Alabama Education

The number and variety of Alabama's educational and cultural institutions increased after 1950, as the state became more urban and developed sophisticated modern industries.

Education
The first school was established in Alabama in 1799, but the legislature did not provide for a statewide public educational system until 1854. In the late 1980s Alabama had approximately 1300 public elementary and secondary schools; the elementary schools had an enrollment of about 525,700 pupils per year, and the secondary schools about 197,600 students annually. In addition, some 57,600 students attended private schools. In the same period Alabama had 87 institutions of higher education, with a combined enrollment of about 208,600 students. Among the most notable of these schools were the University of Alabama, with campuses at University (near Tuscaloosa), Birmingham, and Huntsville; Auburn University, in Auburn; and Tuskegee University, near Tuskegee.

Cultural Institutions
Although many of Alabama's cultural activities are university related and thus distributed throughout the state, most of its cultural institutions are located in Birmingham, Mobile, and Montgomery. The most noteworthy art museums are the Birmingham Museum of Art, which contains part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection; the Fine Arts Museum of the South, in Mobile; and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. The state's principal professional symphony orchestra is in Birmingham, as is the Birmingham Public and Jefferson County Free Library (1902), considered one of the most outstanding libraries in the South. Also of interest are the George Washington Carver Museum, part of Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site; and the Women's Army Corps Museum, at Fort McClellan (near Anniston).

 

Alabama, one of the central southeastern states of the alabama, bounded on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Georgia, on the south by Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, and on the west by Mississippi. The Chattahoochee River forms much of the eastern boundary.
Called the Heart of Dixie, Alabama entered the Union on December 14, 1819, as the 22nd state. In 1861 it became a founding member of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Alabama's economy was long dominated by farming, but by the 1990s manufacturing, government, and services were the chief economic sectors. The name of the state is taken from the Alabama River, which was named for the Alabama, or Alibamon, people, who belonged to the Creek Confederacy.

Land and Resources
Alabama, with an area of 135,775 sq km (52,423 sq mi), is the 30th largest state in the U.S.; 1.7 percent of the land area is owned by the federal government. The state is roughly rectangular in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 540 km (about 335 mi) from north to south and about 330 km (about 205 mi) from east to west. Elevations begin at sea level and extend up to 733 m (2405 ft), atop Cheaha Mountain, in the eastern part of the state. The approximate mean elevation is 152 m (500 ft). Alabama's shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico is 85 km (53 mi) long.

Physical Geography
The southern half of Alabama plus a narrow region in the northwest are part of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. Roughly parallel, generally forested ridges (mostly less than 152 m/500 ft in elevation) stretch east-west across the plain. Soils are mainly clays and sandy clays, with the exception of the limestone-derived dark clays of the Black Belt, a fertile area in the center of the region. The delta formed by the Mobile and Tensaw rivers at the city of Mobile includes much swampland and marshland.
In northern Alabama are the Interior Low Plateaus, a part of the Cumberland Plateau, the Valley and Ridge Region, and a section of the Piedmont Plateau. The Interior Low Plateaus, developed on flat-lying limestone and alluvium, are overlaid with relatively fertile sandy clay soils. The Cumberland Plateau region consists of flat to gently rolling land, developed principally on sandstone and sandy shale. The Valley and Ridge Region contains sandstone ridges and broad, moderately fertile valleys. It includes the Beaver Creek Mountains and part of Lookout Mountain. The generally forested low hills and ridges of the Piedmont Plateau, developed on the oldest rocks in Alabama, are overlaid with clay and sandy clay soils. Situated in this region are Colvin Mountain and Talladega Mountain.

Rivers and Lakes
With the exception of the Tennessee River and its tributaries in northern Alabama, all streams in the state flow generally south toward the Gulf of Mexico. Among the rivers are the Mobile, Alabama, Tombigbee, Chattahoochee, and Tensaw. The Alabama and Tombigbee rivers join to form the Mobile-Tensaw system. Principal tributaries of the Alabama River include the Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Cahaba rivers; and the Black Warrior River is the chief affluent of the Tombigbee River.
All of Alabama's large lakes are constructed impoundments. These bodies of water include Lakes Guntersville, Wheeler, and Wilson, on the Tennessee River; Weiss Lake, on the Coosa River; and Walter F. George Reservoir, on the Chattahoochee River.

