The future of Alabama's history
Frank White, left, executive director of the Alabama Historical Commission, stands in the historic state Capitol rotunda. (Julie Bennett)
By Kenneth Mullinax
[email protected]
The Alabama Historical Commission is as worried about the future these days as it is about the past.
Certainly, money -- or rather the lack of it -- has brows furrowed over at the commission. But so does a self-proclaimed case of mistaken identity.
Executive Director Frank White knows many Alabamians confuse his group with the Department of Archives and History -- because it's easy to do.
Both are state agencies and both deal with preservation. But White points out that each has a distinct mission.
The commission is responsible for the safeguarding of 21 historic buildings and sites, 12 of which are open to the public. The archives and history department, under the leadership of Ed Bridges, is charged with preserving historical records and artifacts and promoting Alabama history.
"I tell people the big difference between the two is the Alabama Historical Commission preserves places and the Alabama Department of Archives and History preserves paper," White said tongue-in-cheek.
Bridges, too, knows all about the public's bewilderment. It stems from a time long ago, he said, when both agencies had the same leader. Bridges himself is on the 21-member commission.
"It's a long established and deep-rooted problem that's been ongoing for the entire 26 years I've been the director," Bridges said.
Since taking the helm Jan. 2, White has kept busy speaking to community and church groups as well as architects and foundations about the commission's historic preservation efforts.
Two Saturdays ago, for example, White drove to Decatur to meet with the foundation that helps maintain the home of Gen. "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, a property operated by the commission. Just last week, he spoke to several civic clubs and the annual meeting of Alabama's architects in Mobile.
Educating the public about the commission is vital to safeguarding the state's heritage, White said.
"Unfortunately, we get too many calls at the commission at the very last minute before bulldozers are about to knock down one of Alabama's historic structures," he said.
The commission oversees a variety of programs, most notably the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage and The National Register of Historic Places. State designations come from the commission and White submits nominations to the national register, which is administered by the U.S. Interior Department.
Other commission projects include:
Historic designations for cemeteries at least 40 years old. Earlier this month, the commission gave the designation to the cemetery at Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church in south Montgomery County.
Placement of markers, approved by staff members, at historically significant buildings and sites.
Research on early Alabama architecture as well as the maintenance of architectural archives and the development of an electronic database on architects and builders in the state.
Historic impact assessments for all federal construction projects in-state and architectural surveys for cities.
To prove White's point about education, it was an informed citizen who brought the Lowndesboro Colored School to the commission's attention.
The agency has added the building, one of the state's few remaining 19th-century schools for black children, to a list of places that will be lost if it isn't repaired immediately.
"This school is a historical gem, which must be preserved so future generations will understand it's important historical and educational significance," White said.
The sites that the commission oversees, scattered throughout the state, include everything from the forts of early settlers to antebellum mansions to the Capitol.
Newest on the state's historic register is an old bus depot downtown.
"Montgomery's Greyhound Bus Station is on our list of properties because it is the site where the historic civil rights Freedom Bus Riders were assaulted by segregationists in 1961," White said.
All that the commission does doesn't come cheap. White has a $3.7 million budget for fiscal 2008.
The commission's staff is 66 strong, according to outreach director Ellen Mertins. By comparison, the archives and history department has a 2008 fiscal budget of $5 million and 52 employees.
The commission's budget has been on a roller coaster ride for the last six years. In 2003, the total was $4.2 million. Two years later, the amount had dropped to $2.7 million.
The number has been inching up the last three years and White will get the same $3.7 million in fiscal 2009, which starts Oct. 1, that he did this year. But with the past years of budget cuts came staff layoffs, from 104 workers down to the current 66.
White is mindful of how the commission spends its money. He ordered his employees to take fewer road trips to the historic sites -- every trip must be approved in advance -- and he shortened the hours of operations at many of the sites.
The Belle Mont Mansion in Tuscumbia, for example, can now be seen by appointment only. The antebellum home used to be open to visitors all week long.
"We are working hard to be good stewards of our state's budget," White said.
White came to Alabama from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, which oversaw the Endangered Properties Division. Georgia's state historical office owns no properties or historic sites.
During his first month of office, White visited each of the commission's sites and met each of the employees, from the state's archeologist to the groundskeepers.
He had a one-on-one appointment with Gov. Bob Riley after two months on the job.
"I was only supposed to meet with Gov. Riley for 15 minutes, but we chatted for almost an hour," White said, "and he provided me with some interesting ideas to help our properties."
The men discussed ways to attract more visitors -- especially children -- to the historic sites, since those admissions help fund the commission's work.
"I'm excited about the future," White said. "Alabama has significant architectural and archeological resources we need to put forth so more people can have a greater appreciation of our state's history."
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Uh, I believe hiijakd's question was for futuremm... 
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