by Don Wilding
In North Alabama, many people wanted to remain in the United States. Alabama’s Unionists also held public barbecues in support of their cause. In August 1860, Unionists gathered in Huntsville for a day of barbecue and political discourse. “We had a glorious day yesterday,” explained a reporter, who added that the “large crowd, good barbecue, and speeches” could “change hearts of stone.” The demonstration, which “surpassed anything ever before witnessed in Alabama,” consisted of supporters of Tennessee’s John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party. Like Abraham Lincoln, Bell opposed the expansion of slavery and secession. Unlike Lincoln, Bell owned slaves and had lived his entire life in the South, which made him palatable to southern voters. According to the reporter, “There are many good Democrats who love the Union” and who considered Bell the “man to beat Lincoln.”73
POLITICAL BARBECUE IN THE NEW SOUTH
On July 4, 1876, Americans celebrated the 100th birthday of the United States of America. Although the Civil War had ended only eleven years earlier, Americans still celebrated the birth of their nation just as they had done for a century—by attending community barbecues to feast, fraternize, celebrate and participate in political discussion.74
To celebrate the nation’s centennial birthday, Alabamians traveled to the resort town of Shelby Springs for a barbecue. For this widely publicized event, special trains brought in over ten thousand spectators from as far away as Anniston and Selma. They gathered on the grounds of the Shelby Springs Hotel. At the barbecue, Democrat John T. Morgan debated Republican Napoleon B. Mardis. During the Civil War, Morgan had served as a general in the army of the Confederate States of America. After the war, he may have had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Mardis, the challenger and underdog, had worked for many years in Shelby County as a lawyer, judge and postmaster.75
When Morgan took the stage, he could not compete with the food for attention. Under a glaring sun, the crowd “stirred restlessly as the odor of the cooking meat reached their nostrils.” With all eyes and minds focused on the nearby barbecue pits, Morgan had trouble reaching his audience. “At last the feast was ready, and the master of ceremonies poised himself to strike the dinner gong,” although the candidate was still speaking. Rather than continuing, Morgan “jumped down and joined wholeheartedly in the rush for the food.”76 The hungry crowd did not seem to mind.
After dinner, Morgan completed his speech just as the train whistles beckoned passengers to prepare for the return trip. Mardis never had the opportunity to speak. Morgan won the election, and he remained in the Senate until his death in 1907. As much as barbecue had helped launch Morgan’s political career, it had also helped doom Mardis to obscurity. When Mardis died in 1892, local newspapers remarked that he was “not in political touch” with most Alabamians, but “he was universally liked and esteemed as a good citizen, neighbor and friend.”77
After the Civil War, Alabamians continued to express their politics at barbecues like the one in Shelby Springs. In many ways, these barbecues resembled antebellum affairs. The barbecues consisted of a variety of meats, gathered people together as a community and featured prominent politicians. Despite these similarities, political barbecues did not look like their antebellum predecessors in one important way: African Americans now had their freedom, and they attended these events not as cooks or property but as voting citizens.
When African Americans went to political barbecues, they participated in a chaotic political period, in which alliances constantly shifted. At times, African Americans hesitated to attend political barbecues because they distrusted their white hosts or feared violence. On other occasions, they attended as the guests of honor because of their support in recent elections. They also held their own barbecues to strengthen their own communities.
In 1866, a white con artist scammed a group of African Americans at a barbecue in Sumter County. Upon the conclusion of the war, many African Americans expected to each receive forty acres of land and a mule as compensation for their time in bondage. They based these expectations on General William Tecumseh Sherman’s orders concerning the division of land in the Sea Islands of Georgia. There, African Americans did receive forty-acre plots and mules. Throughout the South, African Americans expected similar land redistribution. A con artist manipulated these rumors to his benefit. At a barbecue in Gainesville, Alabama, he portrayed himself as a representative of the government. He explained that the black locals had to demarcate their plots of forty acres. In his arms, he carried dozens of blue and red pegs for them to use. According to testimony provided by John G. Pierce of Eutaw, Alabama, the pegs “had been made by the Government for the purpose of staking out the negroes’ forty acres.” The con artist informed his black audience, according to Pierce, that “all he wanted was to have the expenses paid to him, which was about a dollar a peg.” Within two hours, the con man made $300 and left town.78
In 1867, black and white Alabamians gathered at a barbecue in Yancey, Alabama, but not without hesitation. According to testimony before Congress by politician James H. Clanton, someone had spread a rumor that the white hosts intended to poison the black guests at the barbecue. Clanton, who presented a speech at the barbecue, testified that he “went out and told the negroes it was a false report that they were to be poisoned.”79 Apparently, Clanton had eased the black community’s concerns because some African Americans went to the feast. At this barbecue, black and white Alabamians gathered together for a common meal, but they did not, according to Clanton, eat at the same tables.
At the time, southern Democrats advocated on behalf of white supremacy as they attempted to resurrect the South’s antebellum economic, racial and social hierarchy. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who had commanded Confederate forces at the Battle of Fort Pillow that had resulted in a slaughter of black soldiers, was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. In North Alabama, Forrest hosted barbecues on behalf of the Democratic Party in his attempt to help rebuild the party in opposition to the Republican-controlled federal government.80 When African Americans gained the right to vote, however, southern Democrats wanted black votes.