Climate
The temperate climate of northern and central Alabama grades into a subtropical climate in the coastal area. The average annual temperature ranges from 15.6° C (60° F) in the north to about 21.1° C (about 70° F) near the Gulf of Mexico. The recorded temperature in the state has ranged from -32.7° C (-27° F), in 1966, to 44.4° C (112° F), in 1925. The average yearly rainfall for the state is approximately 1350 mm (about 53 in). The area near the Gulf receives approximately 1650 mm (approximately 65 in) of precipitation per year and is subject to occasional hurricanes in the summer months.

Plants and Animals
Forests cover about 65% of the total land area of Alabama; approximately 3% of the forest area is part of the National Forest system. Forests in northern Alabama are mixtures of hardwoods and softwoods, whereas softwood pines are the dominant trees in southern areas. A warm, humid climate, with a long growing season, has helped to produce more than 125 tree varieties and more than 150 species of shrubs in Alabama. Besides pines, notable trees include oak, hickory, cypress, and southern magnolia; among the shrubs are rhododendron, mountain laurel, azalea, and sumac.
Mammals in Alabama include white-tailed deer, red fox, squirrel, muskrat, nutria, beaver, and rabbit. Among the numerous birds are the yellowhammer (the state bird), bluebird, cardinal, blue jay, and mockingbird. Reptiles include snakes, alligators, turtles, and lizards. Fish abound here. Freshwater varieties include catfish, bream, bass, and crappie. Mullet, croakers, flounder, red snapper, and tarpon inhabit the Gulf of Mexico, as do oysters, shrimp, and crabs.

Mineral Resources
Among the major mineral deposits found in Alabama are coal, located mainly in the northern half of the state, and petroleum and natural gas, situated principally in the East Gulf Coastal Plain. The state also has substantial deposits of limestone, iron ore, sand and gravel, bauxite, and clay.

Population
According to the 1990 census, Alabama had 4,040,587 inhabitants, an increase of 3.8 percent over 1980. The average population density in 1990 was 30 people per sq km (77 per sq mi). Whites made up 73.6 percent of the population and blacks 25.3 percent; additional groups included Asian or Pacific Islander, 0.5 percent; Native American, Eskimo, or Aleut, 0.4 percent; and other races, 0.2 percent. About 24,600 persons were of Hispanic background. Baptists (51.4 percent), Methodists (10.4 percent), and Roman Catholics (4.5 percent) constituted the largest religious groups in the state; other Protestant groups made up most of the remainder. In 1990 about 60 percent of the people of Alabama lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest lived in rural areas. The state's largest cities were Birmingham; Mobile; Montgomery, the capital; and Huntsville.


Historical Sites
Many of Alabama's historical sites commemorate battles of Indian wars and the American Civil War. Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, near Alexander City, includes the site of Andrew Jackson's victory over the Creek in 1814; and Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines in Mobile Bay are Civil War fortifications. The first White House of the Confederacy, in Montgomery, contains exhibits of personal furnishings of Jefferson Davis. The Civil Rights Memorial, in Montgomery, honors 40 persons who lost their lives in support of the civil rights movement between 1954 and 1968.

Sports and Recreation
Opportunities for outdoor recreation in Alabama are provided by numerous rivers and lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and four national forests. Hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, golf, boating, and swimming are among the foremost recreational activities.

Communications
In the early 1990s Alabama was served by a comprehensive communications system, which included 160 AM radio stations, 117 FM radiobroadcasters, and 40 television stations. The first radio station in the state, WBRC in Birmingham, was licensed in 1925, and the first television station, WAFM-TV in Birmingham, was licensed in 1949. In 1955, Alabama began to run the nation's first state-owned educational television network. Alabama's first regularly issued newspaper, the Mobile Centinel, began publication in 1811. In the early 1990s the state had 27 daily newspapers with a total daily circulation of about 767,000 copies. Alabama's influential dailies included the Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, and the Montgomery Advertiser.

Government and Politics
Alabama is governed under a constitution adopted in 1901, as amended. Five earlier constitutions had been instituted in 1819, 1861, 1865, 1868, and 1875. An amendment may be proposed by the legislature or by a constitutional convention. To become effective, it must be approved by a majority voting on the issue in an election.

