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COLLIER LIBRARY GAINS T. S. STRIBLING ITEMS FOR COLLECTION

FLORENCE, Ala. - William Smith and the late Lindsey Stricklin, in recent years, diligently acquired items relative to Pulitzer Prize-winning author T. S. Stribling for the University of North Alabama archives and Smith added to that collection today.

Smith, a UNA alumnus and a Florence attorney, presented dean of information technologies Dr. Garry Warren and archivist/librarian Cecile Nabors with more material for the collection today as a prelude to Saturday's Stribling celebration which features UNA alumnus Dr. Ken Vickers, who recently had published the book, T. S. Stribling: A Life of the Tennessee Novelist (Saturday’s event starts at 8 a.m. at Coby Hall and is open to the public.)

Smith said, “With these additions, Collier Library will have the most complete repository of materials on the life and works of T. S. Stribling, who was one of the best-selling authors in the nation between World War I and World War II. The collection includes all of his novels, movie posters, short stories, copies of all the doctoral and master’s theses about him, his childhood journal and copies of the movie Birthright, adapted from one of his novels.

Dr. Warren, in accepting the gifts, said, “The community-wide T. S. Stribling Committee, chaired by William Smith, has been very diligent in procuring items for this collection and we are very grateful for their work and for what it means to UNA and the community.”

Mrs. Nabors added, “These resources for our library archives will provide students, faculty, staff and others one place to conduct research on T.S. Stribling. Many of the items donated to the collection are unpublished manuscripts and primary source material. We greatly appreciate William Smith, Dr. Randy Cross and others who continue to enhance the T.S. Stribling archive."

Smith gave a video copy of Birthright, Oscar Micheaux’s 1939 adaptation of Stribling’s novel. Micheaux, who was the first African-American to produce a sound feature film, had produced in 1924 a silent film version of the movie as a response to Birth of A Nation. Birthright was among the first novels by a southerner to treat racism in a serious manner.

Also in Collier are a bibliography of Stribling’s works, including his short stories in religious, pulp and detective magazines, three science fiction novellas and a manuscript for the unpublished novel Design on Darkness.

Other items previously delivered to Collier Library for the collection are the Pulitzer Prize for literature Stribling received June 6, 1933 for The Store, the middle novel of a trilogy about Florence.

Another UNA alumnus Dr. Randy Cross, who edited Laughing Stock, an autobiographical collection of Stribling’s letters and writings, has loaned Stribling’s tuxedo, his Tam-o’-shanter and other clothing to the library.

Dr. Avon Edward Foote, an associate professor of speech communication and radio, television and film, provided the book Kincheloe, McPherson and Related Families, Genealogies and Biographies which contains information about Stribling and his family. [footnote: To fully appreciate this gift from Dr. Foote, please read the first few paragraphs in Chapter I of Dr. Cross's edit of Laughing Stock.] Foote has also supplied a copy of the award-winning student-produced film adaptation, She Had Hair Like His Sister’s, produced in Foote's 1982-83 classes on television production. In 2003, he and his students taped the Stribling celebrations on campus which are going into the collection.

At his own expense, Smith had microfilm copies made of Stribling’s papers in the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Stricklin, who died January 26, 2004, was a professor emeritus of English, who championed Stribling and who did much of the research for this project and coordinated efforts for last year’s celebration of Stribling’s March 4 birthdate. He secured from family and friends photos, letters and Stribling’s childhood journal.

Prior to all of them, Nick Winn, professor in the UNA Department of English, had kept the legacy of Stribling alive on campus. Stribling was living in a duplex a few doors down Poplar Street in Florence from Winn when the former died in 1965. Winn presented UNA with oil portraits of Stribling and his wife Lou Ella and other items.

The professor frequently made speeches about Stribling and did a summer-long retrospective of the author’s work a few years before Winn died.

Stribling was a native of Clifton, Tennessee, which is down the Tennessee River from Florence. He graduated from Florence State Normal in 1903. He later clerked for alumnus Gov. Emmitt O’Neal in Florence.



February 17, 2004

2004 Stribling Birthday Celebration

T. S. Stribling Event T. S. Stribling enthusiasts meet Saturday, March 6, at Coby Hall on the UNA campus, for a morning of discussion, readings, and recognitions. Dr. Ken Vickers will lead a keynote session consisting of his presentation followed by a question and answer exchange. Distinguished storyteller Dr. C. William Foster, Stribling scholar Dr. Randy Cross, and Dr. Dennis Balch will perform readings from a variety of Stribling materials.

