| Alabama Celebrates 180 Years! |
Dateline: 12/14/99
It was chilly Tuesday night, but what a privilege to take time out of the busy holiday season to commemorate the birth of our state. It remains to be answered why our forefathers were busy drawing up the Constitution of Alabama in Huntsville in 1819 instead of Christmas shopping, but I'm glad they did.
Hundreds of Huntsvillians filed into the roped off outline of the state on Gates Avenue and helped light the "human birthday cake" the EarlyWorks Museum had created. In attendance was Mayor Loretta Spencer, a representative from the governor's office, city and county officials. Lee High School's choir sang the state song, appropriately named "Alabama." The Discovery Middle School band played "Happy Birthday" as the battery operated candles of the living birthday cake were lit and held high.
To denote the solemn occasion, we got a treat from the past as a reenactment of a speech by John W. Walker, from Madison County and President of the convention, was performed. Alabama was no longer a territory, but admitted as the 22nd state into the United States.
Afterwards, the crowd was treated to birthday cake and hot cider in Huntsville's Constitution Village, a living history museum that not only tells the story of Alabama's statehood, but includes The Center for Early Southern Life. Costumed guides and hostesses and candlelight added to the authenticity of the 1800's.
Huntsville was depicted in 1819 as the oldest and biggest town in the Tennessee Valley. It became the first capital of Alabama, with three others following: Cahawba, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery. More information on the history of Alabama can be found in Three Capitals: A Book About the First Three Capitals of Alabama by William Brantley.
Alabama's first governor was William Wyatt Bibb, a Georgia physician with powerful friends in Washington. While Huntsville was the capital, the House met in the courthouse, and the Senate is believed to have met in the house of John K. Dunn.
One of the joys of living in Huntsville is visiting the Historical District of town and participating in dedications and celebrations of the Southern life.
Alabama
Constitution Village
Visit 8 reconstructed federal buildings and step into
the 19th century on this tour. Information, prices, field trips,
and maps available.
Alabama's
Constitutions
Find out more about the 6 Constitutions in Alabama's
history.
Capitals
of Alabama
Information and pictures of the five capitals Alabama
has had as a territory and as a state.
Early
Works
Four distinct museums—the EarlyWorks
Museum, Alabama Constitution Village, the Historic Huntsville
Depot, and the Alabama Decorative Arts Center.
Governor of
Alabama
Governor Don
Siegelman's site is currently under construction. The bio, email,
and contact information is up and working. Check back often for
additions.
Journal of 1819 Constitutional Convention
Photocopies of the journal kept during the
Constitutional Convention in Huntsville from the Alabama
Department of Archives and History.
Members of the Constitutional Convention
Original handwritten document of attendees at the
Convention.