Executive
The chief executive of Alabama is a governor, who is popularly elected to a 4-year term and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The same requirements apply to the lieutenant governor, who succeeds the governor should the latter resign, die, or be removed from office. Additional members of Alabama's executive department include the secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, treasurer, and the commissioner of agriculture and industries.

Legislature
The bicameral legislature comprises a senate and house of representatives. The 35 members of the senate and 105 members of the house are popularly elected to 4-year terms.

Judiciary
Alabama's highest court, the supreme court, is made up of a chief justice who presides over the court and eight associate judges. The two intermediate appellate courts are the court of criminal appeals, with five judges, and the court of civic appeals, with three judges. The major trial courts are the circuit courts. The judges of all the courts are popularly elected to 6-year terms. District probate judges are also elected, but judges of municipal courts are appointed by the governing body of the municipality.

Local Government
In the early 1990s Alabama contained 67 counties, each of which was governed by a board of commissioners. Other important county officials include the county judge, probate judge, superintendent of education, and sheriff. Most of the state's towns and cities are governed under the mayor-council system.

National Representation
Alabama elects two senators and seven representatives to the U.S. Congress. The state has nine electoral votes in presidential elections.

Politics
In national, state, and local politics, Alabama has been a traditional stronghold of the Democratic party. The dominant political figure since the early 1960s has been George Corley Wallace; first elected governor as a staunch segregationist, he later won with black support.

Economy
From the early 19th century, Alabama's economy was dominated by one crop—cotton. After 1915, however, boll weevils so damaged the state's cotton plants that farmers began to concentrate on raising livestock and crops other than cotton. Manufacturing began to be important to Alabama with the growth of the iron and steel industry during the early 20th century. Beginning in the 1930s low-cost power provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federal agency, encouraged industrial development. Manufacturing, along with the government and service sectors, retained its importance in the early 1990s. Federal facilities, notably the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, were major employers.

Agriculture
Farming accounts for about 2 percent of the annual gross state product in Alabama. The state has some 45,000 farms, which average 88 hectares (218 acres) in size. Livestock products make up about 75 percent of Alabama's farm income. Broiler chickens and chicken eggs, produced mainly in the northern part of the state, are the most important livestock products, and cattle and calves are next as sources of farm income.
Crops account for about 25 percent of Alabama's agricultural income. Peanuts, the leading crop, are grown in the southeastern part of the state. Cotton, hay, and greenhouse products are also important. Soybeans are grown mainly in the lowlands of southwestern Alabama and in the Tennessee River valley.

Forestry and Fishing
The annual income from forestry and fishing in Alabama is relatively small. Yellow pine, the state's most common tree, is used for lumber and for making paper; some hardwood lumber also is produced.
In the late 1980s, about 11.3 million kg (about 24.9 million lb) of seafood was caught yearly in Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico by Alabama commercial fishers. Most of the catch consisted of shrimp, the state's most valuable marine product. Catfish farming is a growing sector of the economy.

Mining
The mining industry accounts for about 2 percent of the annual gross state product of Alabama. Leading minerals are coal, natural gas, petroleum, and stone. Coal is mined primarily in north central Alabama, petroleum and natural gas are recovered in the southwest, and limestone is quarried in the northeast.

Manufacturing
Enterprises engaged in manufacturing have an annual payroll of $8 billion in Alabama and employ about 384,000 workers. Leading manufactures include apparel and textiles, transportation equipment, primary metals, and paper and paper products. Iron and steel production is centered around Birmingham, Anniston, and Bessemer. Aluminum plants are located in the tri-cities area of Florence, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia and in Mobile. Paper mills are situated in Mobile, Selma, Demopolis, Courtland, and Tuscaloosa. Birmingham, Mobile, Decatur, Sheffield, and Tuscaloosa have chemical plants. Other major manufactures of Alabama include industrial machinery, processed foods, and rubber and plastic products.

Tourism
Each year several million visitors produce more than $3.4 billion for the Alabama economy. Many persons visit the five areas in the state administered by the National Park Service; Horseshoe Bend National Military Park is the most popular of these areas. The state maintains a system of 24 parks, including Cheaha State Park, near Anniston, which is the site of Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in Alabama.

