1. Museum
CHRONICLE
MOUNDVILLE NATIVE AMERICAN
FESTIVAL’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY pg. 4
UA Museums’ New Executive Director • Summer Paleontology Finds
W.C. Gorgas in Panama • Discovering Alabama 30 Years
Moundville Speaker Series • A Civil War Prison in Tuscaloosa
Cannon Worm • Donation Aids Preservation of Gorgas House
NEWS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA MUSEUMS • FALL 2014 • NO. 48
Alabama Museum of Natural History • Discovering Alabama • Moundville Archaeological Park • Office of Archaeological Research • Gorgas House • UA Museum Collections

2. Museum
CHRONICLE
Published periodically during the year by The University of Alabama Museums
Prescott Atkinson, Ph.D., M.D.
Birmingham, AL
Ed Bridges, Ph.D.
Montgomery, AL
Darla Graves
Birmingham, AL
Mike Jenkins
Montgomery, AL
Steve Johnson
Tuscaloosa, AL
Thomas Joiner
Tuscaloosa, AL
Charles Lowery, Ph.D.
Starkville, MS
William Bomar, Ph.D.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The University of Alabama Museums
BOARD OF REGENTS
Eleanor May
Tuscaloosa, AL
Douglas McCraw
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Tom McMillan
Brewton, AL
Howell Poole
Moundville, AL
Beverly Phifer
Tuscaloosa, AL
Kent Reilly, Ph.D.
Austin, TX
Tom Semmes
San Antonio, TX
The UA Museums family consists of the following:
Leah Ann Sexton
Tuscaloosa, AL
Craig Sheldon, Ph.D.
Wetumpka, AL
Kristie Taylor
Tuscaloosa, AL
Nick Tew, Ph.D.
Tuscaloosa, AL
Terry Waters
Tuscaloosa, AL
Tom Watson
Tuscaloosa, AL
Charles Weissinger
Auburn, AL
Ben Barnett, BOARD PRESIDENT
Tuscaloosa, AL
Larry Taylor, BOARD VICE PRESIDENT
Moundville, AL
Research and Collections

3. fall 2014 EVENTS CALENDAR
Moundville Archaeological Park Alabama Museum of Natural History
Museum CHRONICLE • 3
Location Key:
september
october
(OCTOBER CONTINUED) november
27 Saturday
SATURDAY IN THE PARK - ANCIENT
HUNTING AND FISHING
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Free with paid Admission
75th ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM-ANCIENT
PERSPECTIVES AND
MODERN PEOPLE
5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Free
28 Sunday
SCIENCE SUNDAY: ORIGINS OF OUR
UNIVERSE
1:30 p.m. -4:30 p.m.
Free
1 Wednesday
EXPLORER WEDNESDAY 3rd-5th Gr.
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
$8 per participant
3 Friday
GROWING UP WILD PRESCHOOL
FRIDAY
10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
$2 per child and caregiver
1 Saturday
SATURDAY IN THE PARK - TBA
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Free with paid Admission
3 Monday
MUSEUM MONDAY K-2nd Gr.
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
$8 per participant
7 Friday
GROWING UP WILD PRESCHOOL
FRIDAY
10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
$2 per child and caregiver
4 Saturday
SATURDAY IN THE PARK - TBA
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Free with paid Admission
5 Wednesday
EXPLORER WEDNESDAY 3rd-5th Gr.
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
$8 per participant
23 Sunday
SCIENCE SUNDAY: A DIVERSE EARTH
1:30 p.m. -4:30 p.m.
Free
4 Saturday
SATURDAY IN THE PARK - SHELL
CARVING
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Free with paid Admission
6 Monday
MUSEUM MONDAY K-2nd Gr.
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
$8 per participant
8-11 Wednesday - Saturday
MOUNDVILLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK
NATIVE AMERICAN FESTIVAL 25th
ANNIVERSARY
$8 students; $10 adults
15 Wednesday
NATIONAL FOSSIL DAY
4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Free
25 Saturday
75th ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM-SAVING
THE SITE: MOUNDVILLE AND
THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Free
28 Tuesday
A HAUNTING AT THE MUSEUM
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Free

4. OCTOBER 8TH THROUGH 11TH MARKS A MILESTONE FOR
THE MOUNDVILLE NATIVE AMERICAN FESTIVAL
BY BETSY IRWIN
The year 2014 marks the 75th
anniversary of the opening of the Jones
Archaeological Museum and the 25th
anniversary of the Moundville Native
American Festival. In 1989, a small
circle of Native American demonstrators
hosted around 500 schoolchildren
and a handful of the general public
at Moundville as part of the Jones
Museum’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Little did organizers know that this
simple beginning would lead to the
Moundville Native American Festival as
it exists today – one of the largest and
T
4 • Museum CHRONICLE
most respected festivals of its kind. The
festival runs from October 8th through
11th this year.
Grammy nominated musician
GrayHawk Perkins returns to the
festival’s Native American Stage, helping
us celebrate our 25th anniversary.
In addition to being our master of
ceremonies, GrayHawk enthralls
audiences with his storytelling,
connecting with visitors young and old.
His band from New Orleans performs
on Friday and Saturday of the festival.
The GrayHawk Band’s original music
is a unique blend of blues, funk,
jazz & rock intertwined with tribal
rhythms and themes. With their Native
American roots planted firmly in the
diverse musical landscape of New
Orleans, the band represents a new
cross-cultural sub genre of music which
has been referred to as ‘tribal funk’. And
if you listen closely, you will detect the
influence of musical icons ranging from
James Brown to the Rolling Stones. It’s
an earthy, upbeat sound that appeals to
a wide range of audiences.
Lyndon Alec, a member of the
Coushatta Tribe (Livingston, Texas) is
a hoop dancer featured on the 2014
festival poster and one of our favorite
performers. The Chickasha Hithla
dance troupe (Oklahoma and Texas)
perform stomp dancing, one of the
oldest and most traditional types of
dances for many Southeastern Native
American tribes. Chikasha Hithla
literally translates to “Chickasaw
dancers.” The group formed in 2013 to
educate, preserve and restore Chickasaw
traditions. Joining them are the Mystic
Wind Choctaw Dancers. Led by Daniel
Issac of Choctaw, Mississippi, the group
performs Choctaw social dances, many
of which imitate animals. Issac’s group
also demonstrate a kind of drumming
frequently found at powwows, a popular
Native American event that focuses on
Indian culture in general.
Living Historian Diamond Brown (Eastern
Band of Cherokee) poses with his bark shelter
display.
Paula Nelson performing at
the festival in 2013.

