Harper Lee Postscript: The Understatement of the Century

This detail from the "Little Nelle" Heads Ram... article posted earlier this week merits a second look. And write a book she did.... It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize 47 years ago today.

Of birthdays, Campus Humor Magazines, and the Pulitzer Prize!

One of the most beloved Alabamians and University of Alabama alums has a birthday this week - Happy Birthday, Harper Lee! And it was 47 years ago this week that she received quite a birthday present -- the Pulitzer Prize in Letters for her novel (and one of the most read and beloved books of the 20th century), To Kill a Mockingbird.

What many people don't know about Ms. Lee is that she got her literary start right on The University of Alabama campus as a columnist and editor. In 1946, she served as the editor of The University of Alabama's humor magazine, Rammer Jammer. The UA Libraries have started to digitize the Rammer Jammer , with some of the earliest issues available here with more to come!

The images featured here are from three of the major University of Alabama student publications -- an article from the Crimson White ("Little Nelle" Heads Ram, Maps Lee's Strategy") which appeared in the October 8, 1946 edition; a page from the 1947 yearbook, the Corolla (which are also being digitized as part of the Corolla Digital Initiative -- did you know that you can sponsor a Corolla and make it available online! ); and Rammer Jammer, the UA humor magazine which was published from the mid-1920s through the mid-1960s -- it later became known as Mahout.


All of these publications are housed at the Hoole Special Collections Library (of course!) and are very, very cool -- and now some of them are available online, which is also very cool indeed. But we all know who is the coolest -- and we wish her a very Happy Birthday!

Recognizing Peace and Remembering the Peacemaker: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Please join us in remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose life was taken forty years ago today. This letter was sent by Dr. King in recognition of Burford Boone's receiving the 1957 Pulitzer Prize "for his fearless and reasoned editorials in a community inflamed by a segregation issue, an outstanding example of his work being the editorial entitled, 'What a Price for Peace,' published on February 7,1956" in the Tuscaloosa News.




Dr. King's poignant personal note echoes his message and legacy as a champion of human rights, of justice and equality, and as an inspirational unifying force for Peace.