The Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South

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Tuscaloosa, AL
The Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South

Generously funded by a gift from the late Charles G. and Frances S.

Summersell, the Center promotes understanding and investigation of the history and culture of the American South through research and public programming.

10/17/2025

The Summersell Center for the Study of the South and the Barefield College of Arts and Sciences are pleased to welcome Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens to campus on October 23.

Dr. Cooper Owens is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History at the University of Connecticut. She is a widely recognized speaker and author whose work explores African American history, medical practices, and social change.

Her first book, Medical Bo***ge: Race, Gender and the Origins of American Gynecology (UGA Press, 2017), received the Darlene Clark Hine Award from the Organization of American Historians. She is currently working on a biography of Harriet Tubman and a study of the history of race and medical innovation.

Please join us at 4:30 p.m. in ten Hoor 30 for her lecture. All are welcome!

10/07/2025

This week on October 8, the Summersell Center and the Department of Political Science will host Dr. Bryan Jones for a faculty coffee hour, graduate luncheon, and public talk.

Dr. Jones is professor and J.J. "Jake" Pickle Regents Chair in Congressional Studies at UT Austin. He will be discussing his newest book, *The Southern Fault Line: How Race, Class, and Region Shaped One's Family History*, where he uses his family history to follow efforts made to build in*******al coalitions in the Jim Crow South.

11/18/2024

A unique aspect of the Alabama Memory class is the students’ chance to participate in field trips to other parts of the state. Check out these pictures from the class’s trip to Wetumpka and Montgomery, AL!

10/17/2024

Two weeks ago the Alabama Memory class visited the Morgan County Archives in Decatur, Alabama to further their research of lynching in our state. Students had the chance to speak with archivists and important figures in the community while searching through various primary sources. Much of this information is not available on the databases students use to write biographies, so visiting in person is crucial to recounting the lives of lynching victims.

10/11/2024

We were so excited to see everyone at Druid City Pride on Sunday! The Summersell Center’s booth was staffed by both undergraduate and graduate students, and all of the information displayed at the booth and on the walking tour was drawn from these students’ research and oral histories from Tuscaloosa natives! We hoped you enjoyed learning your history at DCP! 🏳️‍🌈🩷🩵

10/02/2024

This semester, undergraduate Summersell Scholars Ainsley Lewis and Walter Mink have been creating a website to house oral histories and a walking tour of historic q***r Tuscaloosa. While both are studying computer science, Ainsley and Walter are passionate about Q***r history and its preservation. Come see what they’ve been working on at Druid City Pride this Sunday, October 6!

09/26/2024

Come learn your history at Druid City Pride on October 6th, 12-5 PM. Visit the Summersell Center’s tent at Government Plaza to learn about students’ research and take our tour of Q***r Tuscaloosa. We’ll see you there! 🌈🎉🌈

04/25/2024

Here’s a preview of some stops that will be featured on our Q***r History Walking Tour of Downtown Tuscaloosa. Undergraduate interns have spent their semester working on creating this virtual tour. The tour will launch this summer!

✨click through to see some of historic q***r Tuscaloosa✨

04/05/2024

To support the study of southern history and promote the use of the manuscript collections housed at The University of Alabama, the Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South, the Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History, and The University of Alabama Libraries will offer a total of eight research fellowships in the amount of $750 each for the 2024-2025 academic year.Eligible researchers will have projects that entail work to be conducted in southern history or southern studies at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, the A.S. Williams III Americana Collection, or any other University of Alabama collections.

Full details available at: https://t.ly/HFsee

03/25/2024

Join us on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at 5pm for “Southern Conversations."

Southern Conversations offers an opportunity for students and professors to discuss broad questions and themes in U.S. Southern History. This semester's conversation will focus on the topics of activism, historians and academia. Drs. Lesley J. Gordon and John Giggie will serve as faculty participants. All are welcome.

Sponsored by the Charles G. Summersell Chair in Southern History and the Frances Summersell Center for the Study of the South

02/22/2024

Congratulations to Rev. Dr. Thaddeus Steele, of Stillman College, and Dr. John Giggie for completing a short history of the AMEZ Church in Alabama during the civil rights movement. They worked with individual congregations to tell their histories of challenging segregation in the state. The work was funded by a grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance and the support of the Sixth Episcopal District of the AMEZ Church, first commissioned by Rt. Rev. Dr. Seth Osibisa Lartey and now under the leadership of Rt. Rev. George D. Crenshaw.

02/20/2024

This spring, a team of dedicated interns are finalizing the Alabama Memory Project website. Together, they’re continuing the work from previous semesters to create an accessible digital archive of the student research from the Alabama Memory course.

Address

Tuscaloosa, AL

Telephone

+12053487100

Website

http://scss.ua.edu/

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