UA’s Living History Festival Brings Historical Figures to Life

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The West Alabama community is invited to meet historical figures from The University of Alabama’s past and make connections to the present during the second Living History Festival on Saturday, April 23.

Hosted by UA Museums and the department of history, the event will allow visitors to experience the African American history of UA as guides lead walking tours around the sites of the antebellum campus. Sites include Gorgas House, the Round House, slave quarters at the President’s Mansion, Nott Hall and the slave cemetery.

The 45-minute tour will run every 30 minutes beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 23, at UA’s Gorgas House. The last tour will leave at 1:30 p.m.

While waiting for the tour, visitors will have an opportunity to interact with characters including Amelia Gayle Gorgas; Josiah Gorgas; Anne Kavanaugh, the Gorgas family nanny and housekeeper; Dr. Eugene Allen Smith; Autherine Lucy; and Winnie McGlamery. They will discover how these people shaped history and played roles in the story of the Tuscaloosa community.

“We wanted to do a Living History Festival to provide people with new opportunities to learn and connect with the history of this campus,” said Lydia Ellington Joffray, museum director of the Gorgas House Museum. “A living history event gives people the opportunity to interact and ask questions in a more comfortable and fun environment.”

“Living history events are found all over the country, and many are in Alabama,” said Allie Sorlie, education outreach coordinator for UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural History. “We decided this would be an excellent idea to help bring UA history to life and a great way to learn more about our past.”

In addition to the tour, an exhibit on campus history at the Gorgas House will include historic photographs of the campus.

“We hope people will come to learn about the rich and diverse history of this campus,”Joffray said. “It is a history that many people do not know, even after living and studying here for four years. It’s a great opportunity for people to learn from the past, and we hope they take away a better understanding of Alabama culture and life in the 19th century.”