Alabama Authors

Category: All

  • ARMES, ETHEL MARIE, 1876-1945.

    Biography: Reporter; novelist. Born– December 1, 1876, Washington, D.C. Parents– George Augustus and Lucy Hamilton (Kerr) Armes. Education– attended private schools in Washington, D.C. Employed as a reporter for the Chicago Chronicle, Washington Post, and Birmingham Post-Herald. Edited Advance Magazine in Birmingham in 1906; reported on the history and resources of the Alabama mineral belt…

  • CLARK, JOHN BUNYAN, 1884-1983

    Biography: College Administrator. Born– June 6, 1884, Hamilton. Parents– Henry Turner and Missouri Ann (Carpenter) Clark. Married– Lillie Pearce, 1911. Children– One. Education– Alabama Polytechnic Institute, B.S., 1907; Vanderbilt University, M.A., 1910; Harvard University, A.M., 1911; New York University, Ph.D., 1926; graduate work at Columbia, Michigan State and University of Chicago. Principal of schools in…

  • CASH, McKINLEY, 1897-1988

    Biography: Metallurgist; poet. Born– August 30, 1897, Lamar County. Parents– Brian A. and Sara Virginia (Trull) Cash. Married– Ovella Clara Sherrill, May 4, 1926. Children– Three. Education– State Secondary Agricultural School in Hamilton, 1921; attended Troy State College; graduated from the University of Alabama, 1935. “Ran away” when he was eighteen years old; volunteered for military…

  • ANDERTON, HENRY LAFAYETTE, 1886-1955.

    Biography: Lawyer. Born– August 24,1886,  Estill Springs, Tenn. Parents– W. W. and Bettie (Freeman) Anderton. Married– Elizabeth Chew, November 11, 1915. Children– five. Education– Cumberland University, Bachelor of Laws. Practiced law in Birmingham after 1914. Served as a city judge in Birmingham; special assistant to the Attorney General of Alabama. Ran as a Democratic candidate for the…

  • ALLISON, ELIZABETH HARRIET KELLY, 1891-1990

    Biography: Teacher; genealogist. Born– September 11, 1891, Kelly’s Chapel, Washington County, Va. Parents– William Keys and Annie Ryburn (Smyth) Kelly. Married– Fred Allison, August 24, 1915. Lived in Auburn 1922-1990. Children– Two. Education– Emory and Henry College. Taught in the schools of Virginia. Died April 9, 1990. Source: Files at Ralph Brown Draughon Library, Auburn…

  • AKIN, EUGENIA THOMPSON, 1903-1996

    Biography: Civic leader; volunteer. Born– October 7, 1903. Parents– R. DuPont and Maude (Massey) Thompson. Education– Agnes Scott College. Married– John M. Akin, Sr. Children– Three. Worked as Parent Education Chairman of the Birmingham PTA Council; taught English to internationals at Southside Baptist Church in Birmingham. Member of the Alabama Writers Conclave and of the…

  • AINSWORTH, CHARLES HAROLD, 1935-

    Biography: Anthropologist; college professor. Born– April 1, 1935, Shreveport, Louisiana. Parents–Ottis W. and Fern Clark Ainsworth. Married– Winnie Tew, January 20, 1964.   Children– Three. Education– Northwestern State University, A.B., 1959, M.A., 1964; University of Alabama, Ed.D., 1975; University of Washington, Ph.D., 1982. Served as Latter Day Saints missionary to Brazil, 1959 to 1962; grade school teacher…

  • MARTIN, EMILY, 1944-

    Biography: Anthropologist; professor of anthropology. Born– November 7, 1944, Birmingham. Parents– Henry M. and Zoe (Martin) Godschalk. Married– Dennis Ahern, May 11, 1966. Education– University of Michigan, B.A., 1966; Cornell University, Ph.D., 1971. Assistant professor of anthropology, Yale University, 1972-74; Johns Hopkins 1974-1994; Princeton, 1994-2001; currently a professor of socio-anthropology at New York University. Founding editor of the…

