Alabama"Tribal Town" in Creek Indian (7)

Other sources claim it is derived from the Choctaw Indian language, translating as

"thicket-clearers" or "vegetation-gatherers."

State Nicknames

● The Yellowhammer State:Since the civil war when a company of Alabama soldiers wore uniforms trimmed with yellow cloth and were nicknamed Yellowhammers. "

● The Cotton State: located in the cotton belt and cotton production was a major influence in the growth and culture of the state

● The Heart of Dixie: originally because Montgomery was the first capital of the Confederate States during the Civil War

When did it become a state?

• Alabama became the 22nd state on December 14, 1819.

Capital

• Montgomery (3)

• Population: 201,998

• Birthplace and capital of the confederate states of america

• On January 28, 1846 Montgomery was selected as the capital of Alabama.

• The world's first electric trolley system was introduced here in 1886.(4)

State Flag

• Authorized by the Alabama Legislature on February 16, 1895

• Salute - Flag of Alabama I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance, my service, and my life.

Confederate flag

• The Confederate flag was designed and first flown in Alabama in 1861.

• On January 11, 1861 Alabama becomes the fourth state to secede from the Union.

State Flower

• Goldenrod from September 6, 1927 to August 26, 1959

• Camellia from August 26, 1959 to present

State Wildflower

• Oak Leaf Hydrangea

• Adopted 1999

• Grows six to eight feet tall.

State Bird

• Yellowhammer AKA the golden winged woodpecker

• Adopted 1927

• Flickers are reported to eat more ants than any other American bird.

• Bird call

State Game Bird

• Wild Turkey

• Adopted 1980

• Today 6.4 million wild turkeys roam the lower 49 states.

• Turkey

State Amphibian

• Red Hills Salamander

• Adopted in 1990

• Campaign led by the third graders at Fairhope Elementary School

• Exist only in a 50,000 - acre area of southern Alabama.

• This rare and elusive salamander was not known to exist until 1960, when Leslie Hubricht, a renowned expert on land snails, accidentally discovered the first one while searching for snails in the Red Hills of Alabama. It was not only a new species, it was the first new salamander genus discovered in North America since 1939. The salamander was named Phaeognathus hubrichti after Mr. Hubricht. A second specimen wasn't obtained until 1963.

State Reptile

• Alabama red bellied turtle

• Adopted 1990

• Adult turtles are approximately 1 foot in length. Females are slightly larger with a carapace (upper shell) length reaching 13 inches.

• life expectancy for this large turtle is about 50 years in the wild.

• Turtle

State saltwater Fish

• Fighting Tarpon

• It can reach a weight of 100 pounds.

• Tarpon

State Freshwater Fish

• Largemouth bass

• They incorrectly identified it by the Latin name Micropterus punctulatus, which is actually the Spotted Bass.

• Bass

State Butterfly

• Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

• Adopted 1989

• butterfly

State Insect

• Monarch Butterfly

• The Monarch ingests toxins from the milkweed plant which are poisonous to predators.

• State Insect

State Fossil

• Basilosaurus cetoides (Zeuglodon)

• Adopted 1984

• A complete skeleton of a basilosaurus (which means "king of the lizards") was found on a plantation in southwestern Alabama in 1834

• The two most complete Basilosaurus cetoides skeletons ever found are from Alabama - one is displayed at the McWane Center in Birmingham and the other in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

• http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Alabama/AL-state-fossil.html

State Fossil

State Marine Mammal

• West Indian manatee

• Save west indian manatee

State Tree

• Southern Longleaf Pine

• first designated the state tree as "the southern pine tree" in 1949 - it wasn't until 1997 that the southern longleaf pine was specified.

• ecosystem once covered 90 million acres in the Southeastern United States. Less than three million acres remain

State Tree Fruit

• Peach

• Adopted 2006

• There are thirty to forty varieties of peaches grown commercially throughout Alabama

State Mineral

• Hematite

• Adopted 1967

• Approximately 375 million tons of hematite was mined in Alabama from 1840 to 1975

States gemstone

• Star blue quartz

• Become the state gemstone 1990

• Chosen by a state senator

State Rock

• Marble

• Adopted 1969

• The marble from this area has been called the whitest marble in the world.

State Shell

• Johnstone’s Junonia

• Adopted 1990

• Found only in Alabama water

• The shell was named in honor of Kathleen Yerger Johnstone (an amateur conchologist from Mobile, Alabama who made seashells popular through speeches and books).

State Nut

• Pecan

• Adopted 1982

• April declared as National Pecan Month.

• Astronauts took pecans to the moon on two Apollo space missions.

State Fruit

• Blackberry

• Adopted 2004

• The Song of the Blackberry queen

State fair

• Florence renaissance faire

• Named state fair in 1988

• Held the fourth Saturday and Sunday in October

• The event draws 40000-50000 people

• One of the highlighted pre-fair events is an authentic Medieval / Renaissance feast featuring food and entertainment of the period (held one week before the faire). People who attend the feast are encouraged to follow the customs of the era by bringing their own tablecloth, candelabra and eating utensils (this was a common practise during Medieval times - the nobility liked to flaunt their wealth by displaying gold plates and candlesticks of brass, silver and gold).

State Fair

State Mammal

• Black Bear

• Adopted 1996

• Seeing a bear in the wild is a very rare experience.

• Black bears are not always black - there are cinnamon, white, beige, and "blue" and black bears.

