Expert: Leslie Johnston - 4/7/2000

Question
I am doing a project for college it will be a slide show of all states and what they are famous for. For example: South Dakota-Mt. Rushmore, Texas-The Alimo. So my question is what would you say the one or two pictuers for Alabama could be?

Answer
Hmmm...that is a toughie.

Well, Birmingham has been known for our statue, Vulcan, who is the largest iron statue in the world. He symbolizes Birmingham's steel industry, which is how Birmingham grew and prospered in its early days. However, Vulcan has been dismantled for repairs and won't be back until 2004. I'm sure there's plenty of pictures of him.

Also, the rockets at the Huntsville Space Center. NASA has a branch at Huntsville and that city is known for Engineering.

For Montgomery, a picture of our Capitol building.

For Mobile, I guess the USS Alabama on Mobile Bay.

Also, unfortunately, the firehoses and such of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. And along that line, 16th Street Baptist Church, where the Four Little Girls (also a Spike Lee film) got killed in a bombing.

That's all I can think of for now. Let me know if you need more information.

Also, you can call Alabama Tourism at 1-800-ALABAMA or check out their website (can't think of the address at the moment but you can find it through a search engine).

Thanks for writing!

Leslie