5. Museum CHRONICLE • 5
PBS as a cultural educator through
musical media and teachers all over the
nation have access to her music and
performances to utilize as a teaching
tool for children and adults.
Representing a noble warrior from
Moundville, Eastern Cherokee John
“Bullet” Standingdeer meets and greets
festival visitors this year. Dressed and
ornamented like the prehistoric people
that once lived at the mounds, Bullet
serves as the festival’s ambassador. He
has previously performed here with the
Warriors of AniKituwah, a traditional
Cherokee men’s dance troupe organized
by the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
Bullet was also a model whose face
was cast for one of the lifelike figures
featured in the recently renovated
exhibits within the Jones Archaeological
Museum at Moundville Archaeological
Park.
Living Historian Diamond Brown
and his wife Sandy (Eastern Band of
Cherokees) will set up a display which
includes a traditional bark shelter, a
type of structure that could well have
been used during prehistoric times.
Immensely talented, Brown teaches
visitors about historic and precontact
Cherokee culture, using a multitude of
artifacts he’s fashioned. Sandy Brown
is an accomplished fingerweaver.
Without a loom, she painstakingly
fashions sashes typical of the 18th and
Amy Bluemel will spin stories for
visitors, both on stage and at the
storytelling arbor nestled away by the
park’s recreated Indian Village. Amy is
a member of the Chickasaw Nation of
Oklahoma and lives in Joshua, Texas.
She was the featured storyteller at a
spring celebration for the museum’s
75th anniversary. Other performers
include flutist/storytellers Billy
Whitefox, Charlie MatoToyela, Jimmy
Yellowhorse and Sydney Mitchell.
Multi-talented Paula Nelson also shares
Cherokee stories on stage, intermingling
them with her original songs. When
Nelson isn’t on stage, visitors can see
her living history display where she
recreates herself as a noblewoman from
around the 1300s – the time when
Moundville was at its peak. Raised
in the Kolanvyi Community, Paula
is a multimedia visual/textile artist,
performance artist, singer/songwriter
and published poet. Her creativity
lends itself well to her 13-year career as
a living history educator as is evident
through the quality of her displays and
historical clothing. Well-known in the
Southeastern Indian communities as a
performer and songwriter specializing
in composing songs and lyrics in the
Cherokee language, Nelson has a
discography of four CDs to her credit
and she has won numerous awards for
her art and publications. Most recently,
she has received certification through
19th centuries in a manner similar
to, but much more complex than,
braiding. In addition to sharing about
their culture, the Browns also discuss
various Cherokee lifeways including
basketry, pottery making, fire making
and hide tanning. Diamond is a strong
advocate for the environment, many of
his demonstrations illustrating “green”
technologies used by Native Americans
for thousands of years.
Another new addition to the festival’s
living history ensemble is Pedro
Zepeda, an educator with the Seminole
Tribe of Florida. Pedro Zepeda
demonstrates Southeastern-style
woodcarving from the 19th Century and
earlier. Clubs, bows, stickball rackets,
sofkee spoons and children’s toys are a
few things he carves. While working, he
talks about the historic tools he uses as
well as life in Florida during the 1800s
– a time of great turmoil and change for
the Southeastern Indian people.
The festival will be open from 9 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Admission to the festival is $10 for
adults; $8 students; and free for children
ages 5 and younger. Group discounts
with reservations are available. For
more information, or to make group
reservations, phone 205/371-2234.
The GreyHawk Band

6. FOSSIL PLANT TRACK MEET HOSTED AT THE ALABAMA
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
BY DANA EHRET
On Sunday June 22, the Alabama
Museum of Natural History hosted a
fossil plant ‘Track Meet” in conjunction
with the Alabama Paleontological
Society (APS). The event is the latest
in a series of meets that focus on
Pennsylvanian (~320 million year old)
trackway and plant fossils found at
the Union Chapel Mine near Jasper
in Walker County. The Union Chapel
Mine, now formally called the Steven
C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site,
is a former coal mine that was taken
over by the state lands division of the
Alabama Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources as a result of the
efforts of the Alabama Paleontological
Society. The purpose of these track
meets is to showcase and photograph
the recent finds of visitors to the Union
Chapel Mine for documentation,
and contribute specimens to museum
collection. The first ever track meet
was held back on August 19, 2000
at the Alabama Museum of Natural
History. This most recent track meet
focused particularly on fossil plants
after an interesting specimen related to
NEW FINDS IN PALEONTOLOGY
BY DANA EHRET
6 • Museum CHRONICLE
club mosses, called Lepidodendron, was
discovered earlier this year. As a result,
Prescott Atkinson and members of the
APS invited Dr. Michael Rischbieter,
a Paleozoic coal swamp expert from
Presbyterian College, South Carolina,
and Dr. Jim Lacefield, author of Lost
Worlds in Alabama Rocks and formerly
of the University of North Alabama,
to attend the track meet and evaluate
specimens brought in by APS members.
The event was attended by a dozen or
so members and guests of the APS, and
at the end of the day the Paleontology
collections at the Alabama Museum
of Natural History had roughly 400
plant fossils donated to its permanent
collections! Specimens included fossil
ferns, club mosses, scale trees, seeds,
and willow leaves just to name a few.
I would like to extend a thank you to
all those that participated including:
Prescott Atkinson, Michael Rischbieter,
Jim Lacefield, Jun and Sandy Ebersole,
Ron Buta, Bruce Relihan, Carl Sloan,
and Milo Washington.
O
T
This spring and summer has been a
busy and exciting field season in the
paleontology collections at the Alabama
Museum of Natural History. The
warmer weather and longer days lend
themselves to outdoor fieldwork, and I
have taken full advantage of that. The
most well known field-collecting site
for the museum is Harrell Station in
Dallas County. The 140-acre site, owned
by the museum, is covered with late
Cretaceous (~75 million year old) chalk
gullies that produce mainly marine
fossils from the Age of the Dinosaurs.
Early this spring, Prescott Atkinson and
his boyhood friend Marc Maurer spent
Fossil plant track meet overview
from the third floor of Smith Hall.
Photography by Sandy Ebersole.
on by a bony fish called Saurodon after
it hit the water. Evidence of predation
and/or scavenging are not that common
in the fossil record, and I expect Lynn
to present the find at the upcoming
Southeastern Association of Vertebrate
Paleontology meeting in Jackson, MS.
I spent a better part of this spring
venturing out to the far corners of
Harrell Station, to areas that are not
too accessible by foot, and I had great
success. We recovered a skull of a fossil
sea turtle known as Toxochelys, a nearly
complete fossil clam called a rudist,
and the tail of a large bony fish called
a couple days prospecting at Harrell
and turned up a magnificent pterosaur,
Pteranodon longiceps, wing bone.
Pterosaurs were large, flying reptiles that
had an elongated pinky finger that the
wing membrane attached onto. These
bones rarely preserve because they are
fragile and hollow much like that of
a modern bird. Back in the lab, our
summer collections technician, Mr.
Lynn Harrell, prepared the specimen
and revealed a series of tooth scrapes
on the underside of the bone! Matching
the tooth scrapes with known fossils
from Harrell Station, it appears that
this unfortunate pterosaur was gnawed