Transportation
Birmingham and Montgomery are important hubs within a network of about 146,000 km (about 90,700 mi) of federal, state, and local roads that serve all sections of Alabama. Some 1430 km (890 mi) of interstate highways link the major cities of the state. Alabama is served by about 6735 km (4185 mi) of railroad track. Birmingham is the major rail center.
Mobile is Alabama's only seaport. It handles more cargo than any other port on the Gulf of Mexico between Tampa, Florida, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The state includes a section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and also has about 3200 km (about 1990 mi) of navigable inland waterways. The Black Warrior-Tombigbee-Mobile river system is the longest and most important such waterway in the state. The Tennessee River links northern Alabama with the Mississippi River system.
Alabama has more than 150 airports. The Birmingham airport handles more than four-fifths of the state's air passenger traffic.

Energy
In the early 1990s, the electricity generating plants of Alabama had a total capacity of 20 million kw and produced about 76.2 billion kwh of electricity each year. Although Alabama ranked seventh among the states in hydroelectric capacity, about 70 percent of its electricity was coal-generated, and about 16 percent was produced by nuclear power plants. More than 40 percent of the state's electricity was generated by TVA facilities; these included the Browns Ferry nuclear plant, near Athens.

History
Earthen mounds and other archaeological evidence indicate that people have lived in Alabama for at least 9000 years. The major Native American groups at the time of European settlement were the Chickasaws and Cherokees in the north and the Creeks and Choctaws to the south.
The first known Europeans to explore Alabama were Spaniards and probably included Alonso Piñeda in 1519 and Pánfilo de Narváez in 1528. Hernando de Soto reached a site near the present-day city of Mobile on October 18, 1540, after winning a costly victory over the Choctaw in the Battle of Maubila. The French established the first permanent European settlements, at Fort Louis (1702), Port Dauphin (1702), and Mobile (1711). British claims to the area were recognized in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, but the Spanish regained Mobile and the Gulf coast by the 1783 Treaty of Paris. The alabama took possession of the entire area after the War of 1812.

Antebellum Alabama
The Creek War (1813-14), in which the “Red Stick” Creeks tried to resist white encroachment, ended with General Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. Alabama became a territory in 1817 and was accepted into the Union as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819.
The antebellum era in Alabama was characterized by the continued development of plantation agriculture in the central and southern parts of the state, the removal of the Native Americans to the West, and the rising controversy over the nature and legitimacy of slavery and its extension into new territories. The election of President Abraham Lincoln led to the special state convention that voted to secede from the Union in January 1861. Montgomery became the first capital of the Confederacy, and Jefferson Davis was inaugurated president there in February. Military operations in Alabama during the Civil War consisted of several Union raids into the state and the victory of Admiral David Farragut in the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864.

Alabama After the Civil War
A new state constitution recognizing the abolition of slavery was adopted in December 1865. In March 1867, Alabama came under federal military control, and another constitution was adopted in November, affirming provisions of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Blacks responded to emancipation by attempting to exercise their new freedom and improve their condition, and a number of blacks were elected to public office during the Reconstruction era.
Conservative Democratic politics persisted throughout the last quarter of the 19th century, as did farm tenancy and poor agricultural conditions, despite the reform efforts of the People's party (Populists) in the 1890s. The growth of industry in northern Alabama was especially significant. Founded in 1871, Birmingham quickly became a center for iron and steel manufacture and one of the fastest growing cities in the South; it had 132,685 inhabitants in 1910 and 256,678 in 1930.
White supremacy was consolidated in the state constitution of 1901, which effectively prevented most blacks from voting. White political control resulted, among other things, in the casting of Alabama's electoral votes in 1948 for the states' rights candidate rather than for President Harry S. Truman, the regular Democratic party nominee, and in resistance to the black civil rights movement in the 1950s and '60s.

Social and Economic Changes
The Montgomery bus boycott by blacks in 1955 fueled the beginnings of civil rights protest. In May 1961, “Freedom Riders” of the Congress of Racial Equality were attacked by white mobs in Anniston, Birmingham, and Montgomery. In the spring of 1963, a series of demonstrations in Birmingham led by Martin Luther King, Jr., were met with mass arrests by city police, but resulted in a settlement containing most black demands. The Selma to Montgomery march of 1965, also led by King, furthered the passage of the federal Voting Rights Act.
Alabama's economic development in the 1960s and 1970s, paced by the statewide growth of higher education, was greater than at any other time in the 20th century. The economy continued to grow in the 1980s, but Alabama lagged behind most other states in per capita income and educational attainment as the 1990s began.