A relic of the past with a mission for the future
Although discussions of city spending frequently spin into polarized rhetoric, citizens and scholars find that middle ground is possible for the historic Arlington Home in southwest Birmingham. Built twenty- to twenty-five years before the city's founding in 1871, it has been owned by the city since 1952.
"The city has dumped millions of dollars into Arlington, " says radio host Frank Matthews, who has approached the city council seeking support for another historic home, the Parker House. He has also presented evidence to the city council that the first owner of the house, William S. Mudd, owned slaves. "Why should the city spend $600,000 a year on that slavery house? I've had a number of callers to my show who are vigorously opposed to spending that money. I'm offended that my tax dollars go to maintain it. I understand that it's history, but does it merit $600,000 when it's really not that significant?"
"I think this discussion is a grave misjustice [sic] and mistake but everybody's got their opinion," comments William Mudd III, a descendant of the original builder. "I don't think Arlington is the centerpiece of slavery in America. Whoever's teaching history at Arlington can teach history how they see fit. If slavery is part of the format of that history and it's done in an objective, positive manner...I hope they do it well and it benefits all members of our community equally."
Daniel Brooks has been the curator and director of Arlington Home since 1984. His specialty is decorative arts. "At Arlington we use our decorative arts collection, primarily gifts from the people of Birmingham over the years, to tell the early history of the city. We mention African-American and Native American contributions to the home."
"They should change the historical perspective they present there," Matthews argues. Talladega College was built with slave labor, he continues. "But their work was turned into a place of teaching. If Arlington was to turn into a museum to talk about how wrong slavery was, then it would be different."
Dr. Horace Huntley is a historian, director of the Oral History Project at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. He is also a resident of the Arlington-West End neighborhood. "I would agree that the programming should be looked at," he says. "It should in fact mirror the wishes of the community."
That community used to be all white, he continues. He remembers riding the bus down Cotton Avenue as a boy, but never went into the neighborhood until he bought a house there. "When I was growing up, of course, there was a sort of unwritten law that you didn't go into some areas unless you're going to work. Even the deed for our house had a stipulation that only whites could live in this house -- that sort of gives the flavor of what we're referring to, the attitudes of the 1940s and 50s."
Now the neighborhood is predominantly black. "The city has changed, but we feel there should be no less effort to keep the neighborhood up than in previous generations. It's a very historic part of the city." The neighborhood is the geographic heart of Birmingham's founding by the Elyton Land Company. Arlington is the only antebellum home still standing in Jefferson County, and served as the headquarters for General James H. Wilson, USA for a few days in 1865. From here, Wilson's Raiders went on several missions to destroy Alabama's economic ability to support the Confederacy.
Brooks is responsible for Arlington's programming and relies on research provided by historians from Auburn University, Samford University and Birmingham-Southern. "There is very little research on African-American influences on the house," he says. As a decorative arts museum, only their textiles have a direct connection to the slaves and African-American servants who have lived there. The indirect connection, however, is that only a slave labor economy and its oppressive aftermath made it possible for the white inhabitants of the house to own and enjoy the decorative arts showcased there.
"I can feel in my bones the groans and travails of my ancestors there," Matthews says. "I don't like what it stands for. Maybe it can be used to teach children about slavery. Other than that, I hope the city finds it in their heart to raze that place." He chuckles drily. "I am bitter, aren't I?"
"The advantage of a house museum is that it provides the context of how people lived," says Birmingham Museum of Art Director, Gail Andrews. "You can learn more deeply about a society through the objects they made and used." The BMA has a remarkable decorative arts collection, world-class in many respects, but Arlington has the potential to showcase decorative arts in a way the BMA cannot, she explains. "The great mission of Arlington is linking those artifacts with our place, and with all classes, rich, poor, black, white."
"It is possible to utilize these facilities that way," Brooks says. "We can tell the story of Southern food, for example. We're hoping to develop a program for city school teachers to utilize food in the classroom, telling the story of its African origins. I see that as being a wonderful way of including a very exciting, positive story on African-American experience while dealing in facts specific to Arlington."
The board of directors for Arlington Home, all volunteers, do not review programming for the museum. Two members are from the neighborhood. One, Albertha Lyas, has been an Arlington board member for more than ten years. She says that Arlington and the neighborhood association work closely together to achieve mutual goals, such as historic lighting for the area. They are also campaigning to have the city restore the Montgomery cottage adjacent to Arlington. A mother-in-law cottage for Arlington, its' windows are boarded up, and the paint peeling. "It's an eyesore," Lyas continued. "We take pride in our property, and the city should take pride in theirs."
The neighborhood association has no objections to the current programming, but would not be opposed to updated material, she says.
The board of directors sponsors the Christmas open house at Arlington and meets once a month in the winter. Fundraising efforts are limited to Thursday luncheons in the summer. "The Birmingham Historical Society has been very generous," says Natalie Sperling, president of the board of directors. There are no other significant private sources of support. Proceeds from gift shop sales, admission charges and fees for weddings and other events supplement Arlington's budget.
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens, another attraction funded through the city budget, receives 60% of its budget through the city. The remaining 40% is raised from private sources. Vulcan Park also receives city funding, amounting to 20-25% of its annual operating costs.
"We're always interested in looking at our programming," Brooks concludes. "Of course that takes money, which we don't have. But there are positive seeds here, for a broader perspective. All races can embrace history for what it is and grow from it. Our city has tremendous potential."