The program will recognize student winners of the T. S. Stribling Fiction-Writing Contest and will formally announce the Collier Library T. S. Stribling Collection. The organizing committee will give a special posthumous tribute to Mr. Lindsey Stricklin for his work in preserving and sharing the Stribling heritage. Copies of Dr. Vickers' newly published T. S. Stribling: A Life of the Tennessee Novelist, and copies of the recently reprinted Stribling autobiography Laughingstock (edited by Dr. Cross) will be available for purchase and signing.

The event opens with registration, coffee, and book signing from 8 A.M. until 9 A.M. The formal program begins at 9:00 A.M. and will adjourn to the traditional Tom Stribling birthday party shortly before noon. This event is sponsored jointly by the University of North Alabama and Heritage Preservation, Inc. Coby Hall is located on North Court Street. Contact UNA Alumni Relations at 765-4201 with questions.

Dennis Balch
drbalch@una.edu





February 20, 2003

UNA FINE ARTS FESTIVAL SALUTES T.S. STRIBLING
For release:  Immediately

By  Katie Wheeler and Kristina Grossheim
      UNA Student Writers

   FLORENCE, Ala. - The University of North Alabama  2003 Fine Arts Festival on March 7-9 will feature the works of the late award-winning author T.S. Stribling, of Clifton, Tennessee, who graduated 100 years ago.
   The festival, hosted by the UNA National Alumni Association and Heritage Preservation, Inc., is a celebration of the literary works of the writer who attended the State Normal School (now UNA) in Florence.
   Stribling put the Shoals area on the national map with his trilogy, The Forge, The Store and  Unfinished Cathedral. He won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1933 for The Store.  
   In fact, a 100th anniversary special edition boxed set has been published for the festival and is on sale for $100 (plus tax and shipping). Proceeds go to the T.S. Stribling Scholarship Fund. The custom designed trilogy will be available at the Office of Alumni Relations and during the Fine Arts Festival.
   The trilogy follows three generations of the Vaiden family, yeoman planters, in stories set principally in Florence, from the period just before the Civil War through the 1920ıs. Stribling based the trilogy on stories his mother and her brothers told him as a child. Many characters are based on family members and people they knew.
   Book reviews have credited The Forge as true to the spirit of history. Stribling begins the story of the Vaiden family with their patriarch farming with a small number of slaves in west Lauderdale County. The story then courses through the War Between the States.
   Second in the trilogy, The Store, focuses on a second-generation Vaiden family. A Pulitzer judge said the book won because of ³...its sustained interest, and its convincing and comprehensive picture of life in an inland Southern community during the middle eighties of the last Century.²
   The last novel of the trilogy, Unfinished Cathedral, depicts Florence during an economic boom at the turn of the 20th century.     
   Stribling was defensive about the uproar his trilogy caused because of its literal accounting of the social injustices of the times, but said a good novel ³ought to suggest life but ought not to reproduce an illusion of reality.² Dr. Wilton Eckley quoted Stribling in a 1964 interview: ³As a matter of literal fact, Florence, Alabama is one of the pleasantest places I have ever known, filled with the most mellow and delightful folk. The only reason I chose Florence for the scene of my trilogy was because it had an interesting and romantic past and physical loveliness and softness, which gave me precisely the anesthetic relief which my ruthless narrative required.²
   The three-day event will begin Friday at 8:45 a.m. in the Guillot University Center Performance Center with a welcome by President Robert Potts and an introduction by Eckley, who has written several articles on American and English literature. Some of his published books include T.S. Stribling and The American Circus.
   Fridayıs panel discussion will begin at 9:15 a.m. in the Performance Center. Dr. Bill Foster will moderate the readings of Striblingıs works with Dennis Balch, Randy Cross, Lindsey Stricklin and William Smith..
   At 10:15 a.m., Billy Ray Warren will lead a discussion on southern literature with Howard Bahr, Randy Cross, Eckley and Ken Vickers.
   There will be a luncheon at 11:45 a.m. in the University Center Banquet Hall. Tickets for this event are $20 and must be purchased by Tuesday, March 4. During the luncheon, the panel members, including Wayne Flynt, Wayne Greenhaw and Bill Waugh will discuss political writing. Hank Klibanoff will moderate.
   At 2:15 p.m., Cross will lead a discussion on history and historical fiction with Bahr, Tom Hendrix, Flynt, Bill McDonald and Vickers.
   At 3:15 p.m., the panel will discuss mystery literature.  Terry Pace will lead the discussion with Jim Accardi, William Barnwell, Brett Davis, Debra Johnston and Vickers.
   There will be a reception and book signing for several of the authors at 5:30 p.m. in the University Center Atrium.
   A celebrity serve banquet begins at 7 p.m. in the University Center.  The introduction will be given by Greenhaw, of Montgomery.. He has published several books of fiction and nonfiction and has written hundreds of articles in regional, national and international publications.  UNA alumna and former Miss Alabama Pamela K. Long will be the guest speaker. Long, a two-time Emmy winning writer and producer, now resides in Santa Paula, California.  UNA English department chair Dr. Bill Foster will entertain. Tickets are $25 and must be purchased by Tuesday, March 4.            
   Saturdayıs events begin at 8:45 a.m. Vickers will moderate the discussion of biography and autobiography with Stephen Broyles, Doug James, Edie Hand, Aileen Kilgore Henderson and John McMillan.
   At 10 a.m., the topic for discussion is print-to-film or stage. Steve Viall will lead the discussion with Sherhonda Allen, Long, Pace, Susie Yarbrough and Will Stutts.
    Cross will lead a discussion on moral literature at 11 a.m. along with Michael Bradley, Broyles, Chris Crouch, Vanessa Griggs and Lucille Prince.
   An author roundtable luncheon will begin at noon.  Tickets are $10 and must be purchased by March 4.    
   There will also be a bus tour of Striblingıs hometown of Clifton, Tennessee departing at noon and returning at 7 p.m.  For ticket information, call the Office of Alumni Relations at 256-765-4201.
   At 1 p.m., Saturday, there will be another book signing event in the University Center Atrium.
   At 2 p.m., Lynne Butler will lead a discussion on the the creative process of writing. Other panelists include James Bulman, Mary Daily, Michelle Eubanks, Dorothy Hardy, Roy Williams and Darlene Montgomery.
   Writing: The Business Process will be the topic for discussion at 3 p.m.  The panel includes, Jim Noles (as the moderator), Henderson, Johnny Johnson, Carolyn Newman, Nadine Marino, Roy Williams and Montgomery.
   At 7 p.m., the readersıs theatre will do a presentation of the Rope. Steve Viall will direct the play.  Al Head, the executive director of the Alabama State Council for the Arts, will present introductory comments on Stribling.
   Sunday, March 9, at 1 p.m. in the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, there will be an interpretive photo essay.
   Also at 1 p.m., Billy Ray Warren will lead a walking tour of downtown Florence, visiting several ³Stribling sites.²
   There will be a Stribling birthday party reception held at 2 p.m. in the Performance Center.
   Also at 2 p.m., there will be a writing competition award ceremony. Then Eckley, Lindsey Stricklin and guests from Clifton, Tennessee, discuss reminiscences of Stribling.
   The festival will conclude with the unveiling of a Stribling marker across from the Collier Library on the UNA campus.
   
