Wednesday, May 2, 2018

On the Trail of Treasures and Secrets from the Past


The first day of May in Montgomery, Alabama was such a beautiful day for me and my personal chauffeur, Susan Hoke Cleveland! We visited the Alabama State Archives for a day of research and a bit of sight-seeing. The Archives building and the research library are wonderful places to visit. 

The Alabama Department of Archives and History was established on February 27, 1901. According to the enabling legislation, one of the purposes of the department was " The collection of materials bearing upon the history of the state and of the territory therein from the earliest times." 




Here I am with a bust of one of my heroes, George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver was an American botanist and inventor,  one of the most prominent scientists and inventors of his time, as well as a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute.


And here I am with Booker T. Washington. Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States between 1890 and 1915.


In one of the meeting rooms, Susan and I discovered a beautiful quilt collection. 
This quilt is called "Feathers and Flowers." 

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My purpose for visiting the archives was to do research for the book I'm currently working on, historical fiction based on events taking place in Birmingham in the early years of the 20th century. The beautiful, indomitable, and intrepid protagonist of this novel is my always kind, always fun-loving, adventurous grandmother, born in 1890, who was instrumental in shaping my views on justice, fairness, good times, and good literature! 





My grandmother, Dovie Mullins Satterfield.

Check back for news and updates as the plot thickens.



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