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The making of a Supreme Court justice in the crucible of Alabama politics.

Hugo Black: The Alabama Years by Virginia Van der Veer Hamilton is a richly researched political biography that explores the formative experiences of Hugo L. Black, one of the most influential justices in the history of the United States Supreme Court. Focusing on his early life and career in Alabama, Hamilton traces Black's journey from his rural upbringing and legal training to his emergence as a prominent attorney, politician, and United States senator. Through careful analysis of Alabama's social, economic, and political landscape, the book reveals the forces that shaped Black's ideas about government, democracy, and constitutional rights.

Hamilton examines Black's rise during a period of profound change in the South, highlighting the alliances, controversies, and challenges that defined his political career. The study places Black within the broader context of Progressive Era reform, the transformation of Southern politics, and the expanding role of the federal government in American life. At the same time, it provides a nuanced portrait of a complex public figure whose beliefs and actions continue to inspire debate among historians and legal scholars.

Essential reading for students of legal history, political science, Southern studies, and American government, this volume offers valuable insight into the Alabama roots of a justice who would profoundly influence modern constitutional interpretation and civil liberties jurisprudence.
 
 

A naturalist's captivating portrait of Alabama's wildlife, landscapes, and people.

Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888), a British naturalist, left home at age 17 and made his way to Alabama in 1838, where he had heard educated people were in demand. He was employed by Judge Reuben Saffold at Pleasant Hill in Dallas County as a teacher for about a dozen children of local landowners, but his principal interest was natural history. During the eight months he lived in th Black Belt he watched, listened, thought, took notes, and made sketches--activities that eventually led to Letters from Alabama. He lived among Alabamians, talked and listened to them, saw them at their best and their worst, and came to understand their hopes and fears. They were a part of the natural world, and he paid attention to them as any good scientist would. With the skills of a scientist and the temperament of an artist, Gosse set down an account of natural life in frontier Alabama that has no equal. Written to no one in particular, a common literary device of the period, the letters were first published in a magazine, and in 1859 appeared as a book. By that time Gosse was an established scholar and one of England’s most noted scientific illustrators.

"Hamilton makes clear in this intelligent and sensitive biography [that] Hill, whose 45 years in Congress spanned the presidents from Calvin Coolidge to Lyndon Johnson, deserves to be remembered, both for the impressive legislative record he compiled and for the light he shed on southern liberalism in the 20th century." -- Journal of Southern History "Hamilton's fine book is based on extensive research [and] it will be of interest to a general audience as well as to scholars." -- Journal of American History "This is an important work about a highly influential lawmaker." Choice Virginia Van der Veer Hamilton is Professor Emerita of History at The University of Alabama at Birmingham and author of Hugo Black: The Alabama Years.

Revised and updated. 

A trusted guide to Alabama's historic treasures and cultural landmarks.

Don’t drive anywhere in this state without taking along this useful, handy guide. Originally published in 1982, Professor Hamilton’s much acclaimed Seeing Historic Alabama: Fifteen Guided Tours was enthusiastically received around the state. Reviewers throughout Alabama praised her work, her artist’s eye for landscape and architecture, as well as her “historian’s devotion to fact and motorist’s appreciation for specific directions.” This praise extended beyond the state lines to publications in the greater Southeast, which recommend the volume to readers planning travel to or through Alabama.

Hamilton and Matte's thoroughly revised and updated edition of Seeing Historic Alabama introduces readers to the history of Alabama by way of visits to the buildings and sites where historic events took place, from prehistoric time to the present. Its aim is to appeal to a wide range of readers and travelers—natives and residents of Alabama, students of all ages, newcomers to the state, and tourists. This guide offers tours arranged in geographical segments that can be taken in a few hours, in a day trip, or over the course of several days. A handy guide to keep at ready in the glove compartment for easy reference wherever you travel.