Lost Treasure: The Birmingham Steel Series of Artist Roderick D. MacKenzie

Lost฀Treasure:฀ The฀Birmingham฀Steel฀Series฀of฀ Artist฀Roderick฀D.฀MacKenzie AS฀ BIRMINGHAM฀ PREPARED฀ TO฀ CELEBRATE฀ ITS฀ SEMI-฀ CENTENNIAL฀ in฀ 1921,฀ the฀New฀South฀city฀and฀the฀life฀of฀a฀Mobile฀painter฀intersected฀in฀ an฀unexpected฀way.฀The฀night฀sky,฀lit฀by฀the฀flare฀of฀molten฀metal฀ and฀flowing฀slag฀at฀the฀furnaces฀of฀Fairfield฀and฀Ensley,฀became฀the฀ inspiration฀for฀“The฀Spirit฀of฀the฀Furnaces,”฀a฀series฀of฀more฀than฀ fifty฀pastel฀paintings฀that฀captured฀the฀power฀and฀drama฀of฀iron฀and฀ steel฀production.฀Magic฀City฀residents฀beheld฀an฀extraordinary฀view฀ of฀their฀industrial฀environment,฀and฀the฀artist,฀Roderick฀Dempster฀ MacKenzie,฀received฀national฀acclaim.฀He฀had฀made฀“works฀of฀art฀ out฀of฀.฀.฀.฀the฀supposedly฀unlovely฀truth,”฀wrote฀a฀New฀York฀art฀critic ฀ in฀ 1924.1 ฀ The฀ Steel฀ Series฀ could฀ have฀ become฀ the฀ centerpiece฀ of฀ Birmingham’s฀ historical฀ documentation฀ of฀ its฀ industrial฀ heritage;฀ instead,฀the฀outcome฀was฀one฀of฀tragedy฀for฀the฀artist฀and฀a฀lost฀treasure ฀for฀the฀city. ฀ Born฀ in฀ London฀ in฀ 1865,฀ John฀ Roderick฀ Dempster฀ MacKenzie฀ came฀ to฀ Mobile฀ in฀ 1872฀ with฀ his฀ Scottish฀ parents,฀ John฀ Dempster฀ M A R L E N E ฀ H U N T ฀ R I K A R D Marlene฀Hunt฀Rikard฀is฀a฀professor฀of฀history฀at฀Samford฀University.฀The฀author฀would฀like฀ to฀thank฀Peter฀Allsop฀at฀U.฀S.฀Steel’s฀Birmingham฀headquarters฀and฀the฀following฀archivists฀ and฀museum฀staff฀for฀their฀assistance฀in฀the฀research฀and฀identification฀of฀฀the฀extant฀ paintings฀ of฀ the฀ Steel฀ Series฀ :฀ Paul฀ Richelson฀ and฀ Kurtis฀ Thomas฀ at฀ the฀ Mobile฀ Museum฀ of฀ Art;฀ Shelly฀ Berger฀ at฀ the฀ Museum฀ of฀ Mobile;฀ Graham฀ Boettcher฀ and฀ Alexis฀ Gould฀ at฀the฀Birmingham฀Museum฀of฀Art;฀Karen฀Utz฀and฀Paige฀Wainwright฀at฀Sloss฀Furnaces฀ Historic฀Landmark;฀Elizabeth฀Wells฀at฀Samford฀University฀Special฀Collection;฀and฀Yvonne฀ Crumpler฀at฀the฀Tutwiler฀Collection฀of฀Southern฀History,฀Birmingham฀Public฀Library.฀This฀ presidential฀address฀was฀read฀at฀the฀annual฀meeting฀of฀the฀Alabama฀Historical฀Association฀ in฀Opelika,฀April฀14,฀2007. 1฀ Royal฀Cortissoz,฀“Random฀Impressions฀in฀Current฀Exhibitions,”฀New฀York฀Herald฀Tribune,฀ May฀25,฀1924,฀in฀“Publicity฀Received฀from฀the฀Press฀on฀the฀MacKenzie฀Pastels,฀Work฀at฀ Night฀in฀the฀Steel฀Mills,”฀file฀05883.0210,฀Museum฀of฀Mobile฀(MOM),฀hereafter฀cited฀as฀ “Scrapbook.”