🎂🎂🎂Father of the Blues "W.C. Handy" Museum 🏛

William Christoper Handy was born November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama  

Come celebrate the birthday of W.C. Handy on November 16 at the Handy Home, Museum, and Library on 620 West College street in Florence. 

From 11:00AM to 1:00PM you can tour the museum and listen to music on the front lawn of the museum. 

It is free to the public with a birthday cake and other refreshments.

In 2009, my daughter, granddaughter, and I joined in the celebration and toured the Museum, Home, and Library. 

Happy Birthday Father of the Blues "the chocolate cake was  delicious"

Bust of Handy

Picture of Handy 

Library 

Handy and the St Louis Blues

Inside the Cabin

Handy's Piano

Kitchen of Cabin 

The W. C. Handy Birthplace, Museum, and Library, in Florence, Lauderdale County, was established to celebrate the life of musician and composer William "W. C." Handy (1873-1958), known as the "Father of the Blues." Handy himself donated the seed money to set up the museum, which now includes several buildings and houses a large collection of memorabilia, personal items, and objects relating to Handy's musical career. 

Handy gave to the city the $29,000 he was paid for the land on which the cabin stood to be used for the future restoration of his childhood home as a museum. The cabin was carefully dismantled and the logs were numbered and stored for later reassembly. Handy also bequeathed a large number of his personal possessions to the city to be used in the cabin after a suitable new location was found.

A site was selected at 620 West College Street, in the southwest corner of town. Work began early in 1970 on reassembling the log cabin and on constructing a museum next to the cabin to properly house and display the artifacts and tell the story of Handy's life and career. The completed structure was filled with the artifacts that the Handy family sent to Florence from their home in New York, including the upright piano on which Handy composed the "St. Louis Blues," his brass trumpet, furniture, and numerous boxes of his letters, pictures, musical compositions, personal mementos, and datebooks.

Local citizens donated furnishings and other items that represented the period during which Handy lived there as a child. The W. C. Handy Museum opened to the public on June 7, 1970. 

A separate building was added in 1980 to house the Black Heritage Library, which was filled with books donated to or purchased for the museum under the direction of the Cabin Committee. 

In 2002, an addition was constructed that included a new area for the Black Heritage Library, office space, a kitchen, and a restroom as well as a community meeting room.

Article from the Encyclopedia of Alabama 

👣👣👣👣 2009 June 6 - August 9 Historic Markers and Walking Tours

2009 Saturday, June 6 Walking tours of Wood Avenue & Frontier Days at Popes Tavern

2009 Saturday, June 13 Walking Tour of North Court and Seminary St homes

2009 Saturday, June 20 Walking of Florence Cemetery

2009 Saturday, June 27 Walking tour of Forks of Cypress.

June 17, 2009

Hubby and I went to music in the park from 11:00AM to 1:00PM. we ate lunch at Subway.

In Tuscumbia, I took pictures of different markers

Alabama Institute for the Blind 

Yellow Fever Victims 

Ivy Green (Home of Helen Keller)

St John's Episcopal Church  

Train Depot  

Tuscumbia Courthouse & KIA War markers  

Governor Lindsey Home

In Sheffield, I took pictures of the historic markers of  

FDR & Furnace Hill

At Rogers High School I took a picture of the 

KIA World War II

June 23, 2009

Hubby worked on his sister’s swimming pool and we ate at a restaurant in Cloverdale. 

Hubby drove and stopped to take pictures of Historic Markers

General Coffee me 

Governor Hugh McVay  

St Florian  

     

June 25, 2009 

In the Florence area, I took pictures of Historic Makers

Wood Avenue Church of Christ 1886 

Wood Avenue Historic District 

Sculpture and Relief Books and Learning 1921, 

First Baptist Church 1888, all these markers are near the Florence Library. 

Picture of the statue of W.C. Handy that stands at the entrance of Wilson Park. 

(Near the Florence Post Office the following markers)

First Presbyterian Church 1818 

Justice John McKinley Federal Building   

Mountain Tom Clark Hanged September 4,1872

This marker is located in front of the Florence Cemetery where Tom Clark said nobody will ever run over me. So it is said he was buried under Florence Boulevard/Tennessee Street. 

