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ALABAMA DRY DOCK AND SHIPBUILDING COMPANY 
     Contains annual reports from 1943 to 1991, and files from the Public Relations Department at ADDSCO that contain information about the various ships built or worked on from 1919 to the 1970s. Most Liberty ships and tankers built during WWII have individual files with photographs and information about ship names, sponsors, launching ceremony programs, etc. There are also subject files concerning activities and individuals at ADDSCO and projects such as the Bankhead and I-10 tunnels and Auxiliary Submarine Rescue Ships. The collection includes copies of Fore & Aft, the company's publication for its employees. (See also Photograph Collections for photos of ADDSCO ships, workers, and yard scenes, and Joe Jefferson Players for other issues of Fore & Aft.) 12 cubic feet.

BERNEY, JANE E.
     Jane Elizabeth Berney was the daughter of Saffold Berney (1844-1929), a judge, author, and Confederate veteran, and Mary Clifton Berney (1846-1921). Her papers contain photographs of Saffold Berney, his father, Dr. James Berney, and other unidentified women and children, probably Berney family members, as well as a 1909 photo of the family home. Other images show a Confederate veteran's parade. Some of the photographs date from 1877 to 1922, although most are not dated at all. The paper (1918-1942, bulk ca. 1937) relate primarily to Berney's WPA employment in Mobile. From 1936 to 1937 she worked on a project to survey records and write histories of various federal agencies in Mobile, including the post office, the Inland Waterways Corporation, and the Internal Revenue. Her papers also include her membership certificate for the Daughters of the Confederacy (1919) and an employment application for Brookley Field (1942). .75 cubic feet.

BROOKLEY AIR FORCE BASE
     This collection of materials pertaining to Brookley AFB dates from 1942 to 1964. It includes photographs, newsclippings, and a few issues of the Brookley Bay Breeze from 1942 and A la MOAD from 1943-1944, and a more complete run of the Brookley Spotlight from 1959 to 1969. 5 cubic feet.

CROOM, STEPHENS G.
     Focuses on material associated with the USS Alabama (BB-60), a Dakota-class battleship that was commissioned in 1942 and saw action during World War II. The ship was retired from service in 1962 and moved to Mobile Bay in 1964. Croom was instrumental in the acquisition and establishment of Battleship Memorial Park and served as the first secretary of the USS Alabama Battleship Commission. (See also Photograph Collectons under the same heading.) 1 cubic foot.

CROOM, VELMA AND STEPHENS G.
     This collection consists of correspondence between various Croom family members and friends from 1840 to 1906, as well as personal papers and literary manuscripts.  Most of the letters were written between 1850 and 1870 by Cicero Stephens Croom, his sister Elizabeth Whitfield Croom Bellamy, and their parents, William Whitfield Croom and Julia Stephens Croom. The personal papers include a journal kept by Stephens in 1863 during the siege of Vicksburg while he was serving on General Forney's staff. Also included are numerous school essays written by Stephens while he was attending college at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and by Elizabeth who studied at the Spingler Institute in New York City. The literary manuscripts in the collection--poems, short stories, and novels--were written by Elizabeth between 1865 and 1900. Her early works were published in national magazines under a pseudonym, Kamba Thorpe. In later works she used her married name, Elizabeth W. Bellamy. The collection also contains her notes for lectures on literary subjects. Appointment required for the use of this collection. 5 cubic feet.

DICKSON, CHARLES
     Charles Dickson was an amateur historian who spent many hours researching the history of this area. His collection contains microfilmed copies of his handwritten three-ring notebooks. Included within the notebooks are histories of the Mobile theater, Mobile sports, Mobile military, Mobile baseball, Mobile settlers, as well as retrospectives on wars throughout American history, studies of the colonial powers and Indians of Mobile, and a look back at the Reconstruction period. 4 reels.

DOWNTOWN SERVICE MEN'S CENTER
     Five microfilmed scrapbooks of photographs, newspaper clippings, and correspondence relating to the activities of this center which was located at the St. Francis Street Methodist Church and operated for the benefit of World War II servicemen by a group of churches and organizations in Mobile from 1942 to 1945. (See also Photograph Collections under Helen Louise Depuy.) 1 reel.

EDWARDS, JACK
     These are the official papers of Congressman Jack Edwards, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives, District l, Alabama from 1964 to 1984. The papers include correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, tapes, etc. They have been restored to their original chronological order and inventoried. Of particular local interest are materials relating to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Project and the closing of Brookley Air Force Base. Also included in the collection are papers relating to the Watergate scandal, school desegregation, and civil rights in general. 251 cubic feet.

HOWARD, KARL N. SCRAPBOOK
     Karl Newbery (or Newberry) Howard was a lifelong resident of Mobile who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. During his lifetime he also worked for the local paper, for the Selective Service, and for the state's department of industrial relations. His scrapbook contains newsclippings, postcards, photos, and official documents related to his military service and his various travels while in the service and after his discharge. 1 cubic foot.

KOSTMAYER SR., CHARLES
     One scrapbook and one album related to the World War II service of Charles Kostmayer Sr. Also includes various documents pertaining to Kostmayer's attendance at several colleges, including the University of South Alabama. The scrapbook was assembled by Kostmayer's mother. It contains clippings about the war taken from the local newspaper. The album consists of photographs dated 1942 to 1945 of Kostmayer and his fellow soldiers as he was being trained with the Army Air Corps. The material is in poor condition but has been photocopied. The collection also consists of an oral interview with Kostmayer, which is available on CD. 2.25 cubic feet.

MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN MOBILE
     One reel of microfilm of newsclippings of military activities in Mobile from 1941 to 1943.

PARISH, EARL
    Correspondence, photographs, and other personal effects belonging to Second Lieutenant Earl O. Parish, United States Army. Lt. Parish was born in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1918 and was killed in Italy on December 9, 1943. 1 cubic foot.

TOULMIN II, HARRY T. AND MARY
     Harry Toulmin II's papers consist primarily of correspondence between he and his wife, Mary Duggar Toulmin (June 1943-March 1945, 1970) and he and his cousin George B. Toulmin (1936-1983, bulk 1936-1948), although there is also correspondence between George and George's mother (1942-1943), between George and George's old political science professor at the University of Alabama Dr. Charles Smith Jr. (1942-1943), and between George and various other contacts (1942-1943). Harry's letters to his wife discuss conditions and events during World War II, but they also mention Mary working during those years. The 1970s letters between Harry and Mary were written from and discuss the situation in Ethiopia. The letters between George and Harry talk a great deal in the early years about George's life at the University of Alabama but also discuss military subjects during the war years. The collection also includes a manuscript written by Toulmin that talks about the management of the Black Belt plantation owned by J. Freeman Suttle's son of the same name. In it, he discusses the convict leasing system and sharecropping and makes recommendations for improvement in the running of the plantation. 1 cubic foot.

VETERANS' HISTORY PROJECT
     Consists of 17 interviews conducted 2005 as part of an African-American Studies class with local military veterans who served in every major American conflict from World War II to the Iraq War. Because of the demography of the class, the overwhelming majority of the veterans interviewed were African American. Six of the interviews are preserved as video files on CD-ROMs and seven were transcribed. Four of the interviews have no verbatim transcripts or audio files but are included in student reports. The collection also includes a brief overview of the project, written by the professor who taught the class. .5 cubic feet.