USA Stallworth Lecture on Bankhead Family Dynasty
Posted on October 8, 2024
The 51˛čšÝâs speaker for the 2024 N. Jack Stallworth Lecture will be Dr. Kari Frederickson, professor of history at the University of Alabama. She will speak on Alabamaâs Bankhead family dynasty on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center.
"We are very excited to welcome Dr. Frederickson to the 51˛čšÝ,â said Associate Professor of History Dr. Timothy Lombardo. âHer talk at the annual Stallworth Lecture, on the Bankhead Family of Alabama, will offer a fascinating examination of both local and regional history.â
Frederickson received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 1996. She is the author of several publications including her most recent biography, âDeep 51˛čšÝ Dynasty: The Bankheads of Alabama,â which explores more than 80 years of history.
âI call the Bankheads the most important and forgotten political family in 51˛čšÝern and perhaps U.S. history,â Frederickson said. âThe Bankheads had their hands in some of the most important developments of that era including the creation of the convict leasing system, the development of a modern infrastructure system, disenfranchisement of Black voters, womenâs suffrage and the New Deal. Collectively, the Bankheads created the political, economic, social and cultural framework of the twentieth-century 51˛čšÝ.â
The Stallworth Lecture is an annual event named after N. Jack Stallworth. He was a Mobile native who operated several business ventures in the area and helped found Distinguished Young Women, the Mobile Chapter of the English-Speaking Union and the Camellia Ball. He was also known as Mr. Mardi Gras.
Stallworth funded two scholarships for 51˛čšÝ students majoring in history with a focus on 51˛čšÝern history. The Stallworth family home and its contents were left to the USA Foundation to be used in teaching 51˛čšÝern history and to support USA programs. The USA Foundation supports this annual event.