7. Museum CHRONICLE • 7
Above: Neural and Costal bones of the giant sea turtle, Protostega, donated by
Mr. George Martin.
Below: Wing bone of Pteranodon longiceps from Harrell Station collected this
summer. Circle indicates Saurodon bite marks.
The skull of a late Cretaceous sea
turtle (Toxochelys) from Harrell Station
collected this summer.
Above: Partial American Mastodon
tooth collected by Jamey Grimes on a
museum collecting trip this summer.
Xiphactinus. The fish tail posed some
difficulties, seeing as the plaster jacket
we made to haul the specimen out
weighed over 125 pounds and the site
was a good quarter mile across the chalk
gullies to the nearest vehicle! Lynn and
I dragged the specimen most of the
way, and enlisted some visiting campers
from this year’s Expedition to lift the
specimen into my car.
Another site we visited in Dallas
County was a creek known for its
mixture of late Cretaceous sharks and
mosasaurs along with late Pleistocene
(~100,000 – 10,000 years ago)
mammals. This site produced many
tooth and tusk fragments of mastodons,
molars from tapirs, deer and elk antlers,
giant armadillo scutes as well as teeth
from the shell-crushing mosasaur,
Globidens. My field assistants, Lynn
Harrell and Jamey Grimes (an adjunct
instructor in the Art Department), and
I also recorded some new state records
for both fossil mammals and sharks in
Alabama. Jamey Grimes was fortunate
to find the first tooth of a capybara (a
large, aquatic rodent still found today
in South America) from Alabama, as
well as the first record of the Cretaceous
sixgill shark, Hexanchus microdon, from
the site.
Finally, trips run through the Museum’s
summer programs to fossil localities
in Hale and Greene counties also
yielded important additions to our
collections. The most distinctive part
about these specimens is that amateur
paleontologists found the fossils and
donated them to the museum. Teeth of
the late Cretaceous shark, Cretoxyrhina
mantelli, seemed to be much more
common than they have been in the
past, with multiple young volunteers
donating specimens. This was a large,
fish-eating shark that probably grew
to lengths of 20-25 feet. Another rare
find was portions of a tooth from
a Columbian mammoth, the larger
cousin to the woolly mammoth, which
was recovered in Greene County
by museum naturalist Todd Hester.
Overall, the 2014 field season was quite
an exciting one for the paleontology
collections at the Alabama Museum of
Natural History. Next, volunteer Dr.
Bing Blewitt and I will turn our focus
on preparing and cataloguing all of
these wonderful finds before gearing up
for the 2015 field season!

8. DISCOVERING ALABAMA CELEBRATES 30 YEARS
BY PAM SLOAN
“This program is about a land unknown
to many people. A land that, in
many ways, has maintained its native
natural wonders; A place of bountiful
backcountry, forests, streams & wildlife
more diverse than can be found in most
of the inhabited world. Come along
with me as we explore the wild wonders
of this land. Come along as we discover
Alabama.”
Since 1985, host and executive
producer Dr. Doug Phillips has shared
this invitation to viewers to discover
Alabama. As this Emmy®Award-winning
8 • Museum CHRONICLE
Discovering Alabama tools into
classroom instruction. Observing the
Discovering Alabama Model School
program, they began developing lessons
that can be shared with colleagues in
their own districts as well as others
throughout the state. Discovering
Alabama will continue to provide
support to schools showing how the
“hands-on, minds-on, HEARTS-IN”
instruction works well with students of
all ages.
Discovering Alabama continues to grow
with five more shows completed for
2014.
zzState Parks, Alabama’s State Parks
turn 75 this year offering recreation,
education and inspiration for everyone
who visits.
zzThe Marble City, explores Sylacauga
marble’s historical and artistic
significance as well as how it shaped the
character of residents in that town.
zzAlabama’s Coastal Paradise, A
three-part series explores the ecology,
historical heritage, and educational
assets of the coastal region.
Discovering Alabama: Alabama’s Coastal
Paradise premieres Tuesday, November
25 at 8:00 p.m. on Alabama Public
Television.
Discovering Alabama’s impact will be felt
in the hearts of Alabamians for years
to come. A University campus event
will be planned for sometime in the
spring of 2015 to celebrate Discovering
Alabama’s 30th year and give thanks
to Discovering Alabama friends and
contributors.
S
show celebrates 30 years
there are more elements of Discovering
Alabama to explore. Viewers now
have tools to help them learn more
about the rich natural history of this
wondrous state. In addition to the
shows there are books, teacher guides,
field trips, and more available through
the website, discoveringalabama.org.
With almost 100 programs completed
to date, the series is now expanding
to offer eBooks, virtual field trips, and
other opportunities for curriculum
enrichment.
Some things you may not know about
Discovering Alabama:
Providing support and service has
always been a mission of Discovering
Alabama. Through civic presentations,
special outings and collaborative
projects, Discovering Alabama continues
to promote stewardship while helping
communities plan for the future. Dr.
Doug has donated sets of DVDs to
scout groups, children’s hospitals and
churches as part of this community
outreach to encourage stewardship in
generations to come. Thanks to his
leadership efforts, programs such as
Forever Wild are in place to insure
respectful and responsible care for lands
in Alabama. During collaborations to
plan for economic development and
tourism, he works with community and
city planners to consider decisions that
may impact both the economy and
the environment. Whether working
with school and community projects,
environmental groups, foresters or
legislators, Dr. Doug facilitates ways for
groups to work together to protect our
valuable resources.
Discovering Alabama provides support
to education through direct school
assistance. Even before the Discovering
Alabama television series, educators
were attending Doug’s workshops
to learn how to use nature to make
classes more motivating and exciting
for students. Teachers, on one outing,
approached Dr. Doug with the idea
that he could reach a larger audience
through a television show. And so it
began. As part of the 30th Anniversary
Celebration this year, Discovering
Alabama staff members traveled
throughout the state, listening to
educators and demonstrating solutions
to problems that educators face by
making course content more locally
relevant and personally meaningful.
Exploring the dynamics of student
growth through discovering, learning
and contributing, teachers learned
that Discovering Alabama provides
tools to motivate their students to
achieve at higher levels. Investigating
the interdisciplinary learning scope
through teacher guides, teachers began
to brainstorm ways to incorporate