June 28, 2009 

In the Florence area, I took pictures of 

A County Older Than the State Lauderdale County created Feb 6,l 1818, The Civil War Statue and Inscription (located in front of the Florence Courthouse)

Downtown Florence Historic District 

South Hall Drugs

Sannoner Historic Medical Arts Building

City of Florence

Burrell Normal School Burrell High School Burrell~Slater High School 1903-1969, Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, 

Dred Scott 

Historic downtown Florence 

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Hubby's granddaughter and I ate breakfast at Hardies spending $16.16 and on to Huntsville stopping along the way for me to make pictures of historic markers.

Next to the Bluewater Creek Polo Club and near Bluewater Cemetery were located two markers.

Daniel White Settle Here in 1818 

Cherokee Chief Doublehead’s Village Around 1800

Fort Hampton 

We rode to Redstone Arsenal where we saw the Historic Redstone Test Site, Liquid Hydrogen Tanks, Historic Saturn I, Saturn I-B Test Stand, Miniature Columbia NASA Shuttle, and Rockets.

Hubby bought a new cell phone at AT&T. 

We finished the day by going shopping at Victoria Secret Bridge Street.
We ate dinner at Red Robbin, Hubby ordered a fully dressed hamburger and fries. I ordered 

Salsa, avocado dip with colorful chips.
After a long day of sightseeing, shopping, and eating we needed to relax in our swimming pool at home.

Thursday, July 2, 2009 

I rode around downtown Florence taking pictures of historic markers

Cherry Street

First Baptist Church 1888

First United Methodist Church

Taking pictures outside the Kennedy Douglas Art Center

Killen Park Sign

Muscle Shoals Canal

Regions Bank (Replica of the Forks of Cypress who was built by James Jackson)

Sculpture Relief Books and Learning

Trinity Episcopal Church 

Walnut Street 

And the flow of Wilson Park Foundation

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Hubby and I enjoyed listening to music in Wilson Park from 11-1PM

I took a picnic lunch.

After the music ended we rode around Florence so I could take a couple of pictures of 

Andrew Jackson Military Road

115th Single Battalion Organized in 1940

Tuesday, July 13, 2009

I rode with my daughter to Heritage Park located next to the Marriott Hotel for an Ice Cream Social where the Stroke Conference was being held.
We had met several people from the Conference the day before inside the Marriott.

I walked down the River Heritage Walk of Honor to take pictures. This marker had been placed on a plaque honoring people of notable importance that had an impact on our community.

Lt. Col. R. Edward Yeilding

Thomas Sigismund Stribling

James Thomas Rapier

Samuel Cornelius Phillips

Edward Ashbury O’Neal

Dr. Ethelbert Brinkley Norton

Justice John A. McKinley

William D. “Buddy” Killen

Harlan Hill

Caroline Lee Hentz 

William Christopher Handy

Major General George W. Goethals 

Ronnie Gene Flippo

General John Coffee

Ezra Lee Culver

General Arthur E. Brown, Jr

The day was hot and there were many people with swimsuits and playing in the fountain trying to keep cool. While others lay on towels or blankets sunning. 

The water show began after dark, where the water danced InSync with the music. 

Monday, July 24, 2009 

Hubby and I rode throughout Florence to get the following markers.

1. Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll, & Sam Phillips in Florence, 
2. The Florence Early Water Tower
3. The Ante Bellum Cotton Marker
4. College Palace Historic District 
5. Original Site historic of Florence Wagons    
6. East Florence Historic 
7. Site of Fame Recording Studio  
8. St Joseph Catholic Church
9. Lone Cedar Church  
10. John McKinney Marker 

Friday, July 25, 2009

Hubby and I rode around the Florence area taking pictures of historic markers

Colonel Picket Place 

Florence Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America 

Florence Little League Baseball 1951 Coach Presley Robbins Field 1972

Homer Givens 1898-1971 

Major General George Washington Goethals Home  

The Greater Mount Moriah Primitive Baptist Church  

UNA Football Program NCAA Div II titles 1993-1994-1995 

Wheeler Rifles Organized in 1888 

Wood Ave Historic  

Monday, July 27, 2009 

Hubby and I rode around in Colbert & Lauderdale Counties taking pictures of sites and historic markers.

