Photo courtesy of Bobby Jo Seales.
31st Alabama Infantry Shelby 196th Anniversary
Civil War reenactors of the 31st Alabama Infantry in Central Alabama will be part of Shelby County’s 196th birthday celebration.
The Shelby County Historical Society is hosting a celebration in February to recognize both its 40th anniversary and Shelby County’s 196th birthday.
The “Celebrating our Past, Preparing for our Future,” party will focus on Shelby County during the Civil War. The event’s featured speaker will be David Tyrone Crowley, who will portray Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. Crowley will present a summary of Davis’ inaugural speech, delivered in Montgomery on Feb. 18, 1861.
Civil War reenactors of the 31st Alabama Infantry in Central Alabama are also scheduled to be a part of the celebration. Shelby Historical Society’s Bobby Jo Seales said members of the infantry will escort “President Jefferson Davis” in, stand with him during his speech and escort him out.
Dollar Bill Lawson, a morning radio personality on 102.5 The Bull, will serve as master of ceremonies. Other special guests include Kenneth R. Penhale, the first president of the Shelby County Historical Society; Robert Louis Robinson, a member of Opera Birmingham Chorus; and Lonnie Burnett, vice president of the Alabama Historical Association.
Admission is free, and souvenirs and door prizes will be available for those in attendance. The event is scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. on Feb. 2 at the Shelby County Museum and Archives located at the Old Courthouse in Columbiana.
For more, visit schsociety.org or call the society at 669-3912.
