Randolph, Ryland

Scrapbook, 1890s

(AR 413)

Ryland Randolph was born in 1835, in Mesopotamia, Alabama. His father, Victor M. Randolph, was a commodore in the U.S. Navy and later in the C.S.A. Navy. Ryland's mother died when he was young, and he was brought up by various relatives in Alabama. He also accompanied his father on several naval expeditions. Randolph attended the University of Alabama in the late 1850s. The owner of over fifty slaves, Randolph bought a plantation near Montgomery in 1858. He later sold his land for Confederate bonds and joined the Montgomery Mounted Rifles. Randolph served throughout the war, eventually rising to the rank of colonel. During Reconstruction Randolph developed a reputation as a Southern apologist and outspoken newspaper editor. He started his first newspaper, the Tuskaloosa Independent Monitor, in 1867. Randolph’s newspaper and brief legislative careers were studded with duels and other altercations with people he either offended or who offended him. His frequent targets included Reconstruction leaders, carpetbaggers, the leadership of the University of Alabama, and the Alabama Democratic Party. In the final days of Reconstruction, Randolph moved to Birmingham where he continued to write commentary for area newspapers. He died in Birmingham on May 7, 1903. This scrapbook of largely undated newspaper clippings covers the early-to-mid 1890s. In addition to miscellaneous clippings by what appears to be a variety of authors, the scrapbook contains both signed and pseudonymous writing of Randolph published in several Alabama newspapers. Also included in the scrapbook are recipes for various dishes and home remedies.

Size: 1 volume

Ray, Louise Crenshaw

Scrapbook, 1925-1935

(AR 579)

Louise Crenshaw Ray was born near Greenville, Alabama and lived in Birmingham. Ray's poetry was published in many magazines, including Commonweal and the Sewanee Review. She was a member of several national organizations, a founder, president (1932-1934), and treasurer (1944-1945) of the Poetry Society of America, a member of the Birmingham Branch of the National League of American Pen Women, and a member of the Birmingham Writers Club (correspondence secretary 1928-1929). Among her published collections of poetry are Color of Steel (1932), Secret Shoes (1939), Strangers on the Stairs (1944), and Autumn Token (posthumously, 1957). Ray died on October 23, 1956, in Birmingham. This scrapbook was compiled by staff of the Birmingham Public Library. In addition to newspaper and magazine clippings, the scrapbook includes several of Ray's poems, copies of photographs published in the newspaper, and a biographical sketch of the poet.

Size: 1 volume

Rowe, Mattie Bromsella

Papers, 1918 - 1953

(AR 1320)

Mattie Bromsella Rowe was born in Prattville, Alabama in 1890. She graduated from Tuskegee Institute and worked as secretary and for Oscar Adams, editor of the African American newspaper The Birmingham Reporter and grand chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. Rowe was active in the NAACP, the Girls Service League, the Children's Aid Society, and the National Negro Hospital Committee. When Adams died in 1946, Rowe took over writing the "What Negroes Are Doing" column for the Birmingham News. She wrote the regular feature until her death in 1953. Most of the materials in this collection are carbon copies of news stories and letters to family that Mattie Rowe wrote from 1944 to 1953 (there are no materials from 1950). The news stories, written for both the Birmingham Reporter and the Birmingham News, cover events in the African-American community. Rowe corresponded regularly with members of her large family. She was a clearinghouse of information, passing on news as she heard from or met with relatives.

Size: 1 box

Stanley, C. M.

Scrapbook, 1948-1959

(AR 578)

This scrapbook contains columns written by journalist C. M. Stanley on men and events of importance in Alabama. The columns appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser.

Size: 1 reel microfilm

Stantis, Scott

Birmingham News Editorial Cartoons, 1996-

(AR 1625)

This collection contains a small selection of original hand-drawn editorial cartoons by Birmingham News cartoonist Scott Stantis.

