Alabama and the Borderlands: From Prehistory To Statehood

Preface

Preface This book was born of a concern with Alabama's past and the need to explore and explain that legacy, so often hidden by the veils of time, ignorance, or misunderstanding. In I98I The University of Alabama celebrated its I50th anniversary, and each College contributed to the celebration by sponsoring a special symposium . The College of Arts and Sciences decided to bring together the nation's leading scholars on the prehistory and early history of Alabama and the Southeastern United States, and for two memorable days in September I98I several hundred interested listeners heard those scholars present their interpretations of Alabama's remarkable past. The organizers of the symposium deliberately chose to focus on Alabama's history before statehood. Alabama as a constituent state of the Old South is well known. Alabama as a home of Indian cultures and civilizations of a high order, as an object of desire, exploration, and conquest in the sixteenth century, and as a borderland disputed by rival European nationalities for almost 300 years is less well known. We trust the following essays prove as interesting, enlightening, and provocative to the casual reader as to the professional scholar, for we intended to reach for Everyman's attention in exploring among the artifacts and documents that reveal the realities and romance of that older Alabama. The College of Arts and Sciences symposium, "Alabama and the PREFACE Borderlands," found its genesis in three principal areas: the administration of the College, the Department of History, and among the anthropologists on campus. In the Dean's Office, Douglas E. Jones and Reid Badger, Dean and Assistant Dean respectively, initiated the project and supplied the momentum from the beginning. From anthropology, Richard A. Krause and Joseph o. Vogel provided the principal ideas and suggestions for the first and second sections, and Lawrence A. Clayton, in history, suggested most of the participants for the third section. Krause subsequently contributed the introductory essay to the first section and Badger and Clayton edited the volume for publication. Many individuals and organizations beyond the immediate University community contributed time or money (or both) as the project evolved from idea to symposium to book, and we gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the following gracious people and kind organizations: the Alabama Alumni Association, the Alabama Archaeological Society, the Committee for the Humanities in Alabama , Mr. Jack Warner of Gulf States Paper Corporation, Sr. D. Roberto Bermudez of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Embassy of Spain, and Mr. Wilton Dillon of the Smithsonian Institution . Donna Peters, of the Alabama Museum of Natural History; Joan Mitchell, of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Margaret Searcy, of the Anthropology Department, contributed their unique talents. Emily Ellis and Frances Caroline Webber deserve special thanks for their enthusiasm and many long hours devoted to the project. We dedicate this book to the memory of all those people who gave Alabama its legacy and, more specifically, to the memory of John H. Parry, formerly Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History at Harvard. John Parry gave one of the most delightful and insightful presentations in that September seminar of 1981. It is included in this volume, and may be the last major work that Professor Parry prepared. He died in late August 1982, but we trust that this work will be as fresh and invigorating as his memory is to those who knew him. x Alabama and the Borderlands ...