    -30-
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February 7, 2003

UNAıS 2003 FINE ARTS FESTIVAL FEATURES WORKS OF T.S. STRIBLING
For release:  Immediately

By  Katie Wheeler
      UNA Public Relations Intern 

FLORENCE, Ala. - The University of North Alabama 2003 Fine Arts Festival on March 7-9 will feature the works of an award-winning author who graduated here 100 years ago. The festival, hosted by the UNA National Alumni Association and Heritage Preservation, Inc., is a celebration of the 100th anniversary of writer T. S. Striblingıs graduation from the State Normal School (now UNA in Florence). Stribling, a native of Clifton, Tennessee, won a 1933 Pulitzer Prize for literature for his novel, The Store, one book in a trilogy about the Florence area in the 19th and 20th centuries. A number of current writers with North Alabama ties will be showcased during the weekend-long event. The writers and scholars will interact with attendees in a 2-1/2-day program that includes readings, panel discussions, book signing events, presentation of a play adapted from a Stribling novel and the dedication of a Stribling marker on the UNA campus. There will be a walking tour of Florence sites associated with Stribling, who died in the city in 1965, and a bus tour to Clifton, which is about 65 miles north of Florence. Carol Lyles, director of alumni relations at UNA, is available to speak with civic and school groups about the Stribling Festival. To book her as a speaker, call the UNA Speakers Bureau at (256) 765-4225.
-30-

-- 
Annette Himmler
Office of University Relations
University of North Alabama
Box 5026
Florence, AL 35632-0001
Tel: (256) 765-4225
fax: (256) 765-4812

Go to: A Town Remembers Stribling's Prize with
new material added at Chotank.com 18 November 2003 with revisions 5 & 7 March 2004.

Revised  .  Reviewed  .  Refreshed:  27 February 2007, Our 12th Year