฀The฀scrapbook฀is฀a฀collection฀of฀newspaper฀articles฀and฀other฀items฀related฀ to฀the฀Steel฀Series฀compiled฀by฀Roderick฀Dempster฀MacKenzie. T H E ฀ A L A B A M A ฀ R E V I E W 244 MacKenzie฀and฀Isabella฀Jane฀MacBean฀McLean฀MacKenzie,฀and฀his฀ younger฀siblings,฀Charles฀Bradlaugh฀and฀Anna฀Bella฀Hane.฀Isabella฀ gave฀ birth฀ to฀ two฀ more฀ children฀ in฀ Mobile:฀ Robert฀ Burns,฀ born฀ January฀1873,฀and฀John฀David,฀born฀January฀1878.2 ฀ Roderick฀inherited฀artistic฀talent฀from฀both฀sides฀of฀his฀family.฀A฀ painter฀of฀heraldry,฀scrolls,฀and฀carriages฀in฀Britain,฀John฀MacKenzie฀ followed฀the฀same฀general฀line฀of฀decorative฀painting฀in฀Mobile฀as฀ an฀employee฀of฀the฀railroad.฀Isabella’s฀brother,฀Robert฀McLean,฀was฀ known฀as฀a฀promising฀painter฀in฀Scotland฀before฀his฀death฀at฀the฀ age฀of฀twenty-seven.3 ฀Growing฀up,฀Roderick฀watched฀his฀father฀paint฀ landscapes฀and฀began฀painting฀himself฀by฀the฀age฀of฀nine;฀he฀supposedly ฀sold฀paintings฀of฀dogs฀when฀he฀was฀twelve.4 2฀ John฀ Dempster฀ MacKenzie,฀ born฀ 1836,฀ Glasgow,฀ Scotland;฀ Isabella฀ MacKenzie,฀ born฀ 1838,฀Fortrose,฀Ross฀ -shire,฀Scotland.฀John฀and฀Isabella฀married฀August฀1864,฀St.฀Peter’s฀ Episcopal฀Church,฀Eden฀Square,฀London,฀England.฀Roderick฀MacKenzie,฀born฀April฀30,฀ 1865,฀London.฀Charles฀Bradlaugh,฀born฀January฀1868,฀London.฀Anna฀Bella฀Hane,฀born฀ February฀1871,฀Fortrose,฀Ross฀ -shire,฀Scotland.฀Jacqueline฀Marie฀Southall฀Snow,฀“Family฀ genealogy฀ and฀ information,”฀ typescript,฀ vertical฀ file:฀ “Roderick฀ MacKenzie,”฀ Alabama฀ Artist฀ s-MacKenzie,฀ Roderick,฀ clipping฀ file,฀ Tutwiler฀ Collection฀ of฀ Southern฀ History,฀ Birmingham฀Public฀Library,฀Birmingham,฀Alabama,฀hereafter฀cited฀as฀Tutwiler฀Collection;฀ John฀ Dempster฀ MacKenzie฀ to฀ Dr.฀ R.฀ G.฀ Southall,฀ April฀ 4,฀ 1881,฀ typescript฀ copy,฀ file฀ 5883.193,฀MOM.฀See฀also,฀John฀Roderick฀Dempster฀MacKenzie,฀born฀1865,฀Kensington,฀ Greater฀ London,฀ London,฀ Middlesex,฀ in฀ England฀ &฀ Wales,฀ in฀Civil฀ Registration฀ Index฀ of฀ Births,฀Marriages฀and฀Deaths฀for฀England฀and฀Wales,฀1837–1983฀Record,฀“Births฀Registered฀in฀ April,฀May,฀June฀1865,”฀749,฀accessed฀through฀the฀FreeBMD฀Web฀site,฀http://www.freebmd. org.uk.฀Jacqueline฀Snow,฀the฀grandniece฀of฀Roderick฀MacKenzie,฀met฀the฀artist...