The Smithsonian recently opened to the public millions of photos from their massive collections. 
     I searched under "Alabama" and it returned 10,252 items. It appears the vast majority are plant and animal samples from across the state but others include:

Caption

Dabney N. Montgomery is a documented original Tuskegee airman, a 2007 recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal and was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, acting as a body guard for Martin Luther King Jr. during the Selma to Montgomery March of 1965.

Description

A black wood-framed shadowbox with two shoe heels and one burgundy knit necktie worn by Dabney N. Montgomery during the Selma to Montgomery March from March 21 to 25, 1965, and an address book containing the name and address of Martin Luther King, Jr. and others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This unusual wooden paddle with a nail-studded leather face was used by the Board of Health in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1899 to perforate mail in preparation for fumigation as a precaution against yellow fever, mistakenly believed at that time to be caused by germs. After perforation, mail was fumigated with sulphur fumes before being returned to the mail stream.

Yellow fever, an infectious disease actually caused by a virus, can kill within a few days of onset. It is characterized by severe high fever, head and backaches, and jaundice, or yellowing of the skin which results from the destruction of liver cells, resulting in the accumulation of yellow bile pigments in the skin.

In the United States, mail was sometimes treated in attempts to halt the spread of a number of deadly diseases, including yellow fever, smallpox, plague, typhus, cholera, diphtheria, measles, leprosy, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, influenza, and even mumps. Health agencies viewed mail with suspicion, believing that somehow the letters and newspapers could carry a disease from infected areas into healthy ones.

 

Rosa Parks sewn dress

Description

This dress (a) is a wrap style made from a plain weave viscose fabric with a printed design of dark brown and yellow flowers and leaves. The wrap effect is achieved by crossing the front bodice at the waist seam and gathered fabric on the proper left side of the waist. The skirt is flaired with six (6) gores and three pleats in the skirt at the center front add further to the wrap effect. The set-in full length sleeves are gathered at a 1 1/4" cuff that closes with two metal snaps. The dress has a small shawl collar and a v-neck. The dress closes at the proper left side waist with a zipper. It is unlined, and the seams are pressed open with raw edges exposed. It is machine-sewn except for the hem, which is turned up 2 inches and hand stitched. There are two belt loops made of a thin yellow braid, one at each side seam, which hold the accompanying belt (b) in place.

The belt (b) is made from the same fashion fabric as the dress, with a plain weave beige fabric backing. The front and back of the belt are machine stitched around the edge, and a layer of interfacing beteen them provides some stiffening. The belt has an oval-shaped metal single-prong buckle covered in the dark brown and yellow floral fabric, and five (5) white grommets on the opposite end of the belt for an adjustable closure.

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane

1955 - 1956

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You can search the collection HERE.