I took pictures of the W.C. Handy Home Museum outside. 

I took pictures of the abandoned train tressel, now used as a walkway. 

The American Legion 1919

The American Legion Florence ~Lauderdale Post Number II Department of Alabama 1919 (both located next to the American Red Cross building in Florence)

Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church

Seminary ~O’Neal Historic District 

William Winston Home (Now a part of Deshler High School)

First Baptist Church 

First Presbyterian Church

Tuscumbia’s Oakwood Cemetery

Village One (Sheffield)

Winston Cemetery(When I was a child my cousin would hurriedly run past this cemetery we were afraid of ghosts. Our grandfather told many stories about ghosts. 

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Hubby and I rode to different areas in the Shoals taking pictures. 

Weeden Heights 

Lagrange Mountain Park and war markers

Coon Dog Cemetery, Cherokee (where only coon dogs are buried)

Barton Cemetery (Where there is evidence of a battle)

The Civil War Skirmish at Barton Cemetery

Jerry Scott Marker at Railroad Station in Muscle Shoals  

We ate lunch at Chopps in Tuscumbia. 

Saturday, August 1, 2009 

Hubby and I rode to Waterloo I was taking pictures along the way.

The Trail of Tears 

Capture of John A Murrell 

Pestilence and Pesthouse and Cemetery  

Waterloo Settled 1819  

Edith Newman Culver Museum

Wilson's Headquarters and Camp   

Macedonia Church of Christ Marker

That evening we went to Heritage Park splash pad to watch the water explode into colors of yellow, red, and blue. 

Monday, August 3, 2009

Hubby and I rode to Limestone County, so I could take pictures of historic markers   

Harris/Pryor House (Flower Hill Farm)  

General Nathanael Bedford Forrest CSA Raid  

Oakland United Methodist Church 

Hitt's Home Decor Cabinets Granite Mansion Burned    

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Hubby and I rode to Athens so I could take pictures of historic markers

Athens Sacked and Plundered  

Athens University Athens

Limestone Athens Courthouse 

Old Town Cemetery Historic  

Saturday, August 8, 2009 

Hubby and I rode to Decatur where we toured the Cook's Natural Science Museum.

In the Cooks Museum, we saw every kind of bug and spider known to man.

We saw many species of birds, fossils, shells, animal skeletons, and a collection of butterflies.

In the Blue & Gray Civil War Museum, we saw cases full of items used during the Civil War and pictures hanging on the wall depicting officers, and battles.

We stopped along the way so I could take pictures of sites and historic markers.

Decatur Train depot 

Princess Theater 

Morgan Courthouse Markers 

Old State Bank

Historic Decatur

General Joseph, Annie Wheeler     

General Wheeler 

In Lawrence County we went to Jessie Owens Park we saw a statue of Jesse Owens Olympic Champion of 1956 and we toured the museum, his boyhood home, and a sand pit depicting his winning jump.

James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens

At Oakville Indian Mounds I took pictures of several mounds, a park, a Museum and several markers. 

Straights Raid

Creek Indian Removal

Cherokee Indian Removal

Oakville Indian Mound

Cherokee Council House Museum

Town of Oakville

Cope-an Burial Mound

Historic Indians

Doublehead

Saunders Hall (Located In Town Creek) 

Sunday, August 9, 2009 

We rode to Fort Payne Alabama where we toured the Alabama Fan Club and Museum. We walked in the park looking at the statues of the famous Alabama band and historic markers. We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel.

Statues of Group Alabama Band

The Alabama Fan Club and Museum 

Trail of Tears at Bridge Port

Willis Town Historic Marker

Fort Payne's Fort

RR Depot Fort Payne 

Fort Payne City Park

CSA Marker Fort Payne Park 

We rode to Ruby Falls to take the elevator down into the cave we were told about the formations of the rocks and the grand fanatic was the colorful Ruby Falls which was a small hole where water was coming out.

