Dr. Marty Olliff examines low-income housing in Dothan in the 1950s in this edition of his monthly column.
Archival collections sometimes tell stories beyond those on their face. Archivists talk about collections found in attics or on roadsides, and some collections have had narrow escapes from destruction.
The Bill Church Collection (record group 101) is one of those. A long-time Dothan resident, Mr. Church was chatting with a workman burning debris from a…
Dr. Marty Olliff discusses a Columbia family's struggle to complete a high school education in the early 20th century.
This 1941 photograph shows the first two graduates of the new 12th grade curriculum offered at Columbia High School in Columbia, Alabama, Mabel Weems (16) and Euffie Weems (18). The story of both their family and their journey to complete 12th grade is worth knowing.
The African American side of the Weems Family of Columbia,…
This edition of Dr. Marty Olliff's monthly column examines the life and times of Wiregrass doctor Curtis Espy around the turn of the 20th century.
Life in early-twentieth-century rural communities was very different – and far more informally personal – than life today. We can see this when we compare our business activities with those of Dr. Curtis Espy of Midland City, Alabama.
Dr. Espy was a well-known physician and business owner. He was born in Abbeville in 1876, graduated…
Dr. Marty Olliff's monthly feature celebrates Women's History Month through the photos of Ruth Stewart, a nurse who trained in Dothan in the 1930s.
Hospitals in Wiregrass towns were privately owned and operated until well after World War 2. At one time Dothan had four private hospitals. Two of these – Frasier-Ellis Hospital on South St. Andrews Street and Moody Hospital on North Alice Street – trained nurses to be certified by the State of Alabama and who worked…
