“We Are Here,” a Story Archives Project developed by Hope Community with University of South Alabama (USA) Digital History Labs and funded by grants from the Alabama Humanities Alliance and USA.

On May 28, Hope Community’s public meeting featured special guest speaker, Dr. Mara Kozelsky, from the University of South Alabama’s History department. Dr. Kozelsky shared with us the vital research and oral archives she and others, including our own Vickie Graham, have been making with long-time residents of Fairhope South and Baldwin County about the local African American history of our area. 

Dr. Mara Kozelsky is a research historian, well-published scholar, historic preservation specialist and history professor at USA. 

African American communities have deep roots along the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. African American farms and industry preceded many of the Shore’s thriving towns and cities. Their small and independent businesses contributed significantly to the region’s development.

The documentary “Celebrating the African American Heritage” of Fairhope, AL,  provides an important introduction to this history.

We invite you into a virtual tour of historical sites signifying the historical contributions of African American communities in and between Fairhope and Point Clear, Alabama. These sites are noteworthy in local and state history, but also speak to national historic trends as well.

The sites are:

• Anna T. Jeanes School
• Twin Beech AME Church
• Twin Beech Cemetery
• Tatumville Cemetery
• Lebanon Chapel AME Zion Church
• Lewis Homestead

Project Goals:

• Collect 5-7 Oral Histories
• Develop Multimedia Digital Story Map featuring African American History and Historical Places on the Eastern Shore
• Support preservation of local history and share that history in a contemporary format that can be widely disseminated
• Highlight research that has already been done and expand upon existing knowledge of our area
• Develop context for a tour of African American Heritage sites in our area, supporting historical/heritage tourism
• Provide support for future preservation projects by adding to the documentary record, and illustrating spatial relationships between historical locations

Project Team:

Thelma Todd — Research, Advisory, Accuracy Editor, Oral History
Vickie Graham — Oral History Interviewer, Community Expertise, and Advisory Role
Mara Kozelsky — Oral History Interviewer, Research, and Digital Development
Clayton Vaughn Roberson — Subject Expertise, Research, Site Editor, and Editor Oral History Transcripts
Patrick Willoughby — Graduate Student Intern, Research, Oral History Transcript, support for Digital Development

Results as of May 2024:

8-page ArcGIS digital story map featuring Anna T. Jeanes School in relation to other historic sites, with text, images, embedded video, preliminary GIS mapping

Indirect Impacts:

• Research allowed the Anna T. Jeanes school property to apply for a historic site listing on the state register
• Relationship building between Alabama State Archives and the Daphne Black Education museum and other similar museum and public studies, e.g. archaeology department USA
• Expanded local interest from other community groups, like Fairhope Society of Friends, in capturing oral histories

View details for upcoming public meetings on our events calendar.