Historical Context: Alabama Department of Archives and History

~ fortherecordadah

The Historical Context for the Alabama Department of Archives and History has been posted from the Records Disposition Authority (RDA) approved by the State Records Commission on April 28, 2021. The RDA establishes disposition requirements by designating records as either temporary records which may be destroyed after a specified retention period, or permanent records, which must be preserved in perpetuity. The complete RDAs for close to 175 agencies can be found on the Alabama Department of Archives and History website.

The Alabama Territory was created from the eastern part of the Mississippi Territory in 1817, when the western part became the State of Mississippi. When Alabama gained statehood as the twenty-second state on December 14, 1819, the Alabama Territory’s records were held by officials in Alabama, Mississippi, and the federal government.

Alabama did not have a centralized institutional repository for its records during the state’s early years. In 1820, the Legislature passed a law that made the Secretary of State’s Office responsible for the care of legislative documents. The Secretary of State was also responsible for consolidating and copying British, French, and Spanish records in Alabama relating to the state’s territorial years.

The responsibility to preserve and publish local historical materials fell to private historical societies during this period. The first and only statewide historical society was the Alabama Historical Society, founded in 1850 through the efforts of University of Alabama president Basil Manly. The Alabama Historical Society held annual meetings throughout the 1850s, but most of the Society’s collections were destroyed during the Civil War.[1]

Joshua H. Foster, the Alabama Historical Society’s first secretary, led a revival of the organization in the 1870s. The Society planned to request funds from the Legislature to construct a fireproof building for records storage, but these plans never came to fruition.[2]

Thomas M. Owen

The Alabama Historical Society remained mostly dormant until the 1898 meeting, at which Thomas M. Owen was elected as the organization’s secretary-treasurer. Owen was an attorney in Carrollton, Pickens County, Alabama, with a growing passion for state history. Throughout the 1890s, he amassed a personal archival collection of newspapers, monographs, scrapbooks, and other materials that documented Alabama’s history. He launched a campaign to increase membership in the Alabama Historical Society and prepared two bills for submission to the State Legislature at its 1898 session. One bill requested appropriations to fund the publication of the Society’s scholarly journal, while the other bill proposed the establishment of a state historical commission.[3] Like other members of the Alabama Historical Society, Owen sought to establish a state historical commission in part to address the need for proper management of government records but also to ensure the preservation and promotion of Confederate history and ideals.

The Legislature was considering both bills on the same day that theAlabama Confederate Monument was unveiled on the State Capitol’s lawn. Legislators attended the unveiling ceremony and listened to the remarks of former Governor Thomas Goode Jones, a member of the Alabama Historical Society. A Confederate veteran himself, Jones spoke of the patriotism and sacrifice of Confederate soldiers and their families and implored listeners to uphold this aspect of Alabama’s history.[4]

As Owen proposed, the Legislature passed Alabama Act 1898-86, which established the Alabama History Commission and mandated that it must prepare a “detailed report [for] the Governor of Alabama…with an account of the [present] condition of historical work in the State and with such recommendations as may be desirable.”

The Commission submitted its findings to the Governor in a report dated December 1, 1900. Among other recommendations, the report called for “the creation of a Department of Archives and History, charged with the custody of the State official archives, and the collection and creation of a State library, museum and art gallery.”[5]

In response to these recommendations, the Legislature established the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) in February 1901. The ADAH was the first publicly funded state archival agency in the nation and is governed by a geographically representative Board of Trustees. [6]  The Board elected Owen as the department’s first director on March 2, 1901.[7] Owen worked closely with his wife, Marie Bankhead Owen, and hired Peter A. Brannon, both of whom would eventually succeed him as ADAH directors. Under Owen’s tenure, the department acquired an extensive collection of Confederate artifacts as well as personal papers, nineteenth-century portraits, and Civil War flags.[8]

ADAH staff initially worked from office space in the Alabama Senate cloakroom but moved to the State Capitol’s newly constructed south wing in 1907. These working arrangements became inadequate as the agency’s collections expanded. While Owen aspired to build a freestanding facility for the department, he did not live to see construction begin. He served as director of the department until his death in March 1920.

