Yea, Alabama! A Peek into the Past of One of the Most Storied Universities in the Nation: The University of Alabama (Volume 1 – 1819 through 1871 – Second Edition)

This Yea, Alabama historical series explores the narrative of the storied University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the United States, in a way not previously published. Years of research into primary documents, many only recently discovered or rediscovered, bring to the fore many new facts, new stories, new characters, new revelations, and new photos that offer the fullest picture of the University yet. This history of bringing higher education to what was just a few years earlier the American western frontier is filled with enthralling human interest stories that, just in volume one (1819–1871), include: • dramatic intergenerational rivalries (wilderness-influenced, wealthy young men challenging professors and presidents whom the students consider to be of a lower social class) that on more than one occasion force the University to close its doors and try again; • political power and intrigue that often bring the school to its knees; • town versus gown issues that sometimes explode onto the pages of history; • a fateful decision that brings the University into the crosshairs of the Union, ultimately resulting in the near total destruction of the institution; • the University's multiyear post-bellum effort to reopen that witnesses major confrontations between the people of Alabama and the radical state government; • the never-before-told story of the University of Alabama, African Americans, and slavery.

About the Author :
David M. Battles is an independent American Studies scholar in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He holds three degrees from the University of Alabama, including an MA in American Studies. His other books include The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South, Or, Leaving Behind the Plow and Making Her Own Place, the story of Dottie Rambo's contributions to gospel music. Mr Battles has also written and arranged songbooks for piano, voice, and guitar, as well as several children's musicals and ten children's piano method books.

Review :
'Historians of the antebellum era and of education in particular will appreciate David M. Battles's attempt to chronicle the rise of Alabama's first institution of higher education. [...] Battles presents this first volume of a projected multivolume history of the university in seven chronologically arranged parts, closing with an overview of southern slavery. The work is intricately researched and well referenced, with over fifty pages of color illustrations, photographs, and scans of primary sources.'James P. CousinsWestern Michigan UniversityJournal of Southern History, 84:1 (2018)'This is a book that is full of valuable insights into university education in the Southern states of America during the tumultuous middle decades of the nineteenth century and will appeal to a wide readership. [...] [In addition, t]he story of UA as a military university from 1859 is fascinating ...[and t]he analysis of slavery and its role at UA over the decades represents groundbreaking research.'Peter CunichUniversity of Hong KongHistory of Education, 27.04.2017'The product of years of research, Yea, Alabama! peeks into the early history of the University of Alabama, a time when higher education had been brought to what was the American frontier just years earlier. Referencing information from primary documents, this first volume of a historical series brings to light many of the facts, stories, characters, revelations and photos from the years 1819 to 1871. It includes inter-generational rivalries, politics, decisions and confrontations that gave rise to the University, placed it in the cross hairs of the Union troops, and rebuilt it after the Civil War.'Alabama Alumni Magazine (Winter 2015)'I can highly recommend David Battles as a true adventurer into the vast historical visage that has laid claim onto The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa since he began his research through the maze of long forgotten notes of meetings, people, times, social mores and recreants of generations so long ago forgotten and thought to be buried forever beneath mounds of crumbling, decaying stacks of papers blatantly stating the opinions and decisions made by leaders who though so well respected and thought in high regard as university leaders, community as well as state leaders were in fact so mistaken and misguided by social norms and customs so strongly ingrained in their own social and educational development that many people thought these decisions that left their marks on future generations of students who innocently came as young men and women seeking the truth but found shadows of lies and untruth in every aspect they turned toward. Only now has someone like David spent hours upon hours searching through the tombs of archive material that has mainly been left to rot, decay, and dissolve into barely readable sludge from moldy shelves to search out the truths that lay for ages buried in the long ago glory days of our Southern Heritage.'Charlene Luckie-Coburn, M.Ed, D.Ed