Episode 85 - Matthew Downs, 2025-26 AHA President

Air date: July 7, 2025 Alabama Historical Association president for
2025-2026, Dr. Matthew Downs, discusses the AHA’s program for the
upcoming year. He describes the October 24-25, 2025 Fall Pilgrimage
in Guntersville and the April 9-11, 2026 annual meeting in
Fairhope. Downs also talks about the importance of the Alabama
Review that he edits and two AHA projects – the Speakers Bureau and
the AHA Digitally Enhanced Marker map. Transcript here:
https://tinyurl.com/mw79d3ms Links mentioned in the episode Alabama
Historical Association: https://www.alabamahistory.net/ Alabama
Review: https://www.alabamahistory.net/the-alabama-review Downs’s
book Transforming the South:
https://lsupress.org/9780807157145/transforming-the-south/ Alabama
History Podcast Episode 15 (Downs on Transforming the South):
https://soundcloud.com/alabamahistory/aha-015 Guntersville
Historical Society:
https://www.facebook.com/guntersvillehistoricalsociety/ Alabama
History Podcast Episode 71 (Guntersville Historical Society):
https://soundcloud.com/alabamahistory/aha-071 Lisa Shaul’s book
Midnight Cry: https://ugapress.org/book/9781588385338/midnight-cry/
Fairhope, AL: https://www.fairhopeal.gov/ Coastal Alabama Community
College Fairhope Campus:
https://www.coastalalabama.edu/about/locations/fairhope/ Explore
the Eastern Shore: https://www.exploreeasternshore.com/ AHA
Speakers Bureau: https://www.alabamahistory.net/speakersbureau AHA
Digitally Enhanced Marker Project:
https://www.alabamahistory.net/historical-markers-index Alabama
Heritage Magazine: https://www.alabamaheritage.com/ Encyclopedia of
Alabama: https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/ Alabama Men’s Hall of
Fame: https://www.samford.edu/alabama-mens-hall-of-fame/Default
Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame: https://awhf.org/ The Alabama History
Podcast's producer is Marty Olliff. Founded in 1947, the Alabama
Historical Association is the oldest statewide historical society
in Alabama. The AHA provides opportunities for meaningful
engagement with the past through publications, meetings, historical
markers, and other programs. See the website
www.alabamahistory.net.