In 1870, African Americans gained the right to vote with the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. By and large, they supported the Republican Party, which they associated with Abraham Lincoln and emancipation. Refusing to concede these black votes to the Republican Party, however, Alabama Democrats, who had spearheaded the movement for secession and advocated for white supremacy, used barbecues to court black voters.
During the 1870 campaign, Democrats eagerly pursued black votes in Sumter County by hosting barbecues and inviting black citizens. According to white lawyer Turner Reavis, “The Democrats in my county, and indeed in all those western counties, exerted themselves tremendously to get the colored people to vote their ticket.” He continued, “They gave them barbecues and made speeches, and got colored men who were Democrats to go around with them and make speeches. The hatchet seemed to be buried between the two races during that canvass.”81
In 1872, Barbour County Democrats hosted a barbecue and invited all the local residents, regardless of race. To prevent African Americans from attending this barbecue, black Republicans spread a rumor that the white Democrats intended to poison the meat. Despite these rumors, local blacks attended the barbecue and heard speeches from prominent candidates, including Attorney General John W.A. Sanford and U.S. senator James L. Pugh.82 The informal, communal nature of barbecues allowed former slaves access to high-ranking national and state politicians.
By 1874, Democrats had regained control of power on the state and local levels, leaving the Republican Party consisting almost exclusively of African Americans. Despite these facts, some African Americans, as they had done before, broke ranks and sought out alliances with Democrats in hopes of improving their situation.
In the 1876 election in Leighton, eighty African Americans voted for Democrats and attended a barbecue held in their honor. “In appreciation of this fact,” explained a reporter, “the white Democrats of
that locality collected a large sum of money, got up a magnificent barbecue and extended special invitations to the faithful fourscore and their families.” During the meal, black and white speakers addressed the biracial audience, which consisted of equal numbers of black and white people. Afterward, everyone had eaten what they could “with an occasional barbecued leg of mutton to carry home.”83 At antebellum barbecues, custom dictated that hosts invited candidates as their guests. In this instance, however, party leaders staged the barbecue to reward voters for their deference and loyalty, signaling a shift back toward a deferential style of politics in which candidates treated voters for their support. As in antebellum days, the hosts barbecued whatever meats they had on hand.
Although black support of southern Democrat politicians seemed to indicate a reconciliation of the races, most African Americans did not support the Democratic Party, especially on the national level. The Democratic Party had little success winning black votes, in Alabama or elsewhere, until the twentieth century.84 Instead, the Democratic Party generally treated black Alabamians with hostility. When African Americans participated at political barbecues, they could reasonably expect to encounter some resistance and violence.
In July 1890, fights broke out at barbecues across the state. In Eufaula, Alabama, the political campaign season opened with a barbecue, and the hosts hoped to create a spectacular day “memorable in the history of Caucasian and democratic supremacy.”85 During the festivities, the invited guests confronted an African American who jumped ahead in the food line. According to a local reporter, “They had quite a lively time locking him up, as he fought hard. It took four officers and several citizens to lock him up. They used clubs freely, but that seemed to have little effect on him. He was finally knocked senseless and dragged into the jail.”86
In Walker County, a barbecue hosted by the local Democrats featured both Democrats and Republicans as speakers, but it also turned violent. When the politicians disputed the division of speaking time, a fight ensued, resulting in thirty gunshots exchanged between the two sides. T.L. Long, a Democrat and candidate for the state legislature, suffered a head injury after a blow from a baseball bat. After the fight, the Republicans refused to participate in the event.87
At the end of the century, Alabamians continued to host political barbecues. On July 4, 1896, the Democrats in Alabama hosted a Fourth of July barbecue in Montgomery that included speeches by gubernatorial candidates.88 In August 1899, two prospective gubernatorial candidates, Judge Jessie Stallings and State Senator Russell Cunningham, spoke at a barbecue in Courtland, Alabama, to an audience of nearly three thousand.89
BARBECUE AND THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN ALABAMA
After the Civil War and emancipation, African Americans congregated at barbecues in an attempt to help realize their own vision for the New South. As southern states disenfranchised black voters, African Americans had to improve their lives without formal political power. Led by Booker T. Washington, among others, many African Americans worked to uplift themselves and their communities by establishing good schools and strong churches. To these ends, some African Americans turned to barbecue because of its fundraising potential. Some African Americans, however, resented barbecue because it reminded them of the past, not the future.
Left to fend for themselves, black Alabamians sometimes hosted barbecues to better their lives and realize their vision for the future.90 Instead of preparing it for their white masters, as they had done during enslavement, African Americans now prepared it for themselves with their own goals in mind. In 1901, black civic leader George M. Newstelle hosted a barbecue for the benefit of black businesses near Montgomery. Newstelle worked with Booker T. Washington in the Negro Business League of Montgomery. In his description of the early days of the Negro Business League, he explained, “We took it upon ourselves to give a barbecue with the two-fold object of increasing our funds and at the same time making an effort to increase our membership.” The barbecue was successful. “During the day of the barbecue we not only netted a nice little sum of money, but we also secured quite an addition to the membership of the league,” explained Newstelle.91 For African Americans, barbecue provided a means by which to raise money because it efficiently and effectively attracted and fed large crowds.
