TUSCUMBIA-The Tennessee Valley Historical Society will sponsor three guest speaker talks beginning Thursday (June 26) and ending Friday (June 27) at the Cold Water Bookstore located at 101 West 6th Street.
This year’s Helen Keller Festival Week celebration discussion topics and power-point presentations line up by Dr. David Gregg, Tom McKnight and Robert Perry supporting this year’s theme: “Heritage and History Diversity,” will provide new research and insights of European American, African American and American Indian history diversity both locally and beyond.
Place: Cold Water Bookstore – 101 West 6th St. Tuscumbia, Alabama.
Schedule as Follows:
David E. Gregg
Speaker: Dr. David E. Gregg
Topic: “Life Along the Muscle Shoals: The Early Years”
Date: Thursday, June 26th
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Summary: Much of the history that occurred along the Muscle Shoals prior to the 1830s, has been lost due to fires, death, or decay. Fortunately, papers all over the country shared news articles with other papers, and therefore we have some additional preserved history to pass along. This PowerPoint presentation will look back into those early years through the written press.
Tom McKnight
Speaker: Tom McKnight
Topic: “The Hunt for Grandmaster Powell”
Date: Friday, June 27th
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Summary: Little was known by of Northwest Alabama’s Mosaic Templars of America, (MTA) an African American fraternal organization of great significance to the community. Though headstones marking member’s existence can be found scattered throughout city, church, private cemeteries and farm land, knowledge of the organization’s existence, purpose and some of members was forgotten history until research shed light on the organization’s existence. Less however, was known of Alabama’s first Grandmaster, Lawrence Louis Powell. The historical hunt for this elusive officer tracks his steps from Sheffield to Montgomery. The “hunt” continues…
Robert Perry
Speaker: Robert Perry
Topic: “Geronimo, Alabama Indian”
Date: Friday, June 27th
Time: 12:00 noon
Summary: Robert Perry, an Elder of the Chickasaw Nation will share a story told to him by an Apache descendent in Muscle Shoals who, against the wishes of his family reveals a part of Alabama history that is little known. It is a story of his ancestors who live in Alabama and protected a Mescalero Apache. Though the Poarche Band of Creek Indians is the only federally recognized tribe in Alabama, Robert’s discussion will shed new light of the Chiricahua Apache being an Alabama tribe, which included the famous Geronimo. A time-line of events encompassing the Red River War in the Texas Panhandle that crushed the Plains Tribes and their treatment and designation as POW’s is a compelling story that is rarely known, told and shared.