9. 75TH ANNIVERSARY LECTURE SERIES AT MOUNDVILLE
BY AMANDA MORROW
Museum CHRONICLE • 9
A
strives to preserve and revive much of
the old Choctaw culture and traditions.
Each of these panelists will present
their tribe’s origin stories and briefly
discuss how Moundville fits in those
viewpoints. Afterwards, a moderator-led
discussion examines the position tribal
entities take regarding research about
the site, the resulting interpretations and
how they are presented to park visitors.
The final part of the lecture series,
“Saving the Site: Moundville and the
Civilian Conservation Corps” will be
held Saturday, October 25 at 5:30
p.m. at Moundville’s Nelson B. Jones
Conference Center. Robert Pasquill,
Jr., an archaeologist with the U.S.
Forest Service and author of the
book, The Civilian Conservation Corps
in Alabama, 1933 – 1942, is an expert
on the CCC and will discuss their
instrumental role in preserving and
developing the Moundville site as a
public park and museum. During the
Great Depression, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt enacted the Works Progress
Administration to alleviate some of the
widespread unemployment facing our
country’s citizens. The CCC was born
out of this movement and without
their preservation efforts, invaluable
information about Moundville, and
possibly the site itself, could have been
destroyed. As part of his presentation,
Pasquill will set up a display featuring
CCC memorabilia including buttons,
banners and other historic items. Before
and after his lecture, audience members
can speak personally with Mr. Pasquill
and examine his artifacts.
As a part of the year-long 75th
anniversary celebration of the opening
of the Jones Museum in 1939,
Moundville Archaeological Park in
conjunction with a grant funded by
the Alabama Humanities Foundation
will host a series of scholarly lectures
this fall. The lectures will present the
Moundville site from several different
scholarly viewpoints and will allow
visitors to come away with a deeper
understanding of Moundville culture
and its significance to people today.
Drs. Vincas Steponaitis (University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) and
Kent Reilly (Texas State University,
San Marcos) are nationally recognized
as Moundville experts. They are
the featured presenters for the first
speaking engagement, “Archaeology
and Art: Understanding Moundville
through Different Disciplines” slated
for 11 a.m. on September 20 at the
park’s riverside conference center.
Steponaitis will deliver the first 45
minute lecture, a discussion of the
history of archaeological investigations
at Moundville and an examination
of how scientific techniques have
changed over time to refine and increase
our knowledge of the Moundville
people. Afterwards, Reilly will present
recent findings in the iconography
of Moundville art. By combining
perspectives and methodologies
from disciplines such as archaeology,
folklore, ethnology and art history
to study symbols found on objects,
scholars have learned much about the
cosmology of the Moundville people.
One object to be discussed will be the
Willoughby Disk, a stone palette from
Moundville currently on display in
the recently renovated museum. Dr.
Reilly served as the curator for the new
exhibit, and so will also relate how the
study of iconography affected the new
interpretations of Moundville’s art and
ideologies.
The second lecture in the series,
“Ancient Perspectives and Modern
People: Moundville and Southeastern
Indian Tribes,” is scheduled for 5:30
p.m. on September 27, 2014, at the
Jones Archaeological Museum. This
program consists of short presentations
by Tribal Historic Preservation Officers
(THPOs) from three tribes followed
by a moderated panel discussion with
these representatives. These THPOs,
Robert Thrower, LaDonna Brown
and Dr. Ian Thompson, will discuss
how Moundville is an integral part of
their individual tribal stories. Robert
Thrower, a traditional practitioner and
THPO for the Poarch Band of Creek
Indians was instrumental in creating
the Poarch Creek Cultural Museum
located on reservation lands near
Atmore, Alabama. LaDonna Brown,
THPO for the Chickasaw Nation, and
member of the Raccoon Clan, brings
great knowledge and insight about her
tribal history. Dr. Ian Thompson serves
as the Choctaw Nation’s THPO and
Tribal Archaeologist. In that capacity, he
Moundville Archaeological Park
received a grant from the Alabama
Humanites Foundation to fund
this lecture series in celebration of
the 75th Anniversary of the Jones
Archaeological Museum, which
opened in 1939. Events are scheduled
throughout the fall and are free of
charge!

10. MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
Above Left: Young scientists learn
about ancient creatures with Dr. Dana
Ehret.
Above Right: Amanda Espy-Brown
teaches about water pollution with an
enviroscape before a home game in
front of Smith Hall.
Right: A crowd gathers to learn about
how 3-D printing is being used in
science and museums.
Below: Science Day Camp campers
learn about geologic formations near
Hurricane Creek with Todd Hester.
10 • Museum CHRONICLE

11. Kenric Minges is the Americorps VISTA member at Moundville Archeological
Park. Kenric was trained as museum docent and has volunteered for the past
four years at Moundville’s Native American Festival, assisted with educational
outreach programs in the park and in area schools, and driven a tractor and other
lawn mowing equipment for the park. Kenric is currently maintaining the Three
Sisters Native American garden and the indigenous plant seed bank. His duties
will include the oversight of the two hundred volunteers that the park requires to
administer the Native American Festival.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alabama (1972), a
Master of Business Administration degree from the University of West Florida
(1982), and a Master of Education degree from the University of West Alabama
(2010).
Angi Jones became the UA Museums Executive Director’s secretary in August 2014.
She is a lifelong resident of Tuscaloosa and was previously on staff at Moundville
Archaeological Park for many years. She is thrilled with her new position and the
opportunity to work with all divisions of UA museums. In her free time she enjoys
spending time with her husband Roddy, and her children Ariel and Seth.
A. Brooke Persons recently joined the staff of UA’s Office of Archaeological
Research as a Cultural Resources Investigator. Brooke received her Ph.D. (2013)
and M.A. (2006) from the University of Alabama’s Department of Anthropology.
She received a B.A. (2004) from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. For
the past decade, Brooke’s research has focused on settlement patterns, ceramic
studies, and the development of chiefdoms in the prehistoric Caribbean. Her
experience lies primarily in Cuba and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she has
directed projects focusing on household archaeology, political complexity, post-disaster
mitigation, and human-environment interaction. Brooke previously served
as the Senior Territorial Archaeologist for the US Virgin Islands and has directed
both academic field investigations and cultural resources management projects
throughout the Southeast and Caribbean.
Museum CHRONICLE • 11
NEW STAFF AT UA MUSEUMS
INDIAN SUMMER
DAY CAMP 2014
We had 13 campers for each week
of Indian Summer Day Camp at
Moundville Archaeological Park.
Special Thanks to our student
counselors, Hunter Harris and Ariel
Jones!

