuntsville.org/news-second-saturday-city-hall-public-art-tours/
On May 8, severe weather throughout North Alabama produced multiple tornados, including an EF-1 that traveled through historic downtown neighborhoods and Maple Hill Cemetery. Thankfully, no lives were lost due to the tornado, but the damage to historic structures was significant. High winds and falling trees took a toll on homes in Twickenham, Old Town, and Five Points as well as on the grave markers and monuments within the cemetery.
HMCHS board members voted to donate $300 to the Huntsville Pilgrimage Association to assist in storm damage repairs. HPA is the group responsible for the Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll and other fundraisers in support of restoration efforts for the historical burial ground. The HMCHS donation will go towards expert repairs of damaged markers.
If you would like to make an individual donation, you can do so through their website.
May was Historic Preservation Month, with the Huntsville Historic Preservation Office hosting walking tours, a cocktail hour meetup, and other events to promote the importance of preserving historic places. These efforts also included a strong social media push to share fun facts and community opinions through the hashtag #peoplesavingplaceshsv.
Additionally, HMCHS president Heather Adkins and corresponding secretary SueAnne Griffith were both invited by the preservation office to share their thoughts on historic Huntsville sites and why local history is important to them. To view these and other Preservation Month interviews, click the links above or visit the City of Huntsville’s YouTube channel.
Location: Auditorium, Downtown Huntsville Library (915 Monroe Street)
Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m.
For the Summer Meeting on June 9, we are looking at the push for human rights through the lens of artistic media and institutions. We want to explore how the theater, comedy clubs, film, and other live performances are used for expressing political, social, and cultural platforms.
Director, Human Rights Film Festival, UAH
Clinical Assistant Professor,
Political Science Dept., UAH
Founders & Directors, Shenanigans Comedy Theatre (501c3)
The Center
The Weird Kids meetups
President, Theatre Huntsville
Founding Board Member, Lyrique Music Productions
with a historical introduction by
Independent Researcher
Creator, Researcher, & Host,
Lily Flagg’s Signal Podcast
Photo credit: White Rabbit Studios