An episode from The Alabama Experience television series
Suggested Grade Levels: 9-12. This program would be appropriate for history, government, and political science classes. It would be especially useful for units on twentieth century Alabama history, The New Deal, or Civil Rights.
The program is 27 minutes long but may be shown in two segments by stopping the tape at 14:13 when Gould Beech says "just the most tragic aspect of life in Alabama."
The first section deals primarily with the cultural and economic factors which contributed to the development of populist and New Deal political philosophies. The second section concerns how the Beeches embraced these philosophies.
Gould and Mary Beech were among a relatively small group of well- educated white Alabamians before the Civil Rights era who supported both New Deal economic policies and racial equality. Within their circle of like-minded friends were Lister Hill, Hugo Black, Aubrey Williams, and Clifford and Virginia Durr. Their views were generally popular during the Great Depression, when a large percentage of the state's population--both white and black--was poor and in need of government assistance programs. But after World War II, when economic prosperity improved the lot of most poor whites and government programs came to be increasingly identified with promoting Civil Rights, the Beeches and Alabamians sympathetic with these causes became outcasts. They were labeled as "leftists" and accused of working to undermine the U.S. government. Like many of their friends, they were forced to leave the state. In recent years the Beeches and their friends have come increasingly to be seen as courageous defenders of America's democratic ideals.
The program introduces students to one of the state's less well-known political traditions. It provides opportunities to discuss the volatility of the race issue in Alabama politics and how it could be purposely used for political advantage. It also provides some historical background on political interest groups within the state, and raises questions about the experience of being in a political minority.
Before viewing, ask your students to look for the answers to these questions as they watch the program, and to be ready for discussion after viewing.
Populist - Generally, any political movement that has mass support and is commonly perceived to be acting in the interests of the people. More specifically, one who advocates mobilizing the poor, especially rural people who have suffered because of industrialization and urbanization.
Progressive - A reformer advocating a political community in which citizens are not divided by class, ethnic or party conflicts, but by temporary, well-informed disagreements on public issues.
Radical - Marked by a considerable departure from the usual or traditional. Tending or disposed to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions. Relating to a political group associated with views, practices, and policies of extreme change.
Socialistic - Relating to any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
"Big Mules" - Derogatory term used by populist politicians (notably Jim Folsom in Alabama) to refer to wealthy and influential political interests. Particularly large scale planters and industrialists.
New Deal - The name attributed to the sweeping domestic policy reforms advocated by President Franklin Roosevelt following the Depression.
Other Alabama progressives: Lister Hill, Carl Elliott, Cliff and Virginia Durr, Aubrey Williams, Jim Folsom, Hugo Black, George Washington Carver. The populist movement of the 1890's; the anti-lynching movement in the 1930's and 1940's; the history of the non-violent protest movement: Thoreau, Ghandi, King.
Speak Now Against The Day: The Generation Before The Civil Rights Movement in the South John Egerton, Alfred A. Knopf, 1994. [Southern progressives]
Outside the Magic Circle Virginia Durr, UA Press, 1985. [Autobiography]
Conscience of a Lawyer John Salmond, UA Press, 1990. [Biography of Clifford Durr]
Lister Hill: Statesman from the South Virginia Hamilton, University of North Carolina Press, 1987. [Biography]
The Cost of Courage Carl Elliott, Doubleday, 1992. [Autobiography of a New Deal liberal and racially progressive Alabama congressman]
A Southern Rebel John Salmond, University of North Carolina Press, 1983. [Biography of Aubrey Williams]
The Little Man's Big Friend George Sims, UA Press, 1985. [Biography of James E. Folsom]
Big Mules and Branchheads Carl Grafton, University of Georgia Press, 1985. [Biography of James E. Folsom]
Hugo Black A Biography Roger Newman, Pantheon Books, 1994.
Ninety Degrees In The Shade Clarence Cason, UA Press, 1983 (New Edition).
One of Gould Beech's friends was the famous Tuskegee University scientist, Dr. George Washington Carver. During one of their frequent conversations, Beech asked Carver how he felt about the fact that although he was often asked to speak by white groups, he was always given his meal backstage. Carver said that he tried to keep his mind on his message, but that it was something of a mystery to him. "After all", he said, "we were not going to eat each other."
Produced by Michael Letcher at The University of Alabama Center for Public Television & Radio, Box 870150, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, 1-800-463-8825.
For additional information about using these materials in your classroom, contact Alabama Public Television Educational Services, 1-800-239-5233.
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