12. UA MUSEUMS EXPEDITION ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER
PIECE OF PLANTATION LIFE
It started with a tombstone, but that
one simple grave marker was the
stepping stone for a group of University
of Alabama archaeologists and their
eager workers, teams of middle- and
high-school students, who discovered
a small piece of early plantation life in
Alabama. For the past four years, UA’s
Office of Archaeological Research has
worked with Auburn resident Charles
Weissinger to investigate his ancestral
home site and cemetery. Weissinger
is the descendant of Johann Georg
Weissinger (who later “Americanized”
his name to George) who migrated
to the United States from Germany
between 1782 and 1784.
In January 1820, about a month after
Alabama was admitted to the Union,
George purchased roughly 1,700 acres
of land in Perry County to establish
a plantation. Between then and the
early 20th century, when the home
was destroyed by fire, three families
occupied the site — the Weissinger,
Davis and Fuller families.
About 50 years ago, Weissinger was
given the tombstone of his great-great-grandfather,
who had died in 1837. The
tombstone had come from the ancestral
property; George and several family
members and possibly one member of
the Davis family are interred somewhere
on the land. For years, the self-described
historian had been carrying
the tombstone with him whenever he
12 • Museum CHRONICLE
moved to a new place. “I wanted to put
it back in the ground, in its original
location,” Weissinger said. “I wanted
to find the cemetery. But to do that, I
needed to find the house.”
Organizers decided the project would
be a great fit for the 36th Expedition
of UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural
History. The annual museum expedition
involved 36 participants (13 during
middle-school week, 14 during high-school
week and nine during public
camp) over the course of three June
weeks.While the mornings were
dedicated to working with researchers in
the field and then helping analyze what
was discovered, the afternoons were
reserved for fun, including activities
like swimming, canoeing or taking
nature walks. “We know that teachers
do a great job of preparing students in
the classroom, but often times what is
overlooked is the hands-on experience,”
said Randy Mecredy, Director of UA’s
Alabama Museum of Natural History.
BY KIM EATON I
Justin Toller, a freshman at Kennesaw State University, excavates the chimney
foundation during the Alabama Museum of Natural History’s 36th Expedition.
Middle school students excavate an early 19th century home site during the Alabama Museum of Natural History’s
Expedition 36.

13. Museum CHRONICLE • 13
“The Expedition is an important
opportunity, especially for high-school
and middle-school students, to take part
in a real hands-on field science project
and work side-by-side with scientists.
The research goals for this year’s
expedition were to confirm the
location and investigate the house site;
determine its size and layout; analyze
the artifacts recovered during the
excavations; and attempt to locate the
cemetery using ground-penetrating radar
and hand-excavation methods. “So,
we have rural plantation archaeology,
attempting to discover an early 19th
Century home and cemetery, that has
a Civil War veteran connection, using
technology such as ground-penetrating
radar and three-dimensional computer
models,” said Brandon Thompson,
Cultural Resources Investigator with
UA’s Office of Archaeological Research.
In addition to finding the exact house
location, its approximate orientation
and evidence that it was burned and
demolished, Thompson said they
also recovered artifacts that date from
the early 19th to early 20th century,
including spirit and pharmaceutical
bottle glass, nails used in the house’s
construction, charred timbers, fragments
of dishes and plates, children’s
marbles, doll fragments and cutlery.
“These artifacts provide insight into
the activities that were taking place,
including many activities that we still
do today, such as cooking and playing
games,” he said. “The preservation was
better than what I had expected.”
After the home was destroyed in the
early 20th century, the area had been
used for pasture and agriculture, but
a chimney foundation and other
architectural features were in remarkable
shape, Thompson said. In terms
of artifacts, one of the high-school
Expedition campers, Aislinn Hardin,
recovered a Confederate Infantryman’s
uniform button during the excavations,
which Thompson said can be associated
with a member of the Davis family, who
had purchased the property in the mid-
19th century from the Weissingers and
occupied it until the early 20th century.
“Hugh Davis Jr. fought for the
Confederacy at the Battle of the
Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, in 1863,” Thompson said.
“After being wounded in the battle,
Hugh Davis Jr. returned to the home to
recover and manage the estate. So, being
able to find an artifact and associate
it with a specific person and event is
remarkable.” Davis Jr. had a younger
brother, Albert, who also fought for
the Confederacy as an enlisted man,
Weissinger said.
The recovered artifacts are now being
analyzed at the Office of Archaeological
Research laboratory at UA’s Moundville
Archaeological Park. They will be stored
for future study and possible display.
The cemetery, however, has not been
found, but Weissinger has not given up
hope. Office of Archaeological Research
staff will continue the investigation
and excavation of the site in an effort
to unearth the wealth of information
that is still left to gain. “This is a puzzle
that must be solved,” Weissinger said.
“It’s a piece of history, and history is
important for all of us to know. It’s a
perfect guide for our future.”
Excavation locations show the remnants of an early 19th century chimney.
Public week participant Perry Daley (left)
shows Adam Strickland (right) a recently
excavated artifact.