Although barbecue proved useful for Newstelle, many African Americans rejected barbecue, especially pork, because of its association with slavery and poverty because of its low cost. Based on this perspective, African Americans aimed to prove their worthiness of citizenship rights by shedding remnants of slave culture, including barbecue and pork. Instead, they adopted manners and habits that would appeal to the white middle class, which included reformers who had new ideas about nutrition and health. Washington ascribed to these ideas and implemented many of them at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Although pork was cheap, easy and available for Alabamians to raise and consume, Washington preferred to serve beef at Tuskegee Institute because it suggested refinement and civilization while offering nutrition. At Tuskegee, the cooks served beef in the form of roast beef, veal cutlets, beef stew and similar recipes. They avoided food like barbecue, especially pork, which had previously been prepared by slaves for white masters.92
When Washington banned pork from the menu at Tuskegee Institute, he had a vision for the future based on strong black communities. When Newstelle served barbecue to raise funds for his organization, he also looked toward a future of upward mobility.
BARBECUE, SOUTHERN NATIONALISM AND RECONCILIATION
As black Alabamians looked to the future at barbecues, white Alabamians viewed barbecue as part of their past, when things had been different. They romanticized barbecue as part of the Old South.93 At barbecues in post–Civil War Alabama, white Alabamians recalled their past by expressing bitterness over defeat in the Civil War, complaining about race relations during Reconstruction and celebrating southern nationalism. Eventually, they hosted barbecues to reconcile with the North, but not without retaining pride in the South and the cause of the Confederacy.
After the Civil War, white Alabamians hosted barbecues in honor of the defeated Confederacy. In 1880, white southern Democrats gathered in Melvin near the Mississippi border for a barbecue at a place called Kizer Hill. During the barbecue, an unnamed speaker struck a chord with the audience by proclaiming, “The Confederacy still exists, my friends, and Jeff Davis, the best friend we ever had, is yet our President and devoted to our interests.” He pleaded, “You must stand by the great Democratic Party, for a solid South will now give us entire control of the General Government and we can redress all our wrongs.”94 When Greenback Party politician J.H. Randall attempted to speak, the speaker cried, “We don’t want any damned Yankee to come here and talk to us. We had better shut him up.” Finally, Randall had an opportunity to speak to his southern audience, but a brass band from nearby Shubuta drowned him out.
As wounds healed, Alabamians reconciled with the nation and with their former enemies at barbecues. On July 4, 1879, five thousand former Confederates gathered in Montgomery for a celebration and “old-fashioned barbecue.” A minister paid tribute to the “wisdom and patriots of the men of 1776” yet emphasized that southerners should forever “cherish the principles for which their forefathers contended.” The event featured speakers from the South, but northerners had a presence, as well. On behalf of Union generals Winfield Hancock and George McClellan, speakers read aloud letters that the northern generals had penned for the occasion.95
By the end of the century, white Alabamians increasingly undertook extensive efforts to inscribe the landscape with monuments to the Confederacy and seek out former comrades, perhaps for the final time. In Alabama, barbecues became a major feature of the various reunions and memorialization efforts of the Confederate veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
In 1899, Confederate veterans from Alabama gathered in Opelika for a reunion and barbecue. There, they fraternized with old comrades and listened to civic leaders while parta
king in the free barbecue. The speakers, which included Congressman Jesse Stallings and future Alabama governor William J. Samford, addressed an audience of more than two thousand people.96
Alabamians hosted barbecues to raise money for a variety of causes, including the Lost Cause. In Eufaula, Stella Guice, who served as the president of the Barbour County chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, led the effort to erect a Confederate monument. Beginning in 1897, Guice hosted barbecues at her family’s plantation on the Chattahoochee River to raise the $3,000 necessary to purchase the granite monument.97 On November 24, 1904, the women completed their work. “It was a red-letter day for the good people of Barbour County,” reported a writer for Confederate Veteran, a magazine dedicated to the memory of the Confederacy. Before the unveiling, ten thousand people gathered at the courthouse and processed to the corner of Eufaula Avenue and Broad Street. After prayers and a roll call of Barbour County soldiers and units, Mary Merrill and Ida Pruden unveiled the thirty-five-foot-high granite monument. The polished gray monument features a statue of a Confederate soldier. At the time, spectators considered it “as much a monument to their loving loyalty to the memory of the Confederacy as it was to the courage and devotion of their old comrades.”98
1891: A BIG BARBECUE YEAR
Alabamians had a variety of reasons to host and attend barbecues. They often gathered for political purposes or to raise funds or celebrate a holiday, but they did not need these excuses. Sometimes, Alabamians gathered with one another at barbecues to have fun and forget their troubles.