Alabama's Beautiful Gulf Coast Beaches, June 1912

Dauphin Island, 1912
From Roland Harper Photographs Collection
(Collection number 633, Folder number 3.337)

http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/u0001_2008032_0005179

Alabamians have long enjoyed their beaches, but for the people of Southwest Alabama and the coastal areas of Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the Gulf is a way of life. As the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster slowly encroaches on our white sands, Cool@Hoole would like to share a few beach scenes from our collections from Alabama's shores taken by botanist Roland Harper nearly 100 years ago on June 12, 1912.

The Roland Harper Photographs collection, 1878-1966 contains over 7500 photographs, as well as negatives and albums. Subject include botanical and geological subjects like the Orange Beach photographs, as well as images of farms, people, houses and everyday scenes. The photographs cover thirty-one states, the bulk of the collection are from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, New York, California, Arkansas, and Maryland. These images are a powerful and essential resource in understanding the natural history of this region, providing accurate and precise snapshot of the flora and formations of the Alabama Gulf Coast.

The papers of Roland Harper are also housed in the Hoole Library. Sixty three linear feet of materials from Harper, include his diaries, correspondence, research notes, writings, publications, personal and family materials, cemetery records, scrapbooks, as well as photographs, materials relating to race relations, and a substantial collection of transportation timetables and clippings. Some of the photographs and other materials from the collections are available online through our Digital Collections.

Bluffs at the outlet of Perdido Bay

Caption: Bluffs about 10 ft. high made by waves cutting into dunes near outlet of Perdido Bay. 1.31 pm
From Roland Harper Photographs Collection
(Collection number 633, Folder number 187.2)
http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/u0001_2008032_0005568

Dunes at Orange Beach

Caption: Looking South among older dunes, with Corradina in foreground, Pinus clausa (dead), Quercus myrtifolia, Ceratiola, etc. 2:04 pm.
From Roland Harper Photographs Collection
(Collection number 633, Folder number 187.6)
http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/u0001_2008032_0005575

Then state Geologist, Eugene Allen Smith on Orange Beach (in a suit, not a bathing suit!)

Caption: Near view of same bluff, showing bedding of sand [E.A. Smith in picture] 1:35 pm
From Roland Harper Photographs Collection
(Collection number 633, Folder number 187.3)
http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/u0001_2008032_0005569

Thanks to graduate student Alisha Linam, a native of South Alabama for her work with these items!