Summer 1994, Number 33

Summer 1994, Number 33
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Eugene Allen Smith and the Geological Survey of Alabama. Harnessing the Black Warrior River. Sloss Furnaces: A Story of Iron and the Men Who Made It. Voices of Industrial Workers from Alabama. The Birmingham Industrial Heritage District. Read article excerpts below. Eugene Allen Smith and the Geological Survey of Alabama by John C. Hall and Frances Osborn Robb When Eugene Allen Smith was named state geologist in 1873, he began taking extended summer trips into the Alabama backwoods, noting the natural resources in Alabama's land. His efforts to explore and define the geology of the state helped bring about an industrial revolution, the effects of which are still felt today. Authors Hall and Robb follow the course of Smith's career, from earning a Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg through the founding of the Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama's Smith Hall, a building named in his honor for the achievements of his influential career. Harnessing the Black Warrior River by Kenneth D. Willis After the Civil War, with the South's economy in decline, attention focused on coal mining and the use of the Black Warrior River. Improvements in the Black Warrior would allow shipping to the previously unnavigable north and improve the southern passage to Mobile. This article tells the story of the construction of the original 17 locks in the lock and dam system, completed in 1915 under Maj. Andrew Naef Damrell of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Though Tuscaloosa never became "the Pittsburgh of the South" as residents had hoped, the lock and dam system brought about a boom in Alabama's mineral belt economy, and continues to serve as an important transportation link connecting Tuscaloosa and Birmingham to Mobile and the world. Sloss Furnaces: A Story of Iron and the Men Who Made It by Paige Wainwright Birmingham's Sloss Furnaces have long been a symbol of the steel industry which created the "Magic City." And while Sloss Furnaces produced pig iron to feed the city's hungry foundries and mills, much more flowed through the furnaces than just iron: "A whole culture did, a whole way of life," one former worker said. This article tells of the industry at Sloss, noting racial and economic biases within the company, harsh and dangerous working conditions, and the unique measure taken by Birmingham residents to preserve and interpret Sloss as a modern day museum of that era. Voices From Alabama by J. Mack Lofton, Jr. These interviews, excerpts from J. Mack Lofton, Jr.'s Voices from Alabama: A Twentieth-Century Mosaic (University of Alabama Press, 1993), are the words of industrial workers and their families as they recall the troubles and triumphs of life in the Birmingham district. The Birmingham Industrial Heritage District" by Philip Morris and Marjorie White with Brenda Howell and Bill Jones Philip Morris, President of the Birmingham Historical Society, details the development of the Birmingham Industrial Heritage District in this article. The project's intent is to record, interpret, and promote the industrial-based history of the metropolitan region. Also along with plans for the district is a listing of district sites open to the public, from destinations in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa to smaller historical parks and museums in Walker, Shelby, Bibb and Jefferson counties.

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