The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-05-15
Writers of Alabama History Honored By
 Admission Club
Ky IvA COOK

r. Ackers one or the most interesting members of the organization, was asked 10 give a resume of "Preservers of Ala bama History" which she did, giving the following story in her very attractive way:
 Everything must have a beginnfrA, and hence there are pioneers in every de- pertinent of life work
 Our pioneer historian was Alex B.
 Meek, born in South Carolina. When only boy his parents moved to Ala bama, and he graduated from the uni Versity the second year after it's estab- iishment. Being an agricultural people we of the south gave little attention prior to the Civil war to literary pur- suits. It was at this time that Judge Meek wrote-and wrote well. The genu inc spirit of the people and of the times is embalmed in the rare literary prod ucts such as we have from the pen of this Alabsman. Certainly as much as any southern writer, Judge Meek has immortalized the spirit and genius of the south of an early period, which is now only pleasing recollection. In 1853, while representing Mobile county in the state legislature he was chairman of the committee on education, and report- ed the bill to establish and maintain a system of free public schools in the state of Alabama" So he became the father of the public school system in Alabama. Meek was a very careful and accurate historian and all subsequent historians have borrowed from his store of facts.
 Next appears Albert James Picket, who came to us from North Carolina when a. lad of eight. Like all small boys he was very much interested in the things around him. The Indians, with their weird music, mystic dances, won derful medicine men, appealed to him. This grew as he grew in wisdom and stature and led him to sutdy their his tory, and this in turn to the events which occurred in connection with the invasion of their primitive domains by the whites. The study proved fascinat- ing and led to his preparation of the History of Alabama and Incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi Considering the scarcity of material, the difficulty of obtaining it, the undertaking was colossal one, but MT. Picket gave him. self to 1t with zeal worthy of the en- terprse. In 1851 the author issued his two-volume history. So comprehensive was the work, so minute in detail, and so careful were the citations that on it's appearance 1t was greeted with favor, rot only in Alabama, but elsewhere. The style of the book is simple and easy, the statement of fact clear and devoid of ornament or speculation, and throughout is entirely without bias. The obvious in- tention of the author was to state fact as he saw it. In his work Picket pro- vided mine of fact into which future historians of Alabama can dig with re- spect to the history antedating the occu- ration of the state by the whites The history extends no further than the at- tainnnent of statehood of Alabama. That Picket has done so much and so well makes him worthy of the perpetual grati- tude of the people of Alabama.
 Prominent among Alabamians who have aided in building to greatness our commonwealth is Willis Brewer of Lowndes county. He was a planter, Journalist, lawyer. author and states man. and contributed much to the growth l of the state. Tn 1880 he was elected to the state legislature and served IS years. Valuable as his service was in every po- eition occupied by him, his most useful service was rendered while he was state auditor. His passion for literature has resulted in style peculiarly his own crisp, terse, condensed. His history or
 Alabama was published in 1872 and is an invaluable contribution to the literature of the state.
 Next in order of publication comes Thomas Nj. Owen. He, as each of the foregoing, decided early in life to write . complete history of his state. Tom Owen, as he was familiarly called, was born in Jefferson county in 1866. so his boyhood was in 8 turbulant and scant time. In order to receive an education, he had to work his way through prepara- tory school and the University of Ala bama, and in the latter institution he left a record for scholarship and for num- Der of subjects covered in the shortest space of time, unsurpassed by any other student By the time he had completed his course at the university he had a fixed purpose to write a history. His first effort was to write history of Jef- ferson county, and he began to interview old citizens and to collecet old newspa- pers and information from every other possible source. It was then he decided that a history of the state would be written in the same way, and so he widened his territory of investigations, and first published "A Bibliography or Alabama then A Bibliography of Mis- sissippi If you recall, Picket's history ended with the admission of Alabama to the Union. Owen began his history where Picket ended, and published owens Edition of Tickets History of Alabama which brought the annals Of the state to 1890. About this time ne evolved the idea of creating depart ment of Archives and History and pre- sented it to the legislature of 1901. IL was then that the Alabama state de- partment of archives and history was es- tablished, with Owen as head of the de- partment. It was the first of the kind in the United States. but since then has been copied by a number of states. In 1908 he had all the materials ready for his four-volume history of the state, when his home and all its contents were destroyed by fire. He began again to accumulate his data, but it was unfin- oshed at the time of his death. It has since been completed and will come from the press this summer. He was deep student of the Confederate period, and has developed that period in the depart Hent of archives and history, He gath cred many manuscripts, papers and let ters that are of historical interest, among them the original manuscript of Tickets history. The history of Alabama by Picket stands without pier in the period 1t covers. With owens Annals added. it has become doubly valuable as . book of reference.
 John Witherspoon DuBose has also written a history of Alabama, which is now used In the public schools. He was 1t one time on the editorial staff of The Birmingham Age-Herald.
 T beg to submit the following resume of Alabama history: First occupied. by Chcctaws, Cherokees. Creeks, Chicka- CAYT T00TH pACTEI