Ruby Falls

Crow Town Stevenson  

Sequoyah Historic Marker 

Decatur County 1821-1825 

Battle of Wauhatchie Historic Marker  

2009 ~ Monday & Tuesday, August 3, 4, Historical Markers of Athens, Alabama

Gen. N.B. Forrest, C.S.A.
North Alabama Raid
— September 23-30, 1864 —Hemmed in by superior forces Forrest's fast-moving cavalry raided and destroyed Union supply lines and strong points, captured 2,360 men, valuable Stores.
By swift action, surprise, and bluff Forrest disrupted Union military plans from Decatur to Columbia.

Harris-Pryor House
(Flower Hill Farm)Build abt. 1858 by Schuyler Harris on land once owned by Henry Augustine Washington, a distant relative of the first president. Through purchases, marriages, and inheritance between the Washington, Harris, and Pryor families, all from Virginia, a large plantation of over 3,000 acres was established. Long after the demise of slavery, approx. 60 tenant families lived on the land.
Schuyler Harris gave this house to his daughter, Ida Maria, and her husband Wm. Richard Pryor, son of Sen. Luke Pryor II and Isabella Virginia (Harris) Pryor. It is through this descent that this historic house and farm known as “Flower Hill” is owned and held in trust for future generations by Luke Pryor IV and his wife Betty (Lamb) Pryor. It is managed through a family corporation and is not open to the public.
(Continued on the other side) 

Harris Pryor House 

Across the highway is a large spring known since early times as “English's Spring.” It produced enough water for a town, and the little settlement, that formed around it, was a contender for the site of the county seat. It was not chosen however and the settlement ceased to exist.
This area for several miles around was known as “Quid Nunc” (Latin for “what next”)Beat and Post Office until about 1910 when it was changed to Harris Station, a community which had formed along the RR tracks to the SW. Time and “progress” have brought about the demise of that community, named for the prominent Harris Family. The Harris Cemetery is among the trees across the Hwy.

Harris Pryor House 

Oakland United Methodist Church

Oakland United Methodist Church
Generations of African-American families have worshiped here, beginning with services held under a brush arbor before the Civil War. In August of 1879, the land for the Oakland Methodist church was deeded to parishioners. In a wooden one-room building, they worshiped and operated their own private school, serving the surrounding communities and producing several ministers and educators. The Limestone County Board of Education took charge of the school in 1929 until it closed at the end of the 1952 school year. After the original structure was destroyed by a tornado, the Oakland Methodist Episcopal church - which became the Oakland United Methodist Church in 1972~was rebuilt. Renovations to the structure were completed in 1990.

Oakland United Methodist Church Pastor J. Larry Eddie SR 

We had business in Huntsville we took Hwy 31 south, and we saw the above historical markers dotted along hwy 31, the Oakland United Methodist Church, Harris Pryor House, & Gen. N.B. Forrest, C.S.A.

Athens Sacked and Plundered
On May 2, 1862, Union troops of the 19th and 24th Illinois and the 37th Indiana Regiments commanded by Col. John Basil Turchin went on a rampage through the town. They looted and plundered stores and homes, stealing clothing, jewelry, and anything of value, destroying what they didn't want. For months afterward, the soldiers stabled their horses in some of the town's churches, burned the pews for firewood, and destroyed the interiors. Col. Turchin, born Ivan Vasillevitch Turchinoff in Russia, was court-martialed in Huntsville for encouraging these actions, but his wife appealed to Abraham Lincoln for clemency on his behalf. Turchin was promoted to Brig. Gen. one day before the court-martial.

A County Older Than the State
Limestone County
created Feb. 6, 1818, by the Alabama Territorial Legislature from lands ceded by the Cherokee Nation in 1806 and by the Chickasaw Nation in 1816. Named for the creek (and its limestone bed), which runs through the county. Few settlers were here until the Indian treaties. Athens became a county seat in 1818. Limestone was the first Alabama county to be occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War.

