Throughout its history, Decatur, Alabama has produced a number of unapologetically bold, creative, and “difficult” women who weren’t afraid to break the mold. In this episode, we’ll tell you the story of one of them: Carolyn Cortner Smith, believed to be the first licensed female architect in the state of Alabama.

Carolyn was born at a time when Southern women were expected to be gentile, acquiescent, amenable. Carolyn…wasn’t. As a young girl growing up in 1900s Decatur, Carolyn would assemble lean-tos in the backyard; she was mesmerized by the idea of building. In 1913, she was rejected from three architecture schools, in all likelihood because she was a woman. Nevertheless, Carolyn persevered — believing she would become the architect she knew she meant to be. By the time she was 40, in 1934, she owned and ran a lumbermill company, had designed/built multiple houses in her signature stone style, and was tapped by the City of Decatur to oversee some significant projects: the restoration of the Old State Bank, one of Decatur’s most treasured buildings, and the rehabilitation of City Park (now Delano Park) into a family-friendly area for recreation. Today, Delano Park’s structures have been beloved by generations of Decaturites, and yet too few people know of Carolyn’s struggles, accomplishments, and gifts to her hometown.

Guests in this episode:

• Barbara Kelly (Delano Park Conservancy)

• Norman Kent Johnson

The oral histories of Carolyn Cortner Smith you heard throughout this episode were courtesy of the Alabama Historical Commission. You can access these recordings via the Shelby County Museum & Archives website.

Thanks to Caroline Swope and the City of Decatur who made this episode possible. This material was produced with assistance from the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

Barbara Kelly is part of the non-profit Delano Park Conservancy; you can learn more about them, and their mission to preserve Delano Park, at their website.

Credits

Urban Roots is a podcast from Urbanist Media. Your hosts are Vanessa Quirk and Deqah Hussein-Wetzel. This episode was written and executive produced by Vanessa Quirk, with support from Deqah Hussein Wetzel. It was edited and mixed by Andrew Callaway. Music by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Editorial support from Andrew Callaway.

The city of Decatur, Alabama is home to many historic Black churches, including one with a particularly rich history: First Missionary Baptist Church, in Old Town, the city’s predominantly Black neighborhood. Designed by one of the first African American architects, Wallace Rayfield, the church has — from its post-Civil War beginnings — been a cornerstone of Decatur’s African American community. During the segregation era, it was particularly vibrant, hosting hundreds of congregants, including many teachers, and taking an active stance in the Civil Rights movement.

However, de-segregation, and the decades of disinvestment that followed, have taken their toll on Decatur’s Black neighborhood of Old Town — and First Mission Baptist is no exception. Today, this historic property is struggling to stay afloat. But its congregation, and dedicated leader, Pastor Daylan Woodall, see that the church matters today more than ever — and are determined to make sure this important piece of Decatur history has a future. This episode not only features the voices of Pastor Woodall and his congregants but also Ms. Frances Tate — of Celebrating Early Old Town with Art and the imminent Scottsboro Boys Museum — and relies on the historical research of Peggy Towns.

Guests in this episode:

• Frances Tate

• Pastor Daylan Woodall

• Stephanie Gray

• Mary Lou Kelly

• Brenda Smith

• Nella Fletcher

• Lester Fletcher

Thanks to Caroline Swope and the City of Decatur who made this episode possible. This material was produced with assistance from the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

Also thanks to Peggy Towns, whose tour around Old Town and book, Scottboro Unmasked, gave us crucial context for this episode.

The non-profit Miss Frances Tate is a part of is called Celebrating Early Old Town with Art (CEOTA). The CEOTA board is currently developing the Decatur Scottsboro Boys Civil Rights Museum. If you’d like to learn more or get involved, visit www.sbcmuseum.org

Credits
Urban Roots is a podcast from Urbanist Media. Your hosts are Vanessa Quirk and Deqah Hussein-Wetzel. This episode was written and executive produced by Vanessa Quirk, with support from Deqah Hussein Wetzel. It was edited and mixed by Andrew Callaway. Music by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Editorial support from Francis Ramirez O-Shea of Alta Gracia Media and recording help from Alexander Richey.

Today New Richmond is a charming town along the Ohio River with a relatively tiny Black population. But for a moment in time in the 19th century, it was not only a hotspot of abolitionist activity, it was also home to a vibrant Black community. How did that happen? And why are there so few Black families left today?

In this episode, part two of the Ohio River to Freedom series, the Urban Roots podcast team will explain this history. Along the way, they’ll take you on a tour of New Richmond’s abolitionist homes, schools, and churches — and introduce you to the people who are fighting to keep the town's Black history alive.

Guests in this episode:

• Greg Roberts, resident and Vice President of Historic New Richmond

• Mary Allen, resident and longtime member of Historic New Richmond and the Vice President of the Clermont County Genealogical Society.

• James Settles, resident and great-grandson of Joseph Settles

• Dr. David Childs, Ph.D., Northern Kentucky University

Thanks to Michael and Carrie Klein, who recorded the spirituals you heard throughout this episode as part of their 1996 Talking Across the Lines project. In this episode you hear "Oh Freedom Over Me" sung by Ethel Caffie-Austin and “Wade in the Water" by Emma Perry Freeman.

This series was made possible due to funding from the Ohio Arts Council, Cincinnati Public Radio, and the private donations of the Mohamed family and Hub+Weber.