14. FROM THE COLLECTION
A
A little over 150 years ago, on August
5, 1864, the Union Navy, under the
command of Admiral David Farragut,
steamed into Mobile Bay to attempt to
capture the last of the Confederacy’s
major ports. The initial battle was a
successful one for Farragut and the
Union, boosting morale in the northern
states after a series of inconclusive
and costly battles and bequeathing to
posterity the apocryphal phrase “Damn
the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” A
battle won is not the war, however, and
the Mobile Campaign would continue
until April of the next year.
It is more than likely that the object
shown here played a role in those
events. Found in Spanish Fort,
14 • Museum CHRONICLE
Alabama, where Confederate forces
under Brigadier General Randall L.
Gibson held off the Union forces of
Union Major General E. R. S. Canby
from March 27th to April 8th, 1965, the
corkscrew-shaped iron tool is a search or
worm used by artillerymen of the period
during the reloading of cannon.
The powder charge for cannon during
the Civil War was contained in a cloth
bag. The worm, which would have
been attached to a long wooden pole,
was used after firing to scrape out any
leftover smoldering cloth from the
cannon’s bore after firing. Next, the
sponge, a lambskin-covered cylinder
attached to a pole and soaked in water,
was used to extinguish any remaining
embers and clean the barrel before the
next charge of gunpowder and ball
was inserted and rammed into place.
The cannon would then be primed,
fired, and the entire process would be
repeated.
The worm came to the University of
Alabama Museums as part of the Mike
Blake Collection in 1986. Mr. Blake’s
interests as a collector and amateur
archaeologist were extensive and
ecumenical: the greater Blake Collection
contained artifacts and specimens that
covered the range of subjects from
prehistoric and historic archaeology,
to paleontology, mineralogy, and
history. The archaeological portion of
the collection is currently undergoing
curatorial rehabilitation at the Office
of Archaeological Research to bring
the inventory information and artifact
storage procedures up to modern
standards.
BY BILL ALLEN
TThrough the generosity of Dr. Edward
Uehling, the Gorgas House now has
several important new additions. In
2013, the Gorgas House participated
in the Institute of Museum and
Library Services Conservarion
Assesment Program. One of the top
recommendations from the assessors
was the purchase of a new hygrometer/
datalogger system that would
simultaneously record temperature
and humidity throughout the house.
Dr. Uehling’s donation made the
purchase of a high-tech monitoring
system possible. The new datalogging
system will not only monitor and
record conditions inside each room in
the house, but it will send updates to
a computer used by the Gorgas House
Director. If there is a problem with the
HVAC unit, staff will now be alerted
immediately, deterring any future
problems with moisture and leaks.
Dr. Uehling’s donation also allowed us
to replace the rug in the front entrance
hall. The original rug was not original
to the house and over many years
usage began to show signs of wear and
tear. David Smith of Clarendon Rugs
located an antique Bidjar Persian Rug
from the 1890s. Because of its extremely
large size, the rug is thought to have
been made for a grand home with large
rooms. Clarendon also included, as
a donation, a smaller rug to replace a
worn out rug in the Post Office room of
the House.
We are extremely grateful to the
thoughtful and generous Dr. Uehling
for making possible these important
purchases for the Gorgas House!
GORGAS HOUSE RECEIVES DONATION
BY LYDIA ELLINGTON
The Mike Blake Collection was developed
over a period of years prior to the passing
of the Archaeological Resources Protection
Act of 1979. Today, state and federal
lands are protected by law from artifact
collectors to preserve history for everyone.
This data node monitors the
temperature and humidity in the
Gorgas House and alerts staff when
there is a problem.

15. UA MUSEUMS NAMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Figure 2.
BY KIM EATON
Museum CHRONICLE • 15
AAfter more than 26 years in the museum
profession, Dr. William Bomar was
ready for a new challenge — and he
found it as the Executive Director of
The University of Alabama Museums.
Bomar, director of UA’s Moundville
Archaeological Park since 1998, was
selected for the position after serving
as the interim director since May 2013.
As executive director, he is responsible
for overseeing the activities of UA’s
museum system, which includes the
Alabama Museum of Natural History,
Moundville Archaeological Park,
Gorgas House, Museum Research and
Collections, Office of Archaeological
Research and the Emmy award-winning
television program “Discovering
Alabama.”
“Dr. Bomar has experience with many
types of museums, both at UA and
in his previous positions, and is well
qualified to lead the UA Museums,”
said Dr. Joe Benson, UA interim
provost, who named Bomar to the
position following a national search.
Bomar already has big plans for the
future of UA’s Museums.
“The Association of College and
University Museums and Galleries
often says ‘great universities have
great museums,’” he said. “As the
institution with arguably the oldest
university museum in the U.S., dating
to its founding in 1831 when a curator
was employed to collect specimens
and produce exhibits in the Rotunda
building, The University of Alabama
should be a national leader in teaching,
research and public service through its
museum system.
“Broadly speaking, I want UA Museums
to gain national notoriety among
university museums and triple our
educational impact in 10 years.”
Citing the museums’ diverse collections
that are commonly used for research by
faculty, students and scholars from both
UA and other institutions, Bomar said
he wants the museums to expand that
role as facilitators of research and also
play a stronger role in the dissemination
of knowledge to the community
through state-of-the-art exhibits and a
vast array of educational programs.
“That’s what museums do best,” he
said. “We take complex information
and present it to the public in fun and
engaging ways. We are community
centers for lifelong learning and critical
thinking.”
Prior to coming to Moundville in 1998,
Bomar worked at the Atlanta History
Center, Nebraska State Historical
Society, Coastal Heritage Society in
Savannah, Georgia, and the Georgia
Southern University Museum. Because
of his experience in each type of
museum represented by UA Museums,
Bomar said he understands the unique
challenges associated with historic
houses, natural history museums and
outdoor heritage sites.
“I am extremely excited about this
opportunity,” he said. “Yes, I will miss
working every day at such a beautiful
and special place, but I have been
at Moundville for a long time and
accomplished a lot. I am ready for new
and exciting challenges. Moundville
is one of the most significant
archaeological sites in the U.S., and the
site has an incredible story.
“But the other UA Museums also have
incredible stories to tell. Alabama is one
of the most environmentally diverse
states in the U.S., and its incredible
fossil record illustrates this story over
vast periods of time. I believe that
the museum setting is truly the best
medium for telling such a story, and,
through our collections, curators and
staff, we are best equipped to tell it.”

