Lost history found at Wallace State through research collection under Robert Davis’ guidance

HANCEVILLE, ALA. –  The family and local history research collection in the library of Wallace State Community College in Hanceville draws questions and researchers from far and near. It has received national recognition from the National Archives of the United States, the Church of Latter-Day Saints, and the American Association for State and Local History for service to people seeking answers in the past and in television documentaries.
Recently, for example, the collection helped on some special projects. A writer from New York worked here on his upcoming article for Harper’s and book on Alabama’s Dr. James Marion Sims, a pioneer in gynecology who experimented on slaves in the 1840s. Sims’ worked helped his patients (all volunteers) and many women since but raises ethical questions to this day.
A group in Texas also contacted the collection about the upcoming centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment that gave all American women the right to vote. They asked about Cullman County resident Mary K. Munson. a leader in Alabama who passed away on September 25, 1920, just after the amendment passed but just before she could have voted for the first time. The collection is also helping with Alabama’s upcoming Bicentennial and with a historian researching Creek leader Menewa.
Robert S. Davis, professor of History, largely built this collection. He cited the above examples at meetings of the Cullman Rotary and the Cullman Historical Society. The previous week, he spoke at the Southern Studies Showcase in Edgefield, South Carolina, and to a joint meeting of the Autauga and Montgomery genealogical societies in Prattville, Alabama about research and records.
Most of the visitors, Davis claims are local people or at least from the Southeastern United States. They seek information on their ancestors, Native American ethnicity, Civil War service, and Alabama records. Visitors who come to research or to attend its classes in genealogy add to Hanceville’s economy.
The continuing education classes in genealogy include introduction to genealogy, computer genealogy, advanced genealogy/book publishing, Civil War research, and southern family history. For information on attending these classes contact mandi.perkins@wallacestate.edu
The collection is open free to the public on Mondays through Saturdays. For more information on Wallace’s family and local history research collection, contact Professor Davis at robert.davis@wallacestate.edu/
For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu.

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Russell Moore
Staff Writer, Communications and Marketing
Wallace State Community College
P.O. Box 2000, Hanceville, AL 35077
1-866-350-9722    256-352-8443 direct
Visit us online at www.wallacestate.edu
 
Kristen Holmes
Communications & Marketing Director, and
Administrator, The Evelyn Burrow Museum
Wallace State Community College
801 Main Street NW | Hanceville, AL 35077
E-mail: kristen.holmes@wallacestate.edu
Office: 256.352.8118 | Cell: 256.339.2519 | Toll Free: 866.350.9722