Birmingham, there’s more than one way to mount a comeback
Today’s guest columnist is Bob Stewart.
There are all kinds of ways to define comeback.
Is Birmingham the ComebackTown or the come back town?
The title “Comeback Town” summarizes Birmingham’s revival compared to its economic, political, and almost unbreathable atmospheric climate of 60-70 years ago.
Like an athlete or actress who’s reemerged into the limelight after a time in obscurity or decline, Birmingham is enjoying the greatest comeback in its history.
But “come back?” Why does that phrase matter to those of us who have left Birmingham or to those who remain? After 27 years in the Magic City, my wife (who grew up in Forest Park) and I now live in Nashville to be near our daughter.
Yet I’ve followed for years and still enjoy from afar the opinions, reminiscences, and personal profiles that appear regularly in ComebackTown. Here’s some possibilities why “coming back” matters.
Artistic expression
First is artistic expression. One of Alabama’s most celebrated visual artists, my friend the late William Christenberry, deliberately chose to live away from Alabama. For more than 50 years he lived in Washington, DC, but returned each year to Tuscaloosa and nearby Hale County.
Afterwards in his studio Bill depicted in photos, paintings, and sculpture the land and built environment of the Black Belt he loved. Of course he was better able to exhibit and sell his work in the wealthy capital city full of museums and galleries. Yet from that distant vantage he could clearly see and faithfully depict rural Alabama, including its dark side represented by the Ku Klux Klan.
Coming back to Alabama was for memory and inspiration. Living elsewhere was for artistic authenticity. Are there native Birmingham artists who live elsewhere but come back to capture the city in their work?
School and Sports Reunions
Reunions are perhaps the most common way folks come back to a place and people of importance to them. High school and college reunions come to mind, as I have attended several of my Tuscaloosa High Class of 1971 reunions. I haven’t made it to a college reunion yet.
The Magic City Classic in Legion Field between Alabama State and Alabama A&M, the largest inter-HBCU game in the country, is as much an enormous reunion for the fans as it is a football rivalry.
Last summer players from baseball’s Negro League reunited at historic Rickwood Field for the first MLB game in Birmingham. The event was both praiseworthy and poignant, taking place only days after the death of Willie Mays, the most famous player born in the area and arguably the greatest one of all time.
Yet not far from both stadiums is a now empty college campus, where future reunions may be more consequential. I’m speaking, of course, of Birmingham-Southern.
How will BSC alumni gather in the future? My own small liberal arts college is intact and thriving, but my high school building was demolished years ago, along with the school name and team mascot.
I sympathize with BSC alums who probably still grieve for their alma mater; however, I hope they remember that reunions are mostly about people. Reconnecting with them matters most.
Family reunions
Then there’s family reunions. Most families try to assemble at holidays. Extended families plan bigger gatherings less frequently. Years ago we attended a large Wheeler reunion—my mother’s family. Most of them have since passed away or otherwise lost touch. We’ve never met again.
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On the other hand, in 2023 we happily attended our first Davenport reunion in New Orleans. There we met numerous distant cousins from Detroit and Houston, who comprise the African American side of my wife’s family. We can’t wait for another Davenport gathering; Birmingham might be the perfect central location.
During the filming of a 1993 documentary on the history of tiny Gee’s Bend in Wilcox County, Alabama, we observed a large Pettway family reunion in a church there. Some folks had traveled from faraway Bridgeport, Connecticut.
An entire Bridgeport neighborhood, the “Alabama Block,” was populated with descendants of Pettways who left the Bend during the Black migration from the South decades ago. I hope folks still gather at Gee’s Bend. Reunions there take place against the backdrop of one of the South’s most important and least well known local histories.
Extended family reunions everywhere are becoming more rare. If invited, don’t miss the chance to attend one. They are vital for lengthening connections and learning family history. They matter.
Ties to Birmingham
So where does all this leave my ties to Birmingham? It’s fair to say they’ve always been durable but finite and flexible.
My father’s family roots were in the small Talladega County town of Munford. I was born there, and my parents and paternal grandparents are buried in the historic community cemetery, but I grew up in Tuscaloosa.
Friends and I widely explored West Alabama as Boy Scouts on bicycles and teenagers with driver’s licenses. My work with the Alabama Humanities Foundation took me to all 67 Alabama counties, while our grants and programs reached communities of all sizes and locations.
I share this autobiographical snapshot because rootlessness is becoming commonplace in our transient world. In the 21st century the idea of home is fluid. It need not be disorienting.
When I look at Alabama through my wide geographic lens, many places—rural, small town, urban—matter to me. If you’ve never, or haven’t done so in a while, hit the road and explore the state.
Remembering our son
We go back to Birmingham today mainly to join family and friends at holidays, weddings, and long weekends, filling our time with memories and stories.
For our most somber but quietly joyous experience we visit a growing willow oak tree on a beautiful greenway in the area. We planted it seven years ago in our son’s memory, not far from the house and high school where he grew up. It’s more than a site of fixed personal remembrance. It’s our permanent and living gift to the Birmingham area’s landscape, to be enjoyed by future generations.
When it’s all said and done, we are always happy when we go back to Birmingham and other parts of Alabama. Creative expression (or more precisely in my case historical research, writing, and oral presentations), high school reunions, and family all draw us.
Afterwards we come back to Nashville, one of many places I call home.
Bob Stewart served as Executive Director of the Alabama Humanities Foundation (now Alliance) from 1987 until retirement in 2012. State affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Foundation has been based in Birmingham for its entire 50-year existence. Bob previously held professional positions at the Huntsville Museum of Art, Historic St. Augustine (FL) Preservation Board, and Birmingham Museum of Art. He has degrees from Amherst College, Boston University, and Emory University.
David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).
Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com.
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