Marie Bankhead Owen

Marie Bankhead Owen was a member of the politically prominent Bankhead family. Her father, John H. Bankhead, served in the Alabama Legislature and in both chambers of the U.S. Congress. Marie Owen’s brothers John H. Bankhead and William B. Bankhead served in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, respectively. The latter served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1936 to 1940 and is the namesake of Bankhead National Forest, located in portions of Franklin, Lawrence, and Winston Counties.[9]

Marie met Thomas Owen in 1887 at the University of Alabama commencement ceremony. They married in 1893 and had two sons, one of whom survived to adulthood.[10] After Thomas Owen was elected as the ADAH’s first director in 1901, the family settled in Montgomery. Marie Owen was a prolific writer and authored six historical plays and four student-oriented histories commemorating Alabama’s centennial in 1919. She was also active in women’s organizations including the Daughters of the American Revolution, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Women’s Anti-Ratification League, which opposed Alabama’s adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[11]

The ADAH Board of Trustees elected Marie Owen as the department’s second director in April 1920, less than one month after her husband’s death. Owen dedicated herself to continuing her husband’s legacy. She completed and published Thomas Owen’s four-volume History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography in 1921. During this period, another of her projects was the creation of a new coat of arms and motto for Alabama. The motto she chose was “We Dare Maintain Our Rights,” which was translated into Latin by University of Alabama Professor W.B. Saffold as “Audemus jura nostra defendere.” She completed the coat of arms and motto in 1923, but the Legislature did not approve them until 1939.[12] The coat of arms and motto designed by Mrs. Owen remain in use as of 2021.

The department maintained an active publications program during the 1920s and 1930s, including a Historical and Patriotic Series with influential titles including The Formative Period in Alabama, 1815-1828 by Dr. Thomas Perkins Abernethy, and Party Politics in Alabama from 1850 through 1860 by Dr. Lewy Dorman. The ADAH also supported periodicals including the Alabama Historical Quarterly and Arrow Points, the Alabama Anthropological Society’s monthly bulletin.[13]

Owen also expanded the ADAH’s work beyond collecting and storing historical materials. For example, Alabama Act 1911-345 empowered the ADAH’s director to work with the state superintendent of education to “compile and publish a carefully selected and annotated list of books…representative of the whole field of literature” from which rural Alabama libraries could select.[14] The ADAH was also required to “encourage the establishment of [rural and county] libraries” by offering free support to local governments seeking to create libraries in their communities.[15]

Owen’s tenure as director was not free of criticism. In 1931, as the Great Depression was taking a heavy toll on the state’s finances, Gov. Benjamin M. Miller commissioned the Brookings Institution to undertake a comprehensive study of Alabama state agencies and offer fiscal recommendations.[16] Concluding that the ADAH was not “an indispensable, practical, or ‘money-making’ branch of the state organization,” the report recommended that the ADAH be abolished and its archival collections transferred to the University of Alabama.[17]

Owen nevertheless forged ahead, utilizing her political connections to secure federal funding appropriations for the construction of the Alabama World War Memorial Building. The building would serve not only as a memorial to Alabama soldiers, but also as a location to store and display the ADAH’s archival collections and artifacts. The Archivist of the United States Robert D.W. Connor dedicated the building in November 1940 during the fourth annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists, which took place in Montgomery.[18] ADAH staff continue to operate from the World War Memorial Building as of 2021.

The ADAH experienced significant organizational changes during the latter years of Owen’s tenure. Alabama Act 1945-152 separated the Legislative Reference Service from the ADAH into a separate agency. Act 1945-293 authorized the department to “demand and recover any public records from any person having illegal or unlawful possession thereof,” and also to “give advise [sic] and assistance to any public official in [matters of] preserving, filing, and making available” the public records in the official’s custody.

