Arts

• The Alabama State Council on the Arts, established by the legislature in 1966, provides aid to local nonprofit arts organizations; there were 62 local arts councils in 2003.
• The Alabama Humanities Foundation was established in 1974. In 2000, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded grants totaling $759,034 to 15 Alabama organizations. In 2003, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded grants totaling $871,400 to Alabama arts organizations. The grants supported the efforts of about 125,000 artists and more than 400 arts associations.
• A community arts development and residency program is financed by a state income tax check-off and private contributions.
• The Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, established in 1990, works in conjunction with the State Council to promote and preserve local arts and culture.
• The Alabama Jazz and Blues Federation, also established in 1990, has been very active in offering monthly jam sessions for artists, an annual summer festival, and several concerts throughout the year.
• The Alabama Shakespeare Festival State Theater performs in Montgomery. Over one million people have attended the festival.
• The Birmingham Festival of Arts was founded in 1951 and the city’s Alabama School of Fine Arts has been state-supported since 1971.
• Huntsville, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa have symphony orchestras. There are operas in Huntsville and Mobile.
• Sacred Harp a cappella “sings” of old hymn tunes are held regularly. The Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention takes place in October at Athens State College.
• Every June, the annual Hank Williams Memorial Celebration is held near the country singer’s birthplace at the Olive West Community
• Two Alabama writers, (Nelle) Harper Lee (b.1926) and Edward Osborne Wilson (b.1929), have won Pulitzer Prizes.
• Famous musicians from Alabama include blues composer and performer W(illiam) C(hristopher) Handy (1873–1958), singer Nat “King” Cole (1917–65), and singer-songwriter Hank Williams (1923–53).
• Alabama’s most widely known actress was Tallulah Bankhead (1903–68), the daughter of William B. Bankhead.

Museums

• Alabama had 81 museums in 2000.
• The most important art museum is the Birmingham Museum of Art. Other museums include the Mobile Museum of Art, the George Washington Carver Museum at Tuskegee Institute, the Women’s Army Corps Museum and Military Police Corps Museum at Ft. McClellan, the US Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker, the Pike Pioneer Museum at Troy, the Museum of the City of Mobile, and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.
• Also in Montgomery are Old Alabama Town and the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald home.
• Russell Cave National Monument has an archaeological exhibit.
• In Florence is the W.C. Handy Home; at Tuscumbia, Helen Keller’s birthplace, Ivy Green.

Tourism

• In 2000, about 18 million people visited the State of Alabama, spending about $6.1 billion (a 7% increase from 1999). With a statewide impact of 137,000 jobs and about 3% of GSP, tourism is an important industry for Alabama.
• About 73% of all tourists choose destinations in one of six counties: Baldwin, Jefferson, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa.
• During 2000, Baldwin and Jefferson counties were the biggest tourist beneficiaries; home to Alabama’s four national park sites, which include Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site and Russell Cave National Monument, an almost continuous archaeological record of human habitation from at least 7000 BC to about AD 1650.
• A top tourist attraction is the Alabama Space and Rocket Center at Huntsville, home of the US Space Camp.
• Other attractions include many antebellum houses and plantations: Magnolia Grove (a state shrine) at Greensboro; Gaineswood and Bluff Hall at Demopolis; Arlington in Birmingham; Oakleigh at Mobile; Sturdivant Hall at Selma; Shorter Mansion at Eufaula; and the first White House of the confederacy at Montgomery.
• The celebration of Mardi Gras in Mobile, which began in 1704, predates that in New Orleans and now occupies several days before Ash Wednesday.
• Gulf beaches are a popular attraction and Point Clear, across the bay from Mobile, has been a fashionable resort, especially for southerners, since the 1840s.
• The state fair is held at Birmingham every October.
• Tannehill Historical State Park features ante- and postbellum dwellings, a restored iron furnace over a century old, and a museum of iron and steel.
• National Parks in Alabama include Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in Daviston; Little River Canyon National Preserve in Fort Payne; Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport; Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee; and Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site near Tuskegee.
• Alabama also contains the Natchez Trace Parkway, the Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail, and the Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail.

Sports

• The National Basketball Developmental League (NBDL) is an affiliate with the NBA and has teams in Mobile and Huntsville.
• There are minor league baseball clubs at Birmingham, Mobile, and Huntsville, and minor league hockey teams at Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile.
• Two major professional stock car races, the DieHard 500 and the Winston 500, in April and October, respectively, are held at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega.
• Dog racing was legalized in Mobile in 1971.
• Four of the major hunting-dog competitions in the US are held annually in the state.
• Football reigns supreme among collegiate sports.
• The University of Alabama finished number one in 1961,1964, 1965 (against Michigan State), 1978 (against USC), 1979, and 1992 and is a perennial top-ten entry. Competing in the Southeastern Conference, Alabama’s Crimson Tide won the Sugar Bowl in 1962, 1964, 1967, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1993; the Orange Bowl in 1943, 1953, 1963, and 1966; the Cotton Bowl in 1942 and 1981; the Sun Bowl in 1983 and 1988; the Gator Bowl in 1993; the Florida Citrus Bowl in 1995; and the Outback Bowl in 1997. They also captured the 2001 Independence Bowl. The Crimson Tide have won a total of 12 national championships and 21 SEC titles.
• Auburn University, which also competes in the Southeastern Conference, won the Sugar Bowl in 1984; the Florida Citrus Bowl in 1982 and 1987; the Gator Bowl in 1954, 1971, and 1972; the Peach Bowl in 1990; the Hall of Fame Bowl in 1990; and the Sun Bowl in 1968. The Tigers have won 14 bowl games and have produced two Heisman trophy winners (Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson).
• The Blue-Gray game, an all-star contest, is held at Montgomery on Christmas Day, and the Senior Bowl game is played in Mobile in January.
• Boat races include the annual Dauphin Island Race, the largest one-day sailing race in the United States.
• The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is located at Birmingham.
• There are several famous athletes who were born in Alabama. Among the most notable are Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Jesse Owens, and Bo Jackson.
• The Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo at Dauphin Island attracts thousands of visitors.
• Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is a major tourist attraction, with seven championship courses located from Huntsville to Mobile.