  • ADAMS, GEORGE IRVING, 1870-1932

    Biography: Geologist; professor of geology and mineralogy.  Born– August 17, 1870, Lena, Illinois.  Parents–  Howard Brooks and Ruth Ann (Harris) Adams.  Married– Bertha Barin, 1914. Education– Kansas State Normal School, Emporia, graduated 1889; University of Kansas, B. A., 1893, M.A.,. 1895; Princeton University, Doctor of Science, 1896; postdoctoral study in Munich, Germany, 1897-98., and at…

  • CRANE, MARY POWELL, 1860-

    Biography: Writer. Born– February 19, 1860, Montgomery. Parents– James R. and Mary (Smythe) Powell.  (James R. Powell was one of the founders of the City of Birmingham and its first elected mayor, 1873-75.) Education:  taught at home by her mother, formerly a teacher at St. Wilfrid’s Episcopal School in Marion.  Lived in Europe for several…

  • RUTLAND, JAMES RICHARD, 1879-1948

    Biography: Professor of English, librarian. Born– November 8, 1879, Fredonia, Ala. Parents– John Blake and Eugenia (Askew) Rutland. Married– Hulda Mary Horton.  Children– 3.  Education– Alabama Polytechnic Institute, B.S. (1900), M.S. (1901); Harvard, B.A. (1904); further study at the University of Chicago.  Teacher in seconday schools, 1901-1903; instructor in English and math at API, 1904-05;…

  • GAMBLE, ROBERT S., 1943-

    Biography: Architectural historian; preservationist. Born August 24, 1943. Education– Birmingham Southern College, B.S., University of Georgia, M.A., 1967. Worked in National Preservation Office of Dominican Republic for two and one-half years while serving in Peace Corps. Joined the staff of the National Park Service in 1969; worked with U.S. National Register of Historic Places and…

  • ALDRIDGE, GARET VAN ANTWERP, 1913-2000

    Biography: Banker. Born– September 21, 1913, Mobile. Parents– John Forniss and Sarah Catherine (Van Antwerp) Aldridge. Married– Sarah Redfield Plumb, July 13, 1944. Children– Two. Education– University of Alabama, 1935; degree from the School of Banking at Rutgers University, 1955. Began work at the Merchants National Bank in Mobile in 1935. Belonged to the Alabama…

  • AKENS, DAVID STRODE, 1921-2012

    Biography: Writer, editor, publisher. Born– April 16, 1921, Lost Creek, Ky. Parents– Claude Neuman and Nellie Geneva (Strode) Akens. Married– Helen Morgan, August 21, 1953. Education– University of Miami, A.B., 1951; University of Alabama, M.A., 1956. Served in the U.S. Army Air Force, 1943-1946. Taught in Lost Creek, Ky., 1947-1949; edited Benham Magazine for International…

  • ADAMS, BERTHELL TULLIS, 1909-1997

    Biography: Teacher. Born– October 22, 1909, Fort Payne. Parents– Cazzie Nathaniel and Bessie Lee (Austin) Tullis. Education– DeKalb County High School; Jacksonville State University, diploma for completion of the two year course, 1937, B.S, 1953. Married– Mitchell Adams, 1935. Children– Two. Taught school in Alabama, 1937-1969; sponsored the Ider High School Poetry Society, 1960-1972; compiled…

  • MANLY, LOUISE, 1857-1936

    Biography: Teacher; textbook author. Born– Richmond, Va., July 10, 1857. Parents– Basil Manly, Jr. and Charlotte (Whitfield) Manly. Education– United States and abroad. Employed as teacher in various parts of the South. Died January 2, 1936. Source: Biographical Dictionary of Southern Authors; Dictionary of North American Authors. Publication(s): A History of Alabama for Children. S.l.;…

  • MALONE, DAVID HENRY, 1919-2003

    Biography: Literary scholar; university professor, administrator. Born– August 9, 1919, Washington, D.C. Parents– Maurice Drummond and Clara (Hanna) Malone. Married– Alice Bond Wells, August 15, 1942. Children– Three. Education– A.B., 1940; Ph.D., 1948, University of North Carolina. Taught English at Auburn University, 1948-1962; University of Southern California, 1962-1983; (at USC served as chairman of the English Department…