Peter A. Brannon

Peter Alexander Brannon was born in Seale, Russell County, Alabama, in 1882. He graduated from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in 1900 with a pharmaceutical chemistry degree. After Brannon’s step-grandfather’s death in 1903, Brannon inherited a collection of manuscripts, Native American artifacts, and military weapons. Thomas Owen learned of the collection and visited Brannon, ultimately purchasing several pieces from the collection for inclusion in the ADAH holdings. Brannon became increasingly involved with the ADAH. He moved to Montgomery in 1907, and in 1911, the ADAH Board of Trustees appropriated funds for Owen to hire Brannon as his chief clerk.[19]

Brannon assumed increasing levels of responsibility in the ensuing decades. He traveled across Alabama conducting local government records surveys, marking historic sites, and lecturing to schools and historical societies. Brannon also edited Arrow Points, the Alabama Anthropological Society’s monthly bulletin, for the publication’s entire run from 1922 to 1937.[20]

After Marie Owen’s retirement in 1955, the ADAH Board of Trustees elected Brannon as the agency’s third director. During Brannon’s tenure as director, the ADAH assumed a lead role in organizing Alabama’s commemoration of the Civil War centennial.[21] Brannon made prolific contributions to the field of public history during this time, penning a regular “Through the Years” column in the Montgomery Advertiser that educated the general public about subjects as diverse as the Federal Road in Alabama and the U.S. Census.[22]

In the 1950s, state and local officials expressed concern that they lacked proper direction in the care and preservation of government records. In response to these concerns, the Legislature enacted Alabama Act 1955-565, which created the State and County Records Commissions.[23]The State Records Commission was responsible for “…determining which state records shall be permanently preserved because of historical value, and which state records may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of…” while the County Records Commission performed the same function for county records.[24] ADAH employees served as support staff for both commissions, and the department director served as the State and County Records Commissions’ chair.

The ADAH experienced further organizational changes during this period. Alabama Act 1959-600 separated the Public Library Service from the ADAH and into a separate agency. The Legislature placed historic preservation activities under the purview of another new agency, the Historical Commission, with the passage of Alabama Act 1966 Ex. Sess. 168.

Unfortunately, the department’s state funding did not keep pace with the increasing size of government, the increasing volume of the ADAH’s collection, or the increasing demands by constituents for services. Brannon continued to serve as director until his death in January 1967.[25]

Milo B. Howard

Milo Barrett Howard, Jr. was born in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1933. He graduated from Alabama Polytechnic University with a triple undergraduate degree in history, English, and foreign languages, then returned to the newly renamed Auburn University to earn a master’s degree in history. After a stint in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Corps, Howard returned to Montgomery and found work as an archivist at the ADAH.[26]

The ADAH Board of Trustees elected Howard as the agency’s fourth director after Brannon’s death in 1967. While serving as director, Howard simultaneously acted as chair of the Alabama Historical Commission and as the State Historic Preservation Officer. A champion for the preservation of historic architecture, Howard aided in establishing the Landmarks Foundation in 1968.[27] The Foundation continues operation as of 2021, having restored more than fifty historic structures now housed in the “living history museum” of Old Alabama Town, located in downtown Montgomery.

Howard was a prolific writer and speaker both before and during his directorship. His published works include The Memoire Justificatif of the Chevalier Montant de Monberaut: Indian Diplomacy in British West Florida (co-authored with Dr. Robert R. Rea) and A Brief History of St. John’s Church, documenting the history of his home parish in Montgomery. He lectured at both the University of Alabama and Auburn University of Montgomery (AUM) while serving as director.

During Howard’s tenure, the ADAH participated in observances of the Alabama Sesquicentennial (1969) and the United States Bicentennial (1976). During the former observance, Howard oversaw the sealing of a time capsule opened during the Alabama Bicentennial in 2019.[28]

Howard also oversaw an expansion of the Alabama World War Memorial Building during his directorship. Howard worked closely with Clinton Jackson Coley, Tallapoosa County Probate Judge and ADAH Board of Trustees Chair, to secure funding for a new wing on the building’s east side. The construction was funded with state appropriations received during the administrations of Gov. Albert Brewer and Gov. George Wallace. The wing, which opened in 1974, is named after Judge Coley to commemorate his service and advocacy.[29]

Howard hoped to expand the ADAH building even further with construction on the building’s west side, but he became ill with lung cancer long before this project came to fruition. He served as director and worked on departmental business until his death at age forty-eight in November 1981.

