Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum

Kathryn Tucker Windham had spent most of her career recording and preserving Alabama 's history and folklore. Now her hometown of Thomasville has dedicated a museum to preserve her legacy as a journalist, photographer and storyteller. Coastal Alabama Community College, formally Alabama Southern, in Thomasville opened the Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum with a celebration of her 85th birthday on June 1, 2003. The museum, housed in the college's library building, takes visitors through Ms. Windham's early childhood in Thomasville, her career as a journalist and her rise to national attention as a storyteller. An exhibit covering her one-woman show on the life of Julia Tutwiler features the costume she wore in productions across the state. The Windham Room, a reading and archive room, includes photos and accompanying stories beginning with Ms. Windham's earliest photos taken with a Kodak Brownie camera she received at age 12. When completed, this room will include rocking chairs with audio hook-ups allowing visitors to sit and listen to recorded stories told by Ms. Windham. The museum also includes a sculpture of Ms. Windham (Alabama Arts Public Arts Trail) by Alabama folk artist Charlie Lucas.