• They can run up to 30 mph and are good swimmers.

• bear cubs

State Mammal

State Bible

Purchased in 1853, this historic bible was used to swear in Jefferson Davis as the President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861. Each of Alabama's governors has used this same bible to be sworn in since 1853

State Soil

State Song

• It was written on March 3rd, 1931

• Mrs. Edna Gockel Gussen from Birmingham Alabama wrote the song

• The song is called Alabama

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndTPPEU5vd0

State Seal 1

• Created by William Wyatt bibb

• State seal from 1817-1869

• Then from 1937-present

• The great seal of Alabama displays the major rivers of the state.

State Seal 2

• Creator not named

• Seal from 1869-1939

State motto and coat of arms

• "Audemus jura nostra defendere"

• We Dare Retain our rights

• Adopted 1939

• Alabama's coat of arms displays a shield with the emblems of five governments that have held sovereignty over the state. The flags of Spain, France, Great Britain, and the Confederacy sit behind the emblem for the United States.

• The shield is supported by bald eagles on either side (symbols of courage). The crest of the shield represents the Baldine (the ship sailed by Iberville and Bienville from France in 1699 to settle a colony near present - day Mobile).

State Coat of Arms

Rosa Parks (9)

• Feb 13, 1913-October 25, 2005

• Civil Rights leader who refused to give up her seat to a white man

• Born in Tuskegee

• Rosa Parks Biography

Helen Keller (1)

• June 27, 1880- June 1, 1968

• Blind and Deaf Author and lecturer

• Born in Tuscumbia

• Helen Keller biography

State Outdoor Drama

• The Miracle Worker

• Adopted 1991

• The first production of the drama was performed on the grounds of Ivy Green in 1962.

• The Miracle Worker

Nathaniel Adams Cole (10)

• Nat King Cole

• Known as the man with the velvet voice

• March 17, 1919-February 16, 1965

• Nat King Cole song

Jesse Owens (6)

• Winner of four gold medals in the 1936 summer olympic games

• September 12 1913- March 31 1980

• Born in Oakville

• Jesse Owens biography

Hank Aaron

• all time homerun champion

• Feb 5 1934

• Born in Mobile

• Hank Aaron biography

Joe Louis

• Heavyweight champion of the world

• He held the belt for nearly 12 years

• May 13 1914-April 12 1981

• Born in Lafayette

• Joe Louis biography

Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill

• In 1902 he performed the first open heart surgery in the Western Hemisphere by suturing a stab wound in a young boy's heart.

• The surgery occurred in Montgomery.

• 1862-1946

Heather Whitestone

• In 1995 she served as the first Miss America chosen with a disability.

• She was completely deaf.

• Born February 24, 1973 in Dothan.

Mobile (8)

• Named after the Mauvilla Indians

• Mobile is known as the city of six flags having flown under the French, Spanish, British, Republic of Alabama, Confederacy, and the USA flags.

• The correct pronunciation of the city is mobeel, given the soft emphasis on the second syllable by its French founders.

Huntsville (5)

• Rocket capital of the world.

• Alabama workers built the first rocket to put humans on the moon.

• In 1956 the Army Ballistic Missile Agency was established at Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal.

Enterprise

• Houses the Boll Weevil monument.

• Acknowledges the role this destructive insect played in encouraging farmers to grow crops other than cotton.

Sequoyah (2)

• Devised the phonetic, written alphabet of the Cherokee language

State Championship Horse Show

• AOHA Alabama State Championship Horse Show

• Adopted 1988

• The horse show is usually held at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery over Labor Day weekend.

• The first statewide horse show was held in Montgomery over a two- day period in 1988 with 994 entries. By 2002 the Alabama State Championship Horse Show had grown to a three-day event with over 2,000 entries

• Winners receive awards such as trophy saddles, belt buckles, and plaques. No horse and rider can win more than one saddle per show, per division.

State Horse

• Racking Horse

• Adopted 1975

• A group of Alabama businessmen formed a corporation and initiated the legal maneuverings that were necessary to designate this horse as a distinct breed.

• State Horse

State Agricultural Museum

• Landmark Park

• Located in Dothan

• Features of the 100-acre park include an 1890s living history farm, a one-room schoolhouse, a general store, a turn-of the-century church, elevated boardwalks, nature trails, wildlife exhibits, a planetarium, "barnyard playground" and a picnic area.

State Horseshoe Tournament

• Adopted in 1992

• The tournament was held for a few years as part of the annual Stockton festival but was then discontinued.

State Musical Drama

• The Incident at Looney's Tavern

• Adopted 1993

• The musical tells the story of Christopher Sheats (a young Winston County school teacher) and the hill people of Alabama, who didn't want to join the Confederacy and struggled against the South's secession, nearly creating "The Free State of Winston" during the Civil War.

• The first performances of The Incident at Looney's Tavern were staged in a shopping center parking lot at the Winston County

• State Musical Drama

State Historic Theater

• Alabama Theatre for the Performing Arts

• Built in downtown Birmingham by Paramount Studios in 1927 as a showcase for Paramount films

• Used primarily as a movie palace for 55 years until closing its doors in 1981. In 1987 the theater was purchased by a nonprofit corporation and became a performing arts centre.

BBQ championship

• Christmas on the River BBQ cookoff

• Begin in 1972

• Grown to include barbeque teams from nine states, 75 judges, and thousands of barbecue fanatics from across the country.