Edwin Bridges

Dr. Edwin C. Bridges grew up in Bainbridge, Georgia. He completed his undergraduate studies at Furman University (located in Greenville, South Carolina) before completing master’s and doctorate degrees in history at the University of Chicago. Bridges taught at the Georgia Institute for Technology in Atlanta before joining the Georgia Department of Archives and History staff, eventually becoming assistant director there.

After Howard’s death in 1981, the ADAH launched a search committee to find the department’s next director. The committee contacted and interviewed Bridges, ultimately offering him the position in 1982.[30] He would serve as director for the next three decades.

Committed to implementing archival best practices, Bridges hired trained archivists, curators, and educators to care for and promote the department’s permanent collections. During his tenure, ADAH staff updated all catalog records, improved collection storage conditions, and expanded educational programs about Alabama history.[31] The ADAH implemented many grant projects during Bridge’s tenure, including a newspaper preservation project funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) and an archaeological cataloging project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) sponsored several projects in Alabama during this period as part of its efforts to establish Historical Records Advisory Boards in all fifty states.[32] The NHPRC funded an assessment of Alabama’s government historical records, resulting in the 1985 report Assessing Alabama’s Archives: A Plan for the Preservation of the State’s Historical Records.

Due in part to the NHPRC report’s conclusions, the ADAH partnered with the Association of County Commissions of Alabama and the Alabama League of Municipalities to support the enactment of more comprehensive records management legislation. The Legislature responded by enacting Alabama Act 1987-658, which abolished the County Records Commission and replaced it with a more inclusive Local Government Records Commission. ADAH employees served as support staff for the Local Government Records Commission while continuing to support the work of the State Records Commission. To further extend services to state agencies, the ADAH opened the State Records Center, a freestanding facility providing low-cost storage and retrieval services to state agencies.

As technology changed during the 1980s and 1990s, ADAH Records Management staff developed innovative records management solutions. In a 1995 report to the State Records Commission, archivists introduced the concept of the Records Disposition Authority (RDA), an agency-specific document that “analyzes the agency’s function and activities, discusses how the agency creates and maintains records, and…provides disposition requirements for the agency’s records.”[33] The department completed its Functional Analysis of Alabama Government, which provided the foundation for the first RDA approvals in 1996.

After the reactivation of Alabama’s State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) with the passage of Alabama Act 2006-106, the ADAH Records Management Section also supported the Board’s work. Archivists worked with SHRAB to create a strategic plan for the board and to offer several cycles of regrant programs.[34] These programs connected local government agencies and historical repositories in Alabama with the funding necessary to inventory, catalog, store, and provide access to records in their care.

The ADAH embraced new technology during Bridges’ directorship. In 1994, for example, the ADAH became the second state agency in Alabama to establish an online presence.[35] The department began digitizing select records in 2001 while also participating in multiple digitization initiatives in partnership with other entities. For instance, the ADAH and the Alabama Senate collaborated to digitize and provide access to legislative acts and journals created during the 1800s. The ADAH and the Alabama Secretary of State (SOS) collaborated to digitize and provide access to legislative acts created during the 1800s.

Bridges also recognized the beneficial role to be played by auxiliary support organizations. He oversaw the establishment of the Friends of the Alabama Archives in 1982, a private, nonprofit organization that assists the department with public programming, conservation projects, equipment purchases, and other vital expenditures. The Alabama Archives and History Foundation was established later, in 2002, to oversee largescale, capital fundraising campaigns.

The Foundation’s largest project to date was fundraising to furnish and equip a new wing on the building’s west side. Financed by a state bond issue and opened in 2005, the west wing included much-needed archival storage space, a state-of-the-art research room, an auditorium for public programs, and space for a state history museum. The first phase of the Museum of Alabama opened in 2011 with exhibits on “The Land of Alabama” and “The First Alabamians.” Bridges retired in 2012, but he remains active with historical and cultural organizations in the Montgomery area as of this writing. The University of Alabama Press published Bridges’ book Alabama: The Making of an American State in 2016.

