Alabama Governors: A Political History of the State

Acknowledgments

ACKnoWleDGmenTs in producing this book,we became indebted to a host of people,many obvious and others less apparent. our essayists, leading scholars in the area of southern history and political science,provided us with dense,well-researched,and interestingly told stories about the administrations of Alabama’s five territorial governors and its fifty-six state governors.Their task was not easy, and our gratitude to them for joining us in this project is boundless. We are also indebted to nicole mitchell, director of the University of Alabama Press, who recognized the need for this work, encouraged it, and exercised infinite patience throughout the editing and publishing process. because we wanted to express our appreciation to our essayists by offering them a small honorarium and because we also wanted to include features in the book that neither we nor an academic press could underwrite, we approached the Comer Foundation for funding.located in sylacauga,Alabama, and established by the family of former governor braxton bragg Comer, the foundation regularly supports the arts and humanities.We gratefully acknowledge the foundation’s enormous contribution to this project,which was provided with absolutely no stipulations or restrictions. Former governor Albert Preston brewer graciously agreed to provide the foreword. respected for his lifetime of service to the state, this good man took the office of governor of Alabama under difficult circumstances and served the state with dignity and intelligence. Governor brewer is the author of numerous essays and articles on Alabama history and law and is presently Distinguished Professor of law and Government at the Cumberland school of law at samford University. he continues to be actively involved in the public affairs of the state. We deeply appreciate his participation and are honored by his involvement in this work. Dr. Tennant s. mcWilliams, dean of the school of social and behavioral sciences at the University of Alabama at birmingham (UAb), and Dr. raymond A. mohl, chair of the UAb Department of history, encour- xiv / Acknowledgments aged this project. The department’s administrative assistant, Debra Givens, provided us support with her usual competence and good sense. lindsey humphries and mary Ashley were helpful in moving our copying and mailing needs to the finish line. our sincere thanks also go to howard Fox, Kurt Kinbacher, and Jeremy soileau, graduate assistants in the UAb Department of history, who provided excellent research and editing services. Finally, we are deeply indebted to our spouses for their support.The process of producing this book took longer than we originally anticipated, and our mates endured our carping and complaining with grace.Thank you,Ann and rodger.We owe you. ...