16. THE DRISH BUILDING IN THE CIVIL WAR
DDr. John Drish, one of Tuscaloosa’s
earliest settlers, was a prominent
physician and contractor beginning in
the 1820s until his death in the 1860s.
His skilled force of slave craftsmen was
responsible for building many of the
City’s and The University of Alabama’s
structures. One such construction
included the aptly named Drish
Building, a two story brick building
that stood on Block 15 in the northwest
corner of Broad (University Avenue)
and Market (Greensboro Avenue)
Streets. In 1861, the Drish Building,
along with Washington Hall, a hotel
that stood across Market Street, and an
abandoned paper mill located at the
base of the hill below Block 15 were
requisitioned by the Confederate War
Department as possible locations to
house Union prisoners of war.
In 1862, Union soldiers captured at
Bull Run and Shiloh were brought to
the Drish Building along with political
prisoners from east Tennessee. These
included a judge and former senator
opposed to the rebellion who declined
to pledge allegiance to the Confederacy.
Thousands of prisoners of war awaited
exchange or parole in Tuscaloosa in
prison conditions that lacked much
in the way of comfort or hygiene.
Conditions were described in diaries
16 • Museum CHRONICLE
and letters to the United States War
Department by escaped and paroled
prisoners who complained of cramped,
filthy conditions. One escapee from
the Drish Building recalled with disgust
that over 300 prisoners were forced to
use a “sink” or privy located only 30
feet from a well—their only source of
drinking water. To make matters worse,
many of the prisoners suffered from
chronic diarrhea exacerbated by meager
rations consisting of often spoiled meat
and cornbread made from coarse meal
that included ground cobs. During
the archaeological investigations of
the Bank of the State site, the remains
of the privy were found in the exact
location described by the prisoner.
Although escapes did happen, they
were likely few and far between and
prisoners were forced to deal with
the deprivations of a war torn South.
To augment their meager rations,
prisoners sought any means to obtain
more food. One newspaper article
from June 15, 1862 and printed in the
New York Times points to an incident
that likely arose from the prisoners’
ingenuity at finding resources to aid
in sustaining themselves. On the first
floor of the Drish Building was an old
printing press. Somehow the prisoners
managed to gain access to the press and
trays of type and began counterfeiting
Confederate currency. Since currency
was hard to come by, numerous regional
mints maintained their own presses and
telling real Confederate dollars from
fake was often difficult. The prisoners
took advantage of this dilemma and
printed “shinplasters”, as the currency
of the day was known, in a sum totaling
about $300. Some of the lead type was
found while excavating the features
behind the building.
The most notorious person associated
with Tuscaloosa’s prisons was Captain
Henry Wirz. Born Heinrich Hartmann
Wirz in Zurich Switzerland in 1823,
he immigrated to the United States
in 1849 and practiced as a weaver
in Massachusetts before moving to
Kentucky to become a doctor’s assistant,
and then onto Louisiana. In 1861,
he enlisted in the Fourth Louisiana
Infantry rising swiftly through the ranks
and was promoted to captain after the
Battle of Seven Pines in 1862. He lost
the use of his right arm in the battle and
was sent to work on the staff of General
John H. Winder who was in charge of
the prisoner of war camps. Wirz was
sent to the Tuscaloosa prisons where
the prisoners’ accounts indicate that he
was a harsh disciplinarian with eccentric
personality traits. Sergeant Douglas W.
Marsh of Company D of the 8th Iowa
Volunteers recalled that in Tuscaloosa,
“The first command I ever heard
[Wirz] give was to the guard: ‘Bayonet
the first G—d d—d Yankee that
BY MATTHEW GAGE

17. Opposite page upper left: The Drish Building circa 1870 (image courtesy of the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society).
Opposite page lower right: The “sink” was located only 30 ft from the prisoner’s only source of drinking water.
Right: Lead type letter “s” found in the privy behind the Drish Building.
O
Museum CHRONICLE • 17
speaks a word’”. Following Tuscaloosa,
Wirz took charge of Camp Sumter
in Georgia. Sumter, more commonly
known as Andersonville, became the
most notorious POW camp of the
Confederacy. At the end of the war,
Wirz was put on trial for conspiracy and
cruelty for his treatment of prisoners
under his care. He was found guilty and
hanged on November 10, 1865.
The use of the Drish Building did not
last through the duration of the War.
Before Croxton’s Raiders hit Tuscaloosa,
the prisoners had been moved to
Chattanooga, some reportedly
taking examples of their counterfeit
Confederate currency with them and
introducing it into the economy of
southeast Tennessee, much to the
dismay of townspeople.
Although its part in the War was
relatively short lived, the Drish Building
and the Bank of the State site served as
a reminder of the Civil War well into
the later part of the twentieth century.
The building was finally torn down in
1987 to make way for the first planned
hotel project. Now, the property will
be home to the new Embassy Suites
under construction with an intended
completion date of December 2014.
Once utilized as a facility to house
Union prisoners, it is more than slightly
ironic to think that one hundred and
fifty odd years later, the site will become
home to a luxury hotel where people
will come from far and wide to stay and
experience the hospitality of Tuscaloosa.
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY AT THE BRUSH POND SITE
BY MATTHEW GAGE
Our understanding of Alabama’s
environment at the end of the
Pleistocene comes from some
interesting places. Unlike frozen parts of
the world where ice cores can recount
climatic conditions for the past hundred
millennia, the temperate environment
of our state requires other sources of
data that point to climate, vegetation,
and conditions at the end of the last ice
age.
The University of Alabama, Office
of Archaeological Research (OAR)
has teamed with researchers from the
University of Tennessee to gain a better
archaeological sites known in the area,
understanding of the changes in plant
it became apparent that Brush Pond,
and animal life in the region. Under
a large natural sinkhole in Colbert
a National Science Foundation grant,
County, must have been around at
Dr. Sally Horn of the UT, Department
the Pleistocene-Holocene transition,
of Geography and her graduate
roughly 11,700 years ago. Paleoindian
student Matthew Boehm have been
sites are known for the area with several
working to recover pollen samples
artifact scatters bordering the edge of
from sediments in ponds, swamps, and
the pond. These sites, likely hunting
lakes in the region. One of the main
camps, blinds, and butchering stations,
problems with these types of studies is
were located by prehistoric inhabitants
determining whether these fresh water
of the region to take full advantage of
catchments represent old water features
the access to water and the wildlife it
or recent developments. That is where
would have attracted. More importantly
OAR comes in. By looking at the
for this project, it indicates the antiquity
of the ponds that would have served as
collection points for locally produced
pollen grains. The pollen settled on
the surface of the pond and sank to
the bottom, gradually being silted over
by sediments and creating a sequence
or column that can subsequently be
sampled for analysis.
The sediment samples recovered by
the team of researchers will be used to
show what types of vegetation were
present around the pond and will help
to indicate what the paleoenvironment
of Brush Pond was like through
time. Unfortunately for Horn and
Boehm, few such samples exist for our
region. One of the main problems
of the research is finding the types of
features that preserve pollen, namely
continuously inundated ponds that
haven’t been altered by dredging or
other activities. Brush Pond is one of
those rare pollen collection points.
Through their study of the core samples
recovered from the mucky bottom of
the pond, Horn and her team hope to
better understand the changing nature
of Alabama’s environment and to help
shed new light on questions of climate
change in the Southeast.
Archaeologists extracting sediment
cores from Brush Pond.