Steve Murray

A native of Louisiana, Steve Murray completed his undergraduate studies at Louisiana College (located in Pineville, Louisiana) before completing a master’s degree in history at Auburn University. He served as managing editor of the Alabama Review, a quarterly publication of the Alabama Historical Association, and the online Encyclopedia of Alabama before becoming an ADAH Assistant Director in 2006.[36]

The ADAH Board of Trustees elected Murray as the agency’s sixth director after Bridges’ retirement in 2012. One of Murray’s early priorities was completing the “Alabama Voices” exhibit in the department’s west wing. The exhibit opened in 2014 and constitutes the centerpiece for the Museum of Alabama. The completed museum describes and interprets the state’s history from prehistoric times to the 21st century through artifacts, images, and Alabamians’ voices. Elementary school students enrolled in Alabama history courses frequently visit the museum during field trips to Montgomery.

Under Murray’s leadership, the ADAH participated in several grant initiatives, including State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) regrants funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The NHPRC also funded the Alabama State Electronic Records Project (ASERP), a three-year collaboration between the ADAH and the Governor’s Office to develop a processing workflow intended to manage, preserve, and provide access to permanent electronic records created by state agencies. The ADAH intends to undertake additional grant-funded projects in the future, such as efforts to bring the institution into full compliance with the provisions of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

The ADAH continues to adapt to technological advances in the 21st century. As part of the ASERP grant, the ADAH launched a web-based portal to provide access to born-digital government records. The ADAH’s Digital Assets Section images archival materials and makes them available online via a digital content management system, which contains more than 1.1 million digitized objects as of early 2021. Large digitization initiatives include territorial and early statehood records, military unit and service records, gubernatorial records of the Civil War and Reconstruction era, genealogical publications, and the Alabama Media Group (AMG) Collection of newspaper photographic archives. The ADAH has a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. Recordings of public programs are available on its YouTube channel.

The ADAH participated in the Alabama Bicentennial observances in 2019 and the United States Women’s Suffrage Centennial in 2020. In the former case, staff worked closely with the Alabama Bicentennial Commission and other partner entities to plan and implement commemorative activities, including development of Alabama Bicentennial Park in the Capitol Complex. A series of K-12 professional development programs in history and civics education began as a bicentennial initiative and continues to serve classroom educators as the Alabama History Institutes. A special exhibition of the state’s six constitutions and the 1861 ordinance of secession was on display in Huntsville and Montgomery during 2019.

On June 23, 2020, the ADAH issued a Statement of Recommitment in which it acknowledged the department’s role in creating systemic racism by preserving and promoting Confederate history while “declining to acquire and preserve materials documenting the lives and contributions of African Americans in Alabama.” The department committed to pursuing greater diversity among ADAH staff through recruitment initiatives, facilitating public dialogue on difficult historical topics, and expanding its efforts “to document and tell a fully inclusive story of Alabama’s role in the American experience.”[37]

Through a robust program of educational outreach, government records management services, and public services, the ADAH endeavors to “tell the story of the people of Alabama by preserving records and artifacts of historical value and promoting a better understanding of Alabama history.”[38]

[1] Allen J. Going, “Historical Societies in Alabama,” The Alabama Review 1 (January 1948): 39-49.

[2] Going, “Historical Societies in Alabama,” 39-49.

[3] Alden N. Monroe, “Thomas M. Owen,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, December 10, 2014, http://www. encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1189.

[4] M. Panhorst, “Devotion, Deception, and the Ladies Memorial Association, 1865-1898: The Mystery of the Alabama Confederate Monument,” The Alabama Review 65, no. 3 (2012): 163-204.

[5] Thomas Owen et al., “An Account of Manuscripts, Papers and Documents in Official Repositories Within the State of Alabama,” in Publications of the Alabama Historical Society: Miscellaneous Collections Vol. 1, ed. Thomas Owen, 86-153 (Montgomery, AL: Brown Printing Co., 1901).

[6] Robert R. Simpson, “The Origins of the Alabama Department of Archives and History,” Alabama Historical Quarterly 34 (Summer 1972): 155-70.

[7] Rebecca L. Hébert, “Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH),” Encyclopedia of Alabama, October 9, 2018, http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/ article/h-2014.

[8] Monroe, “Thomas M. Owen.”

[9] U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, “National Forests in Alabama: About the Area,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, accessed February 18, 2021, https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/alabama/about-forest/about-area.

[10] Rebecca L. Hébert, “Marie Bankhead Owen,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, April 3, 2017, http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1188.

[11] Hébert, “Marie Bankhead Owen.”

[12] Alabama Act 1939-140.

[13] Holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

[14] Alabama Act 1911-345.

[15] Alabama Act 1919-763.

[16] Robert J. Jakeman, “Marie Bankhead Owen and the Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1920-1955,” Provenance 21 (2003): 49.

[17] The Brookings Institution Institute for Government Research, Report on a Survey of the Organization and Administration of the State and County Governments of Alabama (Montgomery, AL: The Wilson Printing Company, 1932), 392-398.

[18] Robert D.W. Connor, “Dedication of the Archival Section of the Alabama World War Memorial Building,” The American Archivist 4, no. 2 (1941): 77-83.

[19] Graham Neeley, “‘My goal will ever be to make history popular’: Peter Brannon’s Quest for Alabama History” (Master diss., Auburn University, 2018), 1.

[20] Neeley, “‘My goal will ever be to make history popular,’” 45.

[21] Hébert, “Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH).”

[22] Neeley, “‘My goal will ever be to make history popular,’” 52-54.

[23] Holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

[24] Alabama Act 1955-565.

[25] Holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

[26] State of Alabama Department of Archives and History, Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1967 (Montgomery, AL: Skinner Printing Company, 1968).

[27] Minnie Lambeth, “GiveBack: A Hallmark of Historic Preservation,” Montgomery Business Journal, September 3, 2018, https://www.montgomerychamber.com/blog/montgomery-business-journal-3603/post/giveback-a-hallmark-of-historick-preservation-16346.

[28] Holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

[29] Rebecca Hébert, “Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH).”

[30] A. Stacy Long, “Community Hero: For City and State, Ed Bridges Spans Past, Present and Future,” Montgomery Advertiser, December 14, 2018, https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/heroes/2018/12/14/ montgomery-advertiser-community-hero-city-and-state-ed-bridges-spans-past-present-and-future/2297887002/.

[31] Alabama Academy of Honor, “Edwin C. Bridges,” August 2006, https://www.alabamaacademyofhonor.org/ edwin-c-bridges.

[32] State Historical Records Advisory Boards, or SHRABs, are authorized under federal regulations governing the NHPRC, specifically 36 CFR Part 1206. In 2006, Alabama would become one of only a few states with a SHRAB authorized under state law. See Alabama Act 2006-106.

[33] Alabama Department of Archives and History, “State Government Records Program: Defining a New Records Appraisal Strategy,” presented to the State Records Commission in November 1995.

[34] Holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

[35] Holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

[36] David White, “New Alabama Archives Chief Steve Murray Wants to Boost Access to History,” AL.com, September 1, 2012, https://www.al.com/spotnews/2012/09/new_alabama_archives_chief_ste.html.

[37]Alabama Department of Archives and History, “Statement of Recommitment – June 23, 2020,” Alabama Department of Archives and History, https://archives.alabama.gov/docs/ADAH_Statement_Recommitment_ 200623.pdf.

[38] Alabama Administrative Code Chapter 110-X-1-.01.