  • MALLON, JOHN H., JR., 1910-1976

    Biography: Harbor pilot; genealogist. Born– May 21, 1910, Mobile. Parents– John H. and Rachel Eldora (Previto) Mallon. Married– Lucille Simms. Children– Three. Employed by U.S. Corps of Engineers; master and pilot, Mobile Harbor, Mobile Towing Company, October 2, 1972.  Died August 1976. Source: Beverly Mallon Taylor, Mobile, Ala. Joint_Compiler: Bay and Bayou Burials, Vols. 1-2.…

  • AGEE, RUCKER, 1897-1985

    Biography: Investment banker; historian; civic leader. Born– October 22, 1897, Birmingham. Parents– Walter Claybrook and Louise (Rucker) Agee. Married– Margaret Dixon Minge, March 27, 1927. Children– Two. Education– University of Alabama, B.S., 1919. U.S. Army, WWI. A principal in the investment securities firm Sterne, Agee and Leach, Inc. from 1919.  Member and leader of many…

  • ADAMS, HENRY WELCH, 1898-1973

    Biography: Literary scholar; professor of English. Born– April 2, 1898, Bonham, Tex. Education– Southern Methodist University, A.B., 1921; Columbia University, A.M., 1929. Taught English at Southern Methodist, 1921-1926; Columbia University, 1927-1928; Auburn University, 1928-1946; Georgia Institute of Technology, 1946 until his retirement. Died October 3, 1973. Source: Directory of American Scholars, 1969. Publication(s): Elements of…

  • JENKINS, FERRELL, 1936-

    Biography: Clergyman, college professor of Bible; organizer of tours to Bible lands. Born– January 3, 1936, Huntsville. Parents– B. M. and Vera (Mann) Jenkins. Married– Elizabeth A. Williams, December 16, 1954. Children– Two. Education– Florida College, A.A., 1957; Harding Graduate School of Religion, M.A., 1971. Church of Christ minister, St. Louis, Mo., 1958-1962; Bowling Green,…

  • JAMES, ROBERT LESLIE, 1897-1977

    Biography: Teacher, botanist, historian. Born– March 2, 1897, near Russellville. Parents– Aaron A. and Ollie Virginia (Bendall) James. Education– Florence State Teachers College, 1929.  Public school teacher. Contributed articles on botany to numerous periodicals, particularly on the occurrence and growth of the Carolina hemlock in the Southeast. The material on which his book Colbertians is based…

  • JAMES, POWHATAN WRIGHT, 1880-1956

    Biography: College president; Baptist clergyman, teacher. Born– December 29, 1880, Virginia. Parents; Fleet H. and Harriet Elizabeth Kelly James. Married– Jessie Jenkins Truett (daughter of prominent Baptist minister George W. Truett). Children– Three. Practiced law in Virginia before entering the clergy. Education– Seminary in Alabama, graduated 1913. Pastor of churches in Selma; Dallas, Tex.; Nashville, Tenn.;…

  • JACOWAY, WILLIAM VAN, 1873-1967

    Biography:  Businessman; civic and political leader. Born– July 30, 1873, Lebanon, Ala. Parents– Thomas Reed and Lucinda Jennie (Baxter) Jacoway.   Married–Minnie Mae Moody, 1897.  Children–three. Education–  Winchester Normal College, Tenn.; graduated 1894. Taught school several years; served as assistant postmaster and then postmaster at Fort Payne.  Owned department store, Jacoway & Hamilton’s, 1926-1960. Member; Fort Payne City Council;…

  • LEE, LAWRENCE HAYWOOD, JR., 1903-1978

    Biography: University professor, writer. Born– January 3, 1903, Gadsden. Parents– Lawrence Haywood and Augusta (Alston) Lee. Married– Musier Taintor, December 19, 1933 (died 1968). Married– Grace Kerr Shields, June 28, 1969. Children– One. Education– University of Virginia, B.S., 1924; Harvard University, M.A., 1938. Military service:  U.S.Navy, WWII. Taught French at the University of Virginia, 1930-1942; magazine…

  • JACKSON, WALTER MAHAN, 1898-1956

    Biography: Teacher, educational administrator. Born– March 5, 1898, Kentucky. Parents– Dave and Katherine Mahan Jackson.  Married– Anna Bell Seymour. Children– Three. Education– Georgetown College, Kentucky, A.B.; Columbia University, M.A. Major, U. S. Army, WWII. Worked for Selma public schools, 1920-1942; principal of Selma Junior and Selma Senior High School; acting superintendent of education, 1937; superintendent, 1938;  superintendent…

  • JOHNSON, DOROTHY SCOTT, 1931-

    Biography; Executive secretary; genealogist.  Born– February 21, 1931, Putnam County, Mo.  Parents–  Clark Scott and Dulcie Mildred Ward Scott.  Married– Walter H. Johnson, November 30, 1963.  Children–Two.  Education– Wichita Business College; University of Alabama in Huntsville.  Held executive secretarial positions with oil, insurance, and aerospace firms in Wichita;  owner and operator, Johnson Historical Publications.  Editor, Valley…

  • JOHNSON, GOLDA WATSON, 1915-1999.

    Biography; Teacher.  Born– June 17, 1915, Joppa, Al.  Parents– Samuel and Alice (Humphries) Watson.  Married– Kermit A. Johnson, March 21, 1932.  One child.  University of Alabama, B. S., 1950; M.A., 1958.  Teacher in elementary schools of Garden City and Mountain Brook, Al., and at Kate Duncan Smith DAR School, Grant, Al.  Critic teacher (supervisor of practice…

  • JOHNSON, EUGENE HARPER, 1916-2016

    Biography; Illustrator; painter; violinist.  Born– Birmingham, July 6, 1916. Parents–James and Ida Wade Johnson.  Married– Mildred Anita Daniels.  Children– three.  Married– Sahira Tamira Malik. Education– Birmingham schools; studied music and art in France at the Studio of Gene Paul Lawrence and at the Academie Julian; studied at the Art Institute of Chicago; Pratt Institute; and the National…

  • FREEMAN, RICHARD BORDEN, 1908-1986

    Art curator, university professor, editor. Born– October 7, 1908, Philadelphia. Parents– Walter Jackson and Corinne (Keen) Freeman. Married– Barbara Ames Burditt, 1937.  Children– Three. Education– Yale University, A.B., 1932; Harvard University, M.A., 1934. Employed by the Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Mo., 1934-1936; Fogg Museum of Art, Cambridge, Mass., 1936-1938; Cincinnati Art Museum, 1938-1941;…

  • JACKSON, SIDNEY WARREN, SR., 1901-1986

    Biography: Businessman, columnist. Born– August 19, 1901, Glenwood. Parents– Abner Dozier and Telitha Cumi (Henderson) Jackson. Married– Myra Petrey, March 7, 1924. Children– Three. Married– Allie Carroll Murphree, September 28, 1968. Education– Glenwood Public School; University of Alabama. Employed by the W.L. Petrey Wholesale Co., 1924-. His book is a selection of columns published over…

  • JENKINS, NELLIE MORRIS, 1894-1963

    Biography: Teacher, educational administrator; genealogist. Born– 1894, Old Morrisville in Calhoun County. Parents– Elbert Green Morris, Jr., and Jennie (Yarbrough) Morris. Married– Bertram Andrew Jenkins of Emelle, Ala., June 29, 1923. Children– Two. Education– Jacksonville State College, 1915; University of Alabama. Taught at St Clair County High School; Choctaw County High School; principal of Elementary…

  • JENKINS, FLORENCE SMITH, 1904-1998

    Biography: Businesswoman. Born– May 21, 1904, Selma. Parents– R.A.P. and Ernestine (Blue) Smith. Married– George Lewis Jenkins, II, November 8, 1921. Children– Two. Assisted her husband for twenty years in running a game preserve on the old James plantation at Letohatchee, Ala., and wrote a dozen stories during this time which were published in Field…

  • JACK, THEODORE HENLEY, 1881-1964

    Biography: College president; professor; administrator. Born– December 30, 1881, Bellevue, Alabama.  Parents– James M. and Mary Henley (Spencer) Jack. Married– Alice Searcy Ashley, November 9, 1910. Children– Two. Education– University of Alabama, A.B., 1902, A.M., 1903; Harvard University, A.M., 1908; University of Chicago, Ph.D., 1915. Taught at Sewanee Grammar School at the University of the South,…

  • JACKSON, DOROTHY LOUISA GREENLEE, 1911-1997

    Biography: Secretary; court reporter; businesswoman; writer. Born– February 19, 1911, Hamburg, Iowa. Parents– Henry Oliver and Mattie (Landreth) Greenlee. Married– Fred Knox Jackson, October 3, 1944. Legal secretary, Auburn, Nebraska, 1927-1929; secretary, Kansas City, Mo., 1929-1933; correspondent, Washington, 1933-1936, and Kansas City, 1936-1940; freelance court and contract reporter, St. Louis, 1940-1944, and Prattville, Ala.; for the Alabama…

  • JACKSON, CARLTON LUTHER, 1933-2014

    Biography: Historian; college professor. Born– January 15, 1933, Sand Mountain, Blount County. Parents– Luther H. and Winnie (Forrester) Jackson. Married– Patricia Dow, 1954. Children– Four. Education– Birmingham Southern College, B.A., M.A., 1959; University of Georgia, Ph.D., 1963; graduate study at Exeter College of Oxford University, 1966.  Served in the U.S. Air Force, 1951-1954.  Reporter for the Birmingham Post…

  • MANN, MALCENA CATHERINE CLEEK, 1921-1993.

    Biography: Genealogist; government employee. Born– May 1, 1921, Cleek’s Mill, Bath County, Va. Parents– George Washington and Seraphine Catherine (Ritenour) Cleek. Married– Robert Neville Mann, May 14, 1949. Children– One. Education– Mary Washington College; graduate work, American University. Employed by War Department, 1940-1949. Member– Daughters of the American Revolution, Huguenot Society of Tennessee.  Died August…

  • DiORIO, DOROTHY MAY, 1932-

    Biography: Linguist; University professor. Born– November 17, 1932, York, Pa. Parents–Joseph and Nevada Diehl DiOrio. Education– Bucknell University, B.A., 1954; Middlebury College, M.A., 1960; University of North Carolina, Ph.D., 1971. Taught at Neshaminy, Pa., High School, 1954-1958; La Chatelaine, St. Blaise, Switzerland, 1956-1957; the  American School of Paris, 1957-1962;  American School of Munich, 1962-1965; University…

  • DINOFF, MICHAEL, 1933-1982

    Biography: Psychologist. Born– April 30, 1933, New York. Parents– David and Dorothy (Schwartz) Dinoff. Married– Sondra Miselson, June 27, 1953. Children– Three. Education– Indiana University, B.A., 1955; University of Alabama, M.S., 1957; University of Tennessee, Ph.D., 1960. Held various assistant teaching and training positions in Knoxville and Bristol, Tennessee, and at Birmingham, Alabama, 1955-1961; research psychologist for…

  • PAYNE, ROBERT PRINCE, 1911- 1975.

    Biography: Baptist minister. Born– July 29, 1911, Woodstock, Ga. Parents– William D. and Laura Payne.  Married– Ruby Farmer. Children– One. Education– Mercer University, Columbia Bible College in Columbia, S.C. Pastor in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.  Died December 1975. Source: Sheens in the Shadows. Publication(s): Sheens in the Shadows; Poetry. Birmingham, Ala.; Birmingham Printing Co.,…

  • PATTERSON, RICHARD NORTH, 1947-

    Biography: Novelist; attorney. Born– February 2, 1947, Berkeley, Calif. Parents– Richard W. and Marjorie Frances (North) Patterson. Married– Judith Anne Riggs, January 12, 1974. Children– Two. Education– Ohio Wesleyan University, B.A., 1968; Case-Western Reserve University, J.D., 1971; creative writing classes at the University of Alabama. Admitted to Ohio Bar, 1971, Washington, D.C., 1973, and Alabama;…

  • PARR, JOHNSTONE, 1911-1991

    Biography: University professor. Born– May 5, 1911, Washington, D.C. Married– 1935. Children– Four. Education– University of Alabama A.B., 1935; A.M., 1936; Vanderbilt University, Ph.D., 1941. Taught at the University of Alabama, 1938-1939, and 1941-1962; Kent State University, 1962-1978. Member of the Modern Language Association and the Shakespeare Association of America.  Died May 30, 1991. Source:…

  • RYAN, ROBERTA, 1921-

    Biography: Educator, Baptist missionary, editor, writer. Born– May 14, 1921, Morgan County, Ala. Education– Florence State University, B.S.; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, M.R.E. Band director, teacher, director Spanish International MMU publications; missionary to Chile; press representative Baptist Spanish Pub. House Mission; editor Spanish publications; journalist. Source: SCRIPSIT. Publication(s): El A.B.C. Misionero. El Paso, Tex.; Baptist…

  • RIDGELY, JOSEPH VINCENT, 1921-

    Biography; University Professor.  Born 1921, Montgomery.  Parents– Raymond G. and Eelje (Scriven) Ridgely.  Married– Janetta Somerset, 1956.  Children–one.  Education;  University of Florida, B. A., 1942, M.A., 1946;  Johns Hopkins University, Ph. D., 1956.  Military service; U.S. Army Air Force, 1942-45.  Instructor, Johns Hopkins, 1946-58; Columbia University, 1958-   .  Frequent contributor to professional journals;  book reviewer…

  • CRUMPTON, WASHINGTON BRYAN, 1842-1926

    Biography: Baptist minister; denominational executive.  Born– February 24, 1842, Camden. Parents– Henry Tally and Matilda Smith (Bryan) Crumpton. Married– Ellen Cochran, 1872; Florence Harris, 1910. Education– Georgetown College, Kentucky, for two years.  Served in Co. H., 37th Mississippi Infantry, CSA. Ordained into the Baptist ministry, 1870; Corresponding secretary; Baptist Mission Board of Alabama for twenty…

  • CRUMPTON, ETHEL HOWARD, 1883-1975.

    Biography: School administrator, teacher. Born– January 13, 1883, near Tuskegee. Parents– John Perry and Harriet Blanche (Parkinson) Howard. Married– Howard Ulmer Crumpton. Children– Two. Education– Graduated from Alabama Conference Female College, 1900; Peabody College, A.B., 1924; M.A., 1925. Supervisor of Walker County Schools, 1925-1935; supervisor Marengo County Schools, 1935-1938; taught at Carlowville High School, 1935-1947.  Died…

  • ROBERTS, THOMAS KEENER, 1870-1957.

    Biography: Teacher, tutor, Methodist minister. Born– October 1, 1870, Jefferson County. Parents– Thomas Parkus and Nancy Caroline (Morris) Roberts. Married– Sue Euphemia Stone, December 6, 1899. Education– Southern University, A.B.; M.A., 1894; Vanderbilt University. Employed as a tutor at Southern University for two years; principal of Columbia Fitting School. Licensed to preach, 1895; supply minister…

  • ROBERT, KATE AYERS, 1859-1941

    Biography: Teacher, song writer. Born– February 7, 1859, Mobile. Parents– William Thomas and Julia Ann (Crooker) Ayers. Married– Paul Jones Robert, November 24, 1879. Education– Cathedral Parish in Mobile; Springfield, Massachusetts, Home Correspondence School, 1919. Taught at Mrs. C. Mullekin School, 1892. Member, later president, of the Mobile Branch of the League American Penwomen and…

  • RUSH, ANNE KENT,1945-

    Biography; Author; illustrator; therapist; editor/publisher.  Born July 28, 1945, Mobile.  Parents– George Le Grand and Cynthia (Boyd Williams) Rush.  Education; Wayne State University, B.A., 1967.  Trade copywriter for Little, Brown Publishers, 1968; staff teacher, Esalen Institute, San Francisco, 1970-72; art editor, Bookworks Publishers, 1970-73; member of organizing collective, Center for Feminist Consciousness, San Francisco, 1973-75;…

  • SAFFOLD, MILDRED REYNOLDS, 1870-1961

    Biography; Poet,  lecturer.  Born; November 14, 1871, Bullock County.  Parents;  William James and Julianna Elizabeth (Holloway) Reynolds.  Married; William Arthur Saffold.  Children–six.  Educated at private schools, including Chilton College, a private school operated in Montgomery 1866-1882.  Died July 18, 1861. Source; Owen’s History of Alabama. Author; Pickaninny Pickups. Sugar Babe:  A Sketch of Plantation Life…