Thursday, October 24, 1929 triggered the Great Depression. In the depths of the fallen economy, there was either long days of hard work with minimum pay, or unemployment. Morale was low and Alabamians needed a boost! Then public communications took a significant upturn!

On February 7, 1930, the Mobile Press and News Item launched the first radio station in Mobile, WODX. Residents of the Gulf Coast could now hear world news and local events first hand.

Within two weeks, John F. Glennon, prominent businessman and well known Alabama historian, was sponsored by the Mobile Real Estate Board, to promote the culture, scenery and attributes of the Mobile area. In January, 1935, the Old Narrator, as Glennon called himself, began a series on Highlights in Alabama History. The series aired 3 times a week for 2 years, with stories about Alabama's past. He told of rivalries, romance and adventure and gave listeners incentive to feel better about themselves and their well-being.

This book covers 62 of 192 recently discovered radio scripts, providing insight into Alabama history as it was known in the 30s.

400 pages

Hardback, excluding taxes and shipping, $34.95

Paperback, excluding taxes and shipping, $23.95

Kudjo; The Last Slave Voyage to America

On a riverboat between Montgomery and Mobile, AL, in the mid-1800s, a wager of $10,000 was set as the challenge that slaves from Africa could no longer be brought into the United States. The schooner "Clotilde" was secretly dispatched and returned in July 1860 with 115 Africans. They were smuggled ashore and sold to various plantation owners.

This story follows the life of Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis from capture in Dahomey to freedom after the War Between The States. Cudjoe became a leader of the formerly enslaved villagers of Tarkar, as they settled in Africatown, north of Mobile, to become the only settlement in the United States to speak a pure African dialect.

This true story was found in a tattered envelope that was tucked away in 1935 and remained unopened until 1997! Research revealed the facts behind several discussions in 1932 with Cudjoe by Rosemary Glennon and documents Cudjoe's life and the last slave voyage to America.

68 pages

Stonecrest is a community in South Marion County, Florida, developed by entrepreneurs during the building boom of the 1990s. The Legacy of Stonecrest places it nearly atop the great Florida Aquifer, on land heretofore used for cattle ranching and citrus groves.

In 1827, South Marion County was placed on the Seminole Indian Reservation for a brief time while the Governor of Florida negotiated relocation with the Indians. About 30 miles to the southwest, the Indians had left their victorious mark on the Dade Battlefield.

About 10 miles north, Ma Barker and her son ended their rampage of crime in a shootout with Federal agents. Nearby in 1935, the infamous Cross Florida Canal was started. The project was funded and squelched for the third and final time in 1964, by President Johnson.

This small book tells in graphic detail, the colorful history of South Marion County and Stonecrest.

42 pages

Paperback, excluding taxes and shipping, $5.00