PRESS RELEASE- For Release 4/30/2025
Media Contact: Natalie Oslund
natalie.oslund@archives.alabama.gov
(334) 353-1881
FOOD FOR THOUGHT LUNCHTIME LECTURE AT THE ARCHIVES
THURSDAY, MAY 15 AT 12:00PM
MAGIC CITY: HOW THE BIRMINGHAM JAZZ TRADITION SHAPED THE SOUND OF AMERICA
PRESENTED BY BURGIN MATHEWS
Montgomery, AL (4/30/2025) – The Alabama Department of Archives & History (ADAH) will continue its 2025 Food for Thought lunchtime lecture series on Thursday, May 15, at 12:00pm CT. Burgin Mathews will present Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America. The program will be held in the ADAH’s Joseph M. Farley Alabama Power Auditorium in Montgomery. It will also be livestreamed on the ADAH’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Admission is FREE.
Burgin Mathews is the founding director of the nonprofit Southern Music Research Center, host of The Lost Child radio show, and author of Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America. A native of Montgomery, he currently resides in Birmingham.
In his presentation, Mathews will uncover the untold story of Birmingham’s historic and influential jazz community. In the early 20th century, John T. "Fess" Whatley, a pioneering music educator at Industrial High School, established a rigorous training program that produced generations of exceptional musicians. Many of Whatley’s students went on to shape the sound and culture of American jazz, from its vaudeville beginnings through the swing era and into the bebop revolution and beyond. Through archival photographs and historic recordings, Mathews brings this rich legacy to life, illuminating one of the essential yet often overlooked communities in the history of American music.
For additional information, contact Alex Colvin at alex.colvin@archives.alabama.gov or (334) 353-4689. A complete schedule of our 2025 lunchtime lecture series is available at archives.alabama.gov. Food for Thought 2025 is sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Alliance and the Friends of the Alabama Archives.
The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the state’s government-records repository, a special-collections library and research facility, and home to the Museum of Alabama, the state history museum. It is located in downtown Montgomery, directly across Washington Avenue from the State Capitol. The Museum of Alabama is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 to 4:30. The EBSCO Research Room is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8:30 to 4:30. To learn more, visit www.archives.alabama.gov or call (334) 242-4364.
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