In Honor of our Fallen Comrades 

1861-1865 Confederate Soldiers of Limestone County 

Athens College
a liberal arts college
— 1822 —
Athens Female Academy 
founded by patriotic citizens 
1843
Raised to college level 
under Methodist patronage 
First college building,
Founders Hall (1842-3), 
still used for classes 
Unbroken service since 1822 

Athens State College

Athens State College

Athens State College Alabama's Oldest Institution of higher learning in continuous Service since 1822 National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century project of the Alabama State Society marked by Colonel Walter Aston Chapter on June 22, 1996

Athens State College

Athens State College Alabama's Oldest Institution of higher learning in continuous Service
since 1822
National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century project of the Alabama State Society marked by Colonel Walter Aston Chapter on June 22, 1996

Old Town Cemetery
This is the earliest known cemetery in the town of Athens, and the final resting place for many of its first citizens. The earliest burials date from the 1820s and continue through the mid-1800s, with an occasional burial past 1900. Though the markers are now sunken below ground, others have been destroyed or removed.
Trustees for the town purchased this entire block in 1827 for ten dollars from Robert Beaty and John Carriel. It was originally designated school property and a school did occupy another part of the property for some years.

Old Town Cemetery 

I had a camera class at Wolf Camera so on our way to Huntsville we stopped in Athens to take pictures of Historical markers around the courthouse, old cemetery, and Athens College.

We will spend the next few months in search of Historical markers within a 100 + miles radius.

1992~ Saturday, December 12, Trip to the Art Museum Huntsville, Alabama

At the art museum, they were giving lectures to several small groups of school children.

They were divided into three groups and each group was being told the stories about the art in the area where they were.

I overheard one lady telling about a girl in one of the pictures, how life must have been in the early 1800s. 

As I ventured into different areas of the museum I came across a painting by John Kutzik called, Man and his toys.

It was watercolor on paper and was 21 3/4” x 1/2”.

It was my favorite piece. 

Why did I like this piece? Because it represented man and his machine from youth until manhood, or if you please, the man who never grows up.

The picture of the man and his toy contained a small pudgy man wearing a blue suit and a small blue cap, with a ball of twine around his hands and feet.

All around him is a clutter of toys, as you looked into the picture you can see how Kutzik depicted different areas of his life. There were circus clowns, trapeze artists, acrobats, monkeys, kites, small cars, dolls, and wind-up toys.
Then as he grows older he has a leg of a woman a half-dressed woman, tools and all sorts of gadgets.

The picture has varied shapes, rhythmic patterns, using colors of green red, blue, orange, yellow and neutral colors.

Kutzik has balance, first, you see the man and then he makes you go further into the painting to9 see all the pieces that represent all the clutter of his life.

Each area is a scene yet it interwinds together.

To me, it represents the man who has nor or will he ever grow up.

In the next area of the museum was the Space Works, a synthesis of Science of Art. A room of our future and our past, about space our final frontier.

These pieces were very impressive to me.

There were two very large pieces that were 12 X 20 feet that I enjoyed

One was the Symbiont Manned Autonomous Workstations (MAWS) 1987 by Paul Hudson,

and the other was the New Pioneer Lunar Utility Vehicle LUV 1989 by Paul Hudson, brainstorming or glory days of the open cockpit.

My favorite piece was the Discovery Sunrise Command Controlled Suit Pressure 48 X 96 inches 1992 by Paul Hudson.

Why I liked this piece was his usage of the colors of orange and red, how they represented sunrise on the moon. The hot colors were not inviting and even the rocks looked hot.

The clouds swirled around as the two astronauts worked to set up a satellite communication to earth.

What I liked least was the silver from London, which was okay but I am not into silver.

There was a room of Expression and Discovery which held a painting I liked called The Sacred Spring, by Robert Lewis. It was 21 1/4 x 25 1/2 inches made in 1975.
The painting has a soft yet rustic, outdoor texture.

The colors were muted and the people were small and distorted. There was a tree that appeared to be growing out from under a rock bank, which overlooked a spring.

It also gave a shadow covering the small spring.

The picture had depth, yet it held a mystery to it. 

I thought it was very interesting.

There were a few Japanese Netsuke figures made of ivory and bronze.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netsuke

The trip was very interesting but I had expected more for a city as big as Huntsville.