Sources of Information

  • Representatives of the Alabama Department of Archives and History
  • Alabama Acts 1898-86, 1911-345, 1919-763, 1939-140, 1945-152, 1945-293, 1955-565, 1959-600, 1966 Ex. Sess. 168, 1987-658, and 2006-106.
  • Alabama Administrative Code Chapters 110-X-1 and 894-X-1
  • Code of Alabama 1923 § 1539 and § 1549
  • Code of Alabama 1975 § 12-20-24; § 16-32-1 through § 16-32-3; and § 36-12-5
  • Code of Alabama 1975 § 41-3-5, § 41-6-1 through § 41-6-105, § 41-9-21, § 41-9-510, § 41-9-530, § 41-9-850, § 41-9-922, § 41-11-1 through § 41-11-6, and § 41-13-20 through 41-13-22
  • 36 CFR Part 1206
  • Alabama Government Manual (2018)
  • Alabama Department of Archives and History Audit Reports
  • Archives Division, State Agency Files (1985-ongoing)
  • Alabama Academy of Honor. “Edwin C. Bridges.” August 2006. https://www. alabamaacademyofhonor.org/edwin-c-bridges.
  • Alabama Department of Archives and History. “Statement of Recommitment – June 23, 2020.” Alabama Department of Archives and History. https://archives.alabama.gov/docs/ ADAH_Statement_Recommitment_200623.pdf.
  • Alabama Department of Archives and History. “State Government Records Program: Defining a New Records Appraisal Strategy.” Presented to the State Records Commission in November 1995.
  • Alabama Historical Records Advisory Board. Assessing Alabama’s Archives: A Plan for the Preservation of the State’s Historical Records: The Full Report. Montgomery, 1985.
  • Connor, Robert D.W. “Dedication of the Archival Section of the Alabama World War Memorial Building.” The American Archivist 4, no. 2 (1941: 77-83.
  • Going, Allen J. “Historical Societies in Alabama.” The Alabama Review 1 (January 1948): 39-49.
  • Hébert, Rebecca L. “Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH).” Encyclopedia of Alabama. October 9, 2018. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/ article/h-2014.
  • Hébert, Rebecca L. “Marie Bankhead Owen.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. April 3, 2017. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1188.
  • Jakeman, Robert J. “Marie Bankhead Owen and the Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1920-1955.” Provenance 21 (2003): 36-65.
  • Lambeth, Minnie. “GiveBack: A Hallmark of Historic Preservation.” Montgomery Business Journal. September 3, 2018. https://www.montgomerychamber.com/blog/ montgomery-business-journal-3603/post/giveback-a-hallmark-of-historick-preservation-16346.
  • Long, A. Stacy. “Community Hero: For City and State, Ed Bridges Spans Past, Present and Future.” Montgomery Advertiser. December 14, 2018. https://www. montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/heroes/2018/12/14/montgomery-advertiser-community-hero-city-and-state-ed-bridges-spans-past-present-and-future/2297887002/.
  • Monroe, Alden N. “Thomas M. Owen.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. December 10, 2014. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1189.
  • Neeley, Graham. “‘My goal will ever be to make history popular’: Peter Brannon’s Quest for Alabama History.” Master diss., Auburn University, 2018.
  • Owen, Thomas et al. “Report of the Alabama History Commission to the Governor of Alabama.” In Publications of the Alabama Historical Society: Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 1, ed. Thomas Owen, 11-43. Montgomery, Alabama: Brown Printing Co., 1901.
  • Owen, Thomas et al. “An Account of Manuscripts, Papers and Documents in Official Repositories Within the State of Alabama.” Publications of the Alabama Historical Society: Miscellaneous Collections Vol. 1, edited by Thomas Owen, 86-153. Montgomery, AL: Brown Printing Co., 1901.
  • Panhorst, M. “Devotion, Deception, and the Ladies Memorial Association, 1865-1898: The Mystery of the Alabama Confederate Monument.” The Alabama Review 65, no. 3 (2012): 163-204.
  • Simpson, Robert R. “The Origins of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.” Alabama Historical Quarterly 34 (Summer 1972): 155-70.
  • State of Alabama, Department of Archives and History. Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1967. Montgomery, AL: Skinner Printing Company, 1968.
  • The Brookings Institution Institute for Government Research. Report on a Survey of the Organization and Administration of the State and County Governments of Alabama. Montgomery, AL: The Wilson Printing Company, 1932.
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. “National Forests in Alabama: About the Area.” U.S. Department of Agriculture. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/alabama/ about-forest/about-area.
  • White, David. “New Alabama Archives Chief Steve Murray Wants to Boost Access to History.” AL.com. September 1, 2012. https://www.al.com/spotnews/2012/09/new_ alabama_archives_chief_ste.html.

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