18. DR. WILLIAM CRAWFORD GORGAS
AT THE PANAMA CANAL
OOn August 15th 2014, the Panama
Canal celebrated the centennial
anniversary of its opening and the first
passage of ships through the canal. The
Gorgas House Museum is currently
celebrating the work of Dr. William
Crawford Gorgas as the United States
Military’s Chief Sanitation Officer in
the Canal Zone with an exhibit on
display through November 14th. The
exhibit features artifacts from the UA
Museum Collections as well as items
donated by Dr. Stephen Gross, and Ron
and Elizabeth Howard. William Gorgas,
son of Josiah and Amelia Gorgas, first
developed an interest in yellow fever
after contracting the disease as a young
army doctor in Brownsville, Texas.
During the Spanish-American War,
he was stationed in Havana where he
worked with the famed physician Walter
Reed and Cuban physician Carlos
Finlay.
Gorgas’ successes in Cuba led to his
appointment as Chief Sanitation Officer
for the Panama Canal Zone. At the time
of the Canal’s construction, the idea of
the mosquito as a carrier for infectious
disease was not accepted as popular
belief. Instead, many believed that
yellow fever and malaria were caused by
bad air or soil, the “miasma theory” of
disease that the hot, humid conditions
of Panama (so perfect for mosquitoes)
seemed to support. Given this popular
misconception, Gorgas had difficulty
promoting the mosquito eradication
methods that had worked for him in
Cuba.
The American Medical Association
sent a surgeon to investigate conditions
in Panama in 1905, the year after
Gorgas arrived in Panama. The report
condemned the commission, while
praising Gorgas’ efforts. On receiving
the report, President Theodore
Roosevelt decided to replace all
members of the committee, including
Gorgas, but Alexander Lambert,
18 • Museum CHRONICLE
Roosevelt’s personal physician,
counseled otherwise: “You are facing
one of the greatest decisions of your
career,” he said. “If you fall back on the
old methods you will fail, just as the
French failed. If you back Gorgas you
will get your canal.”
Roosevelt took that advice, granting
Gorgas autonomy from the commission
and funding. Gorgas then unleashed
one of the most extensive sanitary
campaigns in history: in 1905, more
than 4,000 people worked for Gorgas on
his “mosquito brigades” in what would
become a yearlong effort to prevent the
insects from reproducing. A legion of
fumigators armed with cleaning agents,
insecticide powder, and wire mesh for
screening windows and doors, visited
every house in Panama repeatedly;
drains and cesspools were prayed with
kerosene; pools of standing water were
drained or filled in. Gorgas’ army of
sanitation workers used 120 tons of
pyrethrum powder, 300 tons of sulfur,
600,000 gallons of oil, 3,000 garbage
cans, 4000 buckets, 1,000 brooms and
1,200 fumigation pots… and by August
of 1906, the number of yellow fever
cases had fallen by half. In September,
1906, only seven new cases appeared…
and on November 11, 1906, the last
death from yellow fever in the Canal
Zone was recorded.
Malaria would take longer to control,
but death rates from that disease would
drop to less than one percent by January
of 1910.
The eradication of yellow fever and
malaria by controlling the mosquito
population in the Canal Zone changed
medicine dramatically: the promotion
of the germ theory of disease over the
miasma theory is perhaps the most
important outcome of Gorgas’ work
there.
BY LYDIA ELLINGTON
Above: Chief Sanitation Officer of the Canal Zone, William C. Gorgas, surveys
the construction of the Panama Canal.
“William C. Gorgas
and the Panama Canal” Exhibit
On Display at the Gorgas House
Museum Through
November 14, 2014
Museum Hours
Monday - Friday 9:00 am -12:00 pm
and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

19. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA MUSEUMS MEMBERSHIP
GIVING LEVELS & BENEFITS
Much of the natural beauty of Alabama is found among its many rivers. To recognize the vital role these rivers play in making our state
unique, The University of Alabama Museums has designated gift membership levels with the names of some of Alabama’s best-known and
beloved rivers. All membership levels are important to the Museum. We hope you will be as generous as your circumstances allow.
Note: Each membership level receives the benefits listed plus all benefits of levels that precede it.
Alabama River ($40–$99)
• Unlimited admission (except for special
events) to Moundville Archaeological
Park, Alabama Museum of Natural
History, Gorgas House and Paul W.
Bryant Museum
• Membership newsletter
• Discounts on Museum programs and
Summer Expedition
• Membership card and decal
• Recognition in newsletter
• Invitations to special member events
Black Warrior River ($100–$249)
• Discovering Alabama DVDs
• 10% discount at University of Alabama
Museum Shops
Cahaba River ($250–$499)
• Free admission to Moundville Native
American Festival
• Unlimited admission to Museums for five
guests
• A one-year gift membership at Alabama
River level
• Additional 10% (20% total) discount at
University of Alabama Museum Shops
Coosa River ($500–$999)
• Unlimited admission to Museums for two
additional guests (seven total)
• Reduced rental rates for Museum facilities
Sipsey River ($1,000–$2,499)
• Unlimited admission to Museums for
three additional guests (10 total)
• Two additional one-year gift memberships
(three total), all at Black Warrior level
Yes, I/we want to support The University of Alabama Museums.
Amount of Gift ______________
❑ Alabama River ($40 –$99)
❑ Black Warrior River ($100 –$249)
❑ Cahaba River ($250 –$499)
❑ Coosa River ($500 –$999)
❑ Sipsey River ($1,000 –$2,499)
❑ Douglas Epps Jones Society ($2,500 –$4,999)
❑ Eugene Allen Smith Society ($5,000+)
Box 870340, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
205-348-9826 • giving.ua.edu
Full Name__________________________________________________________________________
Address____________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Home Telephone____________________________________________________________________
Employer_ _________________________________________________________________________
Email______________________________________________________________________________
 Check (payable to The University of Alabama Museums)
 American Express  Discover  MasterCard  Visa
Credit Card Number__________________________________ Expiration Date__________________
Signature __________________________________________________________________________
Douglas E. Jones Society ($2,500–$4,999)
• Unlimited admission to Museums for two
additional guests (12 total)
• Special recognition in Smith Hall Foyer
• Three one-year gift memberships
upgraded to Cahaba River level
Eugene Allen Smith Society ($5,000+)
• Book on natural history from The
University of Alabama Press
• Unlimited admission to Museums for
three additional guests (15 total)

20. NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
TUSCALOOSA, AL
PERMIT #16
Box 870340
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0340
205-348-7550
museums.ua.edu
museums.programs@ua.edu
CONNECT WITH UA MUSEUMS ON FACEBOOK
Wherever you may be, stay connected with UA
Museums and lovers of natural and American
history from around the world. Become a fan of
our pages on Facebook.
Moundville Archaeological Park: facebook.com/moundville
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ALMNH
Office of Archaeological Research: facebook.com/Office.
Of.Archaeological.Research
Gorgas House: facebook.com/GorgasHouse
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