This week on Alabama Arts Radio Kevin Nutt, Folklife archivist for the Alabama Department of Archives and History, interviews Birmingham native Andrew Nelson, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland at College Park, about an historic collection of glass plate negatives housed at the Birmingham Library. This photographic collection was produced by the Shackelfords, an African American family from the Covin community near Fayette in western Alabama in the early 20th century. The Shackelfords offered photographic services to railway travelers as well as their neighbors. Through Nelson’s research a close friendship developed with one of the family’s relatives, Annie Shackelford, also from the Covin Community. Together they produced a traveling exhibit of curated photographs called, “Both Sides of the Lens: Photographs by the Shackelford Family (1900-1935). In this interview Nelson tells the story of his meeting with Annie Shackelford. Also discussed is the Shackelford’s history as photographers and the cultural importance of the collection to Alabama history.