Credits
Urban Roots is a podcast from ⁠Urbanist Media⁠. Your hosts are ⁠Vanessa Quirk⁠ and ⁠Deqah Hussein-Wetzel⁠. This episode was written and executive- produced by Vanessa Quirk, with support from Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Francis Ramirez O-Shea of ⁠Alta Gracia Media⁠. It was edited by Connor Lynch and mixed by Andrew Callaway. Theme music by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and additional music from Artlist.

Black Underground Railroad agents lived perilous lives. Because they could be killed or jailed for their work, they hid any and all evidence of their activities. So, today, historical records of their efforts are rare. Luckily, however, historians in the town of Ripley, Ohio have not only uncovered the stories of their local Black Underground Railroad workers — they’re actively preserving them for posterity.

In this episode, part one of the Ohio River to Freedom series, the Urban Roots podcast team will take you to Ripley, a town along the Ohio River that was once home to more abolitionists than any other small town in the U. S. They'll introduce you to some Ripley historians and share the stories of two Black Underground Railroad agents you likely never heard about in history class: Polly Jackson and John Parker.

Guests in this episode:

• Dr. David Childs, Ph.D., Northern Kentucky University

• Betty Campbell, The Rankin House

• Dewey Scott, The John P. Parker House

Thanks to Michael and Carrie Klein, who recorded the oral histories and spirituals you heard throughout this episode as part of their 1996 Talking Across the Lines project, featuring people in Ohio and West Virginia who are descendants of enslaved people and underground railroad conductors, along with historians telling stories near and dear to them. In this episode you hear the testimonials of Ethel Caffie-Austin and Loran Williams and the spirituals "Oh Freedom Over Me" and “Freedom Train” sung by Ethel Caffie-Austin.

This series was made possible due to funding from the Ohio Arts Council, Cincinnati Public Radio, and the private donations of the Mohamed family and Hub+Weber.

Credits

Urban Roots is a podcast from Urbanist Media. Your hosts are Vanessa Quirk and Deqah Hussein-Wetzel. This episode was written and executive produced by Vanessa Quirk, with support from Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Francis Ramirez O-Shea of Alta Gracia Media. It was edited by Connor Lynch and mixed by Andrew Callaway. Theme music by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and additional music from Artlist.

HAPPY PRESERVATION MONTH! To celebrate, we wanted to share with you a new podcast that we think you’ll love: Preservation for the People brought to you by The Black Art Conservators (BAC) and produced by Urbanist Media! In their first episode, Kayla Henry-Griffin and Nylah Byrd talk to Dr. Kwesi Daniels (Head of the Architecture Department at Tuskegee University) about conservation and preservation, the difference between the two, and what the future of the field might look like. When BAC reached out to us at Urbanist Media, asking if we could help produce their new podcast concept called Preservation for the People, we said yes, of course, because the project is SO mission-aligned. Huge thanks to our friend Rita Cofield of the Los Angeles African American Historic Places initiative with the Getty for introducing us to BAC! Preservation for the People is a new podcast from BAC, a collective of Black preservation professionals supporting each other, building community, and seeking change in the predominately white field of cultural heritage preservation. In Preservation for the People, hosts Kayla and Nylah, talk to other Black people in the preservation field about successes, struggles, and hopes for the future.

EXCITING NEWS…Season 3 is coming soon! If you’re not subscribed to our podcast or our newsletter, please do so now! You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. That way, you’ll know immediately when a new episode drops.

Today we have a high-energy conversation with Justin Garrett Moore, program director for the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program and a renaissance man of urbanism. We talk with Moore about his childhood in Indianapolis, IN, his formative professional moments (at a high school internship and at the University of Florida), and the particular challenges he sees facing preservation today (including its fragmentation, over-emphasis on credentials, and the under-valuing of narrative). Plus, we dive deep into the Humanities in Place program, which funds nonprofits doing cultural preservation, urban development, placekeeping, and storytelling.

We talked to Justin about:

• His youth and the internship that changed his life [4:23-11:23]

• Going South and getting an education — in more ways than one [11:24-17:10]

• The challenges facing preservation and the power of narrative [17:11-43:48]

• Spotlighting organizations funded by Humanities in Place [43:49-51:21]

• Humanities in Place: What it does and doesn’t do [51:22-1:15:08]

• What’s close to his heart: Flanner House and Urban Patch [1:15:09-1:20:13]

Mentioned In this Episode:

• Scalawag Magazine - A magazine focused on the South

• Ekvn-Yefolecv - an intentional ecovillage community of Indigenous Maskoke persons who bought land in Alabama to build a place where they could preserve their culture through language.

• New York LGBT Sites - broadening people’s knowledge of LGBT history beyond Stonewall and placing that history in its geographical context

• The American Indian Community House - a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization serving the needs of Native Americans residing in New York City.

• Flanner House - An African-American community service center in Indianapolis

• Urban Patch - An Indianapolis-based organization focused on inner cities.

Credits:

Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. This episode was edited by Deqah and Vanessa and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Thanks again to Justin Garrett Moore and Zuri Phelps.

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via Venmo or Paypal.

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture. Drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Housekeeping first! Please give to our GoFundMe Campaign – we need your help to earn $5,000 by December 31: https://www.gofundme.com/f/urbanistmedia

We’re also up for an Anthem Community Voice Award! Vote for us (Sign in and click “Celebrate”) by December 21! 

Now our amazing guest: Zahra Ebrahim, the co-founder of Monumental, a social purpose business working to advance equitable city-building and urban development. Earlier this year she also helped start FutureBuilds, a BIPOC Real Estate Development Incubator. She’s currently an Urbanist-in-Residence at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, a Next City Vanguard Civic Leader, and one of the Urban Land Institute’s WLI Champions. 

Mentioned In this Episode: 

• A refresher on who we are