Alabama Short Stories
Alabama Shorts Stories takes over where our 4th grade Alabama history class left off. We dig a little deeper and find the stories that make Alabama a unique place to live and to visit. It's the perfect listen for when you are a little behind on your Alabama history.
Episodes
69 episodes
From Podcast to Print: Grab ‘Alabama Short Stories’ Volumes 1 & 2 Today!
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Alabama Short Stories Podcast! I'm your host, Shawn Wright. As always, it's a pleasure to have you with me. I want to take a moment to remind you about something you might already be familiar with: my boo...
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Season 6
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Episode 11
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2:20
Rickwood and Willie Mays
Rickwood Field was built in 1910 so Rick Woodward would have a showplace for his baseball team, the Birmingham Barons. Little did he know that 114 years later, Major League Baseball would host a game on this field. The field has hosted concerts...
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Season 10
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Episode 10
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15:29
Auburn buys a painting
At the end of World War II, another war started, the Cold War. To win the minds and hearts of people around the world against the Soviet Union, the U.S. State Department put together a show of modern art that was to tour the world. The show, “A...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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13:21
Johnny Mack Brown, the Rose of Alabama Football
The University of Alabama accepted a bid to play in the 1926 Rose Bowl against powerhouse University of Washington. This was the first time a team from the South was invited to play in this historic event. The underdog Alabama team won the game...
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Season 6
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Episode 8
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9:52
The Alabama gold rush
We have grown up hearing stories about the gold rush. But it’s always the California gold rush they are talking about. An event so huge that years later, San Francisco’s NFL team called themselves the ’49ers after the prospectors of the 1849 go...
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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9:51
Irene Teel sees into the future
Mrs. Irene, as she was known to neighbors, was born with a sixth sense. From a young age, she was able to find things, easter eggs, misplaced items, or the missing hunting dog. Her father tried to shield her from the scrutiny fortune tellers re...
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Season 6
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Episode 6
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12:06
Sacred Harp Music
Music is a vital part of our lives in Alabama, and it covers all genres. This story is about one genre of music called Sacred Harp. It is named after the book of songs of the same name. at the beginning of the 20th century, these songs sounded ...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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14:12
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald
Zelda Sayre was born and raised in Montgomery, the daughter of a lawyer and politician. She was a socialite and caught the interest of young men from as far away as Atlanta. No one swept her off her feet until she met a young soldier stationed ...
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Season 6
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Episode 4
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16:04
Spider Martin "World's Greatest Photographer"
Spider Martin was a commercial photographer in Birmingham, Alabama, who billed himself with a little tongue-in-cheek as the “world’s greatest photographer.” He worked for corporate clients and earned his fair share of awards for his work. But h...
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Season 6
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Episode 3
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18:45
From Good Roads to Great!
Roads in Alabama go as far back as when indians followed the trails that animals had created. These trails would be widened and “improved” as more people and bigger vehicles used them. When the car came along, it was apparent that we must have ...
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Season 6
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Episode 2
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15:15
Searching for Cudjo and the Clotilda
Cudjo Lewis was a captive aboard the Clotilda when it entered Mobile Harbor, the last slave boat to the United States in 1860. The story was well known to locals in Mobile but two writers, Emma Langdon Roche and Zora Neale Hurston, went to find...
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Season 6
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Episode 1
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11:23
Alabama Short Stories, Volume 2 - The Book
I hope you have enjoyed the first 5 seasons of the Alabama Short Stories podcast. When I released season three, I published the book, Alabama Short Stories, Volume 1. This was the perfect solution for those who like their podcasts in written fo...
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Season 6
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Episode 0
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1:14
Season 6 Teaser
Welcome to Alabama Short Stories. This is Shawn Wright, and I am happy to say that Season 6 starts on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, with more great stories about the state of Alabama.I will start the season with a story in the news the past co...
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Season 6
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Episode 0
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2:39
Veteran’s Day Gets Its Start In Birmingham
Armistice Day was created at the end of what we now know as World War I. At the end of World War II, one Birmingham native felt a need to celebrate all veterans, and he set out to honor them. Raymond Weeks took his fight to Washington, D.C., an...
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Season 5
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Episode 10
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13:18
Smith Lake Fills Fast
When Alabama Power made plans for Lewis Smith Dam in a rural area of Northwest Alabama, they knew they had plenty of time to clear the basin of trees, buildings, and other potential obstructions before the lake filled. Then the rains came, and ...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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13:34
Regions Lights Up The Holidays
What do you do when you have one of the largest buildings in Birmingham that feature a smooth glass finish with lights to illuminate each window. Create art, of course! Learn about how the Regions building changes light colors and has created d...
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Season 5
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Episode 8
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8:09
John Henry, Steel Driving Alabamian
John Henry was a steel-driving man or maybe just a folk tale. John Henry died while competing against a steam drill in West Virginia, or did he? Some think this folk hero, or real-life hero, died here in Alabama at a tunnel south of Leeds close...
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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10:02
Carrie Tuggle starts a school and changes lives
Carrie Tuggle and her husband, John, moved to Birmingham in 1883 in search of better work opportunities and social life. They threw themselves into work and growing their family. They both actively participated in the Knights of Pythias, a nati...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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12:31
Harper Lee and Truman Capote
Harper Lee and Truman Capote are two of this country's most celebrated writers. Lee for her Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill A Mockingbird, and Capote for In Cold Blood, among others. Both writers got their start behind a batter...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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13:43
Hugo Black Takes A Trolley
Hugo Black was a U.S. Senator from Alabama who supported FDR’s New Deal. When an opening on the Supreme Court became available, the President knew he wanted an ally on the court, and Hugo Black was his first choice. If the President had done a ...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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12:14
Yolande Betbeze - Miss America
Yolande Betbeze was a college student at Mobile’s Spring Hill College when she saw an opportunity to help her get out of the South. She won the Miss Torch contest, which sent her to Miss Alabama and then to the Miss America Pageant, which she w...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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12:01
Shorty Price, Alabama Football’s Number One Fan
We all know someone who feels they are their team's “number one fan.” They go to all the games, buy all the gear, and take the day off from work when their team loses. Many fans meet this description for the University of Alabama, but none can ...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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10:31
Sam Zemurray Goes Bananas
A Russian immigrant moves to Selma and sees his first banana. He finds out they are shipped to the port of Mobile, and he hatches a plan. This small move to sell “unsellable” bananas sets off a career that will see Sam Zemurray become the leade...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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13:09
Season 5 Teaser
Season 5 of the Alabama Short Stories podcast is just around the corner, and I can’t wait for it to get started. Hey, this is Shawn Wright, your host for another trip around the state of Alabama to learn about the characters that make Alabama, ...
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Season 5
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Episode 0
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2:28
Joe Cain and the Mobile Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras was started in Mobile, Alabama. Don’t let anyone from New Orleans tell you otherwise. After the civil war, one man is credited with getting it started again by dressing like a Chickasaw Chieftan and marching through the streets of Mo...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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12:11
