MONTGOMERY-Alabama Bicentennial Commemoration: Our First 200 Years On December 14, 1819, Alabama became the twenty-second state of the United States. Carved out of the Mississippi Territory, it brought remarkable natural and human resources—and an already rich history—to the developing nation.
In anticipation of the upcoming bicentennial, the Alabama Legislature and Gov. Robert Bentley have established the Alabama Bicentennial Commission to promote and coordinate commemorative activities across the state.
Sen. Arthur Orr (Decatur)
Sen. Arthur Orr (Decatur) chairs the commission, and Alabama Tourism Department director Lee Sentell serves as vice-chair. The commission seeks to encourage communities, schools, businesses, and cultural institutions across Alabama to use this time of commemoration to explore and showcase our history and heritage—and to look toward the future as we prepare for the challenges of our third century.
The commission has established committees to focus on three major areas of activity. The Statewide Initiatives
Lee Sentell – Alabama Tourism Director
Committee, chaired by Al Head, executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and Donna Cox Baker, editor-in-chief of Alabama Heritage, will help plan and support such projects as traveling exhibitions, publications, documentaries, and statewide commemorations.
The Local Activities Committee, led by Tami Reist, director of the North Alabama Lakes Tourism Association, and Carrie Banks of the Alabama League of Municipalities, will work with towns and communities to develop and support local history projects, festivals, historical marker dedications, and other programs.
A third committee is charged with developing educational content and projects to promote history education in Alabama schools. Steve Murray, director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, and Karen Porter of the Alabama State Department of Education, are co-leading initiatives to survey existing educational resources and develop new offerings for teachers and K-12 students. Higher education institutions will also play an important role through projects, interns, publications, and support of such important resources as the Encyclopedia of Alabama.
The commission will begin active programs in 2017, following the sequence of events from the creation of the Alabama Territory in 1817 to the actual bicentennial date on December 14, 2019. Local history exhibitions, reading programs, speaker series, and a wealth of workshops on preservation, genealogy, and education will support community efforts, homecoming events, and tourism activities. Of course, there will also be fireworks and birthday cakes.
The commission hopes to encourage communities and organizations in Alabama to think about what they would like to accomplish over the three commemorative years and how those projects might fit in the larger bicentennial observances. Potential projects may include cemetery surveys, oral history projects, school plays, music festivals, recipe collections, bicentennial gardens, historic structure renovations, civic improvement projects—the possibilities are almost endless. Counties, towns, businesses, schools, and organizations might also think about creating their own committees and/or appointing a point person to work with the bicentennial committees.
We have much to build on in our planning. The land itself makes Alabama an astonishing place. From the Gulf of Mexico to the Tennessee Valley, Alabama is among the first in the nation for biodiversity. It embraces remarkable geology, geography, and environment. Crisscrossed by major rivers and innumerable streams and creeks, its soils, minerals, and other natural resources have made it home to ancient and modern peoples, both indigenous and immigrant.
And the story of the people of Alabama is one of the richest and most dramatic in American history—from the long and complex history of native peoples to the settlers on the Federal Road, from the lost biographies of slaves to memoirs of World War II 
veterans, from artists to athletes to astronauts. The stories of Alabama have contributed to the nation and the world. In fact, the state’s role in the Civil War, the modern Civil Rights Era, and the space program are among the nation’s watershed moments.
The Alabama Bicentennial hopes to encourage both Alabamians and visitors to explore our state’s extraordinary history and heritage. The commission believes that reflecting on how the past has shaped us can deepen our understanding as citizens and enrich our lives. These reflections can also help us in building for the complex new challenges we will face in the future. Although 2017 may seem far in the future, beginning preparations now will allow time for effective and well-supported programs. In fact, some communities have already established their own bicentennial committees, and several Alabama-based companies are deep into planning. For further information, consult the commission’s website at http://www.Alabama200.org.
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