This time of year is known as the holiday season. We usually think of the major holidays—Christmas, New Year's, and Thanksgiving—but there is another historic commemoration in the state of Alabama.
Saturday, December 14, will be the 205th anniversary of Alabama's admission into the United States.
"Alabama Day" will be observed in the "Hands-On Gallery of Museum of Alabama." It is in the Alabama Department of Archives & History at 624 Washington Avenue, Montgomery. It will be a come-and-go event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. It is a free event. No ticket or RSVP is needed.
The family-friendly event will be interactive with crafts and snacks.
Here is the story of Alabama's becoming a state from the Department of Archives:
On December 14, 1819, President James Monroe signed Alabama into statehood making it the 22nd state to enter the Union. The growing region known as Alabama was declared a territory in 1817, separate from the old Mississippi Territory. Two years later, the U.S. Congress passed an act allowing the inhabitants to create a state constitution. Delegates to the Alabama Constitutional Convention met in the temporary capital of Huntsville in the summer of 1819 to draft a constitution. That November, Territorial Governor William W. Bibb, newly elected as the state’s first Governor, took the oath of office and, on December 14th of that year, Alabama officially became a state.
This date, known as “Alabama Day,” was first celebrated statewide in 1903 and adopted by resolution of the Alabama Legislature in 1923. The original 1819 Constitution and the official records of Gov. Bibb are now part of the collections at the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
Jim' Zig' Zeigler writes about Alabama's people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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