Size: 1 box

Tardy, Anne Southerne

Scrapbook, 1936-1937

(AR 481)

Anne Southern Tardy was an active member of many local organizations including the Birmingham Art Club, the Colonial Dames of America, and the Birmingham Branch of the National League of American Pen Women in which she served as an officer. Her Sun Through Window Shutters (1935) is a compilation of her poems published in various magazines and newspapers. Tardy died in Birmingham in 1934. This scrapbook contains of newspaper clippings documenting the celebration of National Poetry Week in Birmingham.

Size: 1 volume

Taylor, Elberta

“The Story of Birmingham”: A Series of Newspaper Articles, 1940s

(AR 735)

Size: 1 box

Ullman, Samuel

From the Summit of Years, Fourscore, "Youth," and Related Material

(AR 973)

Samuel Ullman was born in Germany in 1840 and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1852. They settled in Mississippi where nine years later Samuel Ullman served in the Confederate Army. He later married, started a business, and began what became a pattern of civic and religious activism that continued the rest of his life. In 1884, Ullman and his family moved to Birmingham, where he became a progressive leader during the city’s formative years. He served in numerous civic and community capacities, including eighteen years of service on the Birmingham Board of Education. Samuel Ullman died in Birmingham in 1924. Throughout his life, but particularly during his retirement, Ullman pursued an avocation as a poet. While in his seventies he wrote a poetic essay entitled "Youth" which became a favorite of General Douglas MacArthur. The General displayed a framed copy of the poem in his Tokyo office during the post-World War II administration of Japan. Through General MacArthur’s influence, "Youth" gained popularity in Japan. This collection includes a Japanese translation of From the Summit of Years and Fourscore; an undated reprint of the poem "Youth"; a videocassette of festivities in Japan in association with the publication of Summit and Fourscore in Japanese; a copy of Aunt Sister's Book containing letters from Ullman; and a few miscellaneous items of related material.

Size: 2 boxes

Van der Veer, Elizabeth

Papers, 1932-1947

(AR 1050)

These papers document the work of Birmingham author Elizabeth Van der Veer during the 1930s and 1940s. The collection includes correspondence with publishers, newspaper articles written by and about Van der Veer, magazines in which her stories appear and photographs.

Size: 1 box

Van der Veer, John Stewart

Papers, 1918

(AR 357)

John "Stewart" Van der Veer was born in Frankfort, Kentucky in 1893. He was raised in Kentucky and New Orleans. Van der Veer joined the Washington Artillery of New Orleans in order to participate in the Pershing Expedition into Mexico. When the United States entered World War I, Van der Veer joined the American Red Cross and went to the Italian Front as an ambulance driver. He wrote about his experiences in correspondence with his family during the war and later in his autobiography Walk in My Moccasins. In his letters, Van der Veer mentioned taking a member of his squad to a hospital in Milan. In Walk in My Moccasins, he related an encounter with this man and identified him as Ernest Hemingway. After the war he worked for the New Orleans The Time-Picayune and other newspapers before establishing an advertising agency in Birmingham in 1924. He published short stories in pulp fiction magazines and published three novels, Death For the Lady, Remembered April and Interlude at Pelican Bend. John Stewart Van der Veer died on December 27, 1966. This collection contains Van der Veer’s correspondence and writings, newspaper articles written about him, photographs, and a scrapbook.

Size: 4 boxes

Van der Veer, McClellan

Papers, 1935-1988

(AR 1051)

McClellan "Ted" Van der Veer was born in Frankfurt, Kentucky in 1895. He attended the University of Kentucky and Tulane University. In 1919, after serving in the Naval Reserves during World War I, Van der Veer became the city editor of the Lexington Herald. In 1920, he moved to New Orleans and served as city editor of the New Orleans Item. Before moving to Birmingham in 1925 to work with his family's advertising firm, Van der Veer also worked at the Enid, Oklahoma Daily News, the Kansas City Journal, and the New York Evening Post. He made his return to newspapers in 1933 and became the chief editorial writer for the Birmingham Age-Herald. In 1943, he was transferred to the Birmingham News as editorial editor. Van der Veer was named editor of the Birmingham News in 1955. He retired from the News in 1960 and died in New York City in 1961. This collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, biographical sketches, an unpublished play entitled “Gaust” and an unpublished novel entitled “No Other Victory.”

Size: 2 boxes

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