Alabama Media Portal 2.0 - Press Releases

Montgomery, AL (07/07/2026) – The Alabama Department of Archives & History (ADAH) will continue its monthly Food for Thought lunchtime lecture series on Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 12:00pm CT. Senior archivist Sophie G.H. Law will present “We Are All Co-Equal Heirs”: Milo B. Howard Jr. and the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial in Alabama. The program will be held in the Archives’ Joseph M. Farley Alabama Power Auditorium in Montgomery. It will also be livestreamed on the ADAH’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. The program is FREE and open to the public.

Just twelve days after the apex of America’s Semiquincentennial celebrations, Law’s presentation will take the audience back in time to 1976, the U.S. Bicentennial year. Milo B. Howard Jr., the fourth director of the ADAH, was heavily involved in coordinating America’s 200th birthday party, and he left behind excellent documentation of how the ADAH--and the state as a whole--marked the occasion. Law will offer a brief overview of Howard’s life and achievements before discussing the historian’s participation in U.S. Bicentennial observances. Howard’s presentation will underscore what the Bicentennial meant to Alabamians and Americans in 1976, highlighting valuable insights that remain relevant fifty years later.

Sophie G.H. Law is a senior archivist at the ADAH, where she has worked in records management since 2017. In her role, Law collaborates with state and local government officials across Alabama to develop records management policies and promote responsible information governance.

For additional information, contact Alex Colvin at alex.colvin@archives.alabama.gov or (334) 353-4689. A complete schedule of our 2026 lunchtime lecture series is available at archives.alabama.gov. Food for Thought 2026 is sponsored by 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.