FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Contact:
Andi Martin, Marketing and Public Relations Manager
andi.martin@ahc.alabama.gov, 334-230-2680
August 18, 2020
Alabama Adds Three Properties to the National
Register of Historic Places
(Montgomery, AL)
The Alabama Historical Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, is
pleased to announce three Alabama properties that have been added to the
National Register of Historic Places: Bricklayers Hall in Montgomery,
Montgomery County; The Alabama Book Store in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County; and
Vanity Fair Park in Monroeville, Monroe County.
The National Register of Historic
Places is the nation's official list of cultural resources, worthy of
preservation. Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of
1966, the National Register is part of a nationwide program to coordinate
and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our
historic and archaeological places. Properties listed in the NR include
districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in
American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture at the
local, state, and/or national level. Alabama has more than 1,250
properties in the National Register.
“The National
Register properties in Alabama tell an incredibly rich and diverse story of who
we are as people, where we’ve been as a culture, and where we are going as a
community,” said Lisa D. Jones, State Historic Preservation Officer and
Executive Director Alabama Historical Commission. “Through the advocacy of
citizens and the Alabama Historical Commission, we hope these resources and
their legacies remain for generations to come.”
Bricklayers
Hall, 530 South Union Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County
The neon letters
of “Bricklayer’s Hall” stretch across a blue ribbon of signage on an unassuming
brick building along South Union Street in Montgomery. Commuters in the Capitol
City may have often passed the modest structure without knowing the magnitude
of its worth as a key backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. Bricklayers
Hall is significant at the national, state, and local levels as the
headquarters of the Montgomery Improvement Association from February
1956 (about three months after the organization formed and the Montgomery
Bus Boycott began) until 1960. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had an
office in the building, as did the Montgomery Improvement Association’s
administrative staff: Maude Ballou, Erna Dungee, and Hazel
Gregory. The building also hosted meetings and provided workspace during
the boycott.
The building was
constructed in 1955 by the Bricklayers Union No. 3, a local African
American labor union that was established before 1900. It contains a meeting
hall and offices on the second floor, as well as two office suites on the first
floor that the union rented out. It is located in the Centennial Hill
neighborhood - the most prosperous African American neighborhood in Montgomery
between 1904 and 1908.
Bricklayers Hall
was also nominated for its association with civil rights Attorney Charles S.
Conley, Jr., who had his offices in the building from 1961 to 1965. During
this period, Conley worked on several important civil rights cases. He defended
the Freedom Riders who protested segregation in buses and bus terminals
and challenged racial segregation in Montgomery’s public libraries and the
exclusion of African Americans from trial juries. In 1964, he appeared before
the U.S. Supreme Court as an attorney for four African American
ministers who were sued by public officials because their names appeared on an
advertisement in the New York Times that criticized the
officials’ response to civil rights protests. The case, New York Times v.
Sullivan, resulted in a landmark ruling that protected the rights of
journalists and activists to criticize public officials.
The legal owner of
the site is Ms. Anoo Kaushik. Her husband, Dr. Suresh Kaushik was
the primary contact regarding the nomination. Alabama Department of Tourism
Director Lee Sentell and Congresswoman Terri Sewell submitted
letters in support of the nomination, as did Alabama State Representative
Thad McClammy, who was closely involved in the nomination effort.
The Alabama Book
Store, 1015
University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County
The retail site
has not always featured its familiar crimson awning, but the impact block
lettering of Alabama Book Store has welcomed collegians seeking supplies
and textbooks for nearly 80 years. Three generations of the Jones family have
owned the retailer, which is currently known as Bamastuff. Located on “the
Strip” in Tuscaloosa, AL and adjacent to The University of
Alabama, the Alabama Book Store was established in 1938 and opened in the University
Boulevard location in 1942. The property was nominated for its local
significance as the longest-operating collegiate bookstore in Tuscaloosa.
According to the nomination, written by Gene Ford, “the Alabama Book Store has
been an integral part of the educational experience at the University of
Alabama” for more than 80 years. The Alabama Book Store not only provided books
and supplies but also hired students to work in the store. Over the years, the
business adapted to changes in the university curriculum, in technology, and in
students’ needs. It was also one of the first commercial buildings in
Tuscaloosa to install air conditioning, which cooled the bookstore when it
opened in 1942.
The Alabama Book
Store was also recognized for its architectural significance. The building was
designed by notable Alabama architect David O. Whilldin (1881-1970) and
is an excellent example of Depression Modern architecture in Tuscaloosa.
The building’s symmetrical limestone façade and simple ornamentation are
typical of this style.
Vanity Fair
Park, 271 Park Drive, Monroeville, Monroe County
Scenic Vanity
Fair Park in Monroeville, AL was established in 1948 through a
partnership between Vanity Fair Mills, Inc. and local residents. The
park spans nearly 20 acres and includes an artificial lake, a picnic pavilion,
tennis courts, the 1952 Community House, and the site of a swimming pool that
was constructed in 1963 after the lake was closed for swimming. The site
illustrates the important role that Vanity Fair Mills played in the development
of Monroeville between 1948 and 1980, when the company donated the park to the City
of Monroeville. In the 1950s and 1960s, town boosters touted the park as
one of the community’s best features.
It was the only
park in Monroeville until the mid-1960s, when the City of Monroeville
established Clausell Park, which was open to African Americans, who had
been excluded from Vanity Fair Park. The City’s acquisition of Vanity Fair Park
in 1980 was a milestone in the development of municipal recreation in the
community.
The facility
provides a variety of outdoor activities such as fishing, picnic pavilion, walking
trail, and Community House. The park was donated to the City by Vanity Fair
Foundation. The park was created under the direction of M. O. “Whitey” Lee
who was a resident of Monroeville, a trustee for the Foundation and Chairman of
VF Corporation until his death on March 5, 1962. The park was later renamed in
his honor. This nomination was funded by a Certified Local Government
grant from the National Park Service to the City of Monroeville.
For more information about the National Register, or to learn
how to begin the process of nominating a property, please visit www.ahc.alabama.gov.
About the
Alabama Historical Commission
Located in historic downtown
Montgomery at 468 S. Perry Street, the Alabama Historical Commission is the
state historic preservation agency for Alabama. The agency was created by an
act of the state legislature in 1966 with a mission to protect,
preserve and interpret Alabama’s historic places. AHC works to accomplish its mission
through two fields of endeavor: Preservation and promotion of state-owned
historic sites as public attractions; and, statewide programs to assist people,
groups, towns, and cities with local preservation activities. For a complete
list of programs and properties owned and operated by the AHC, hours of
operation, and admission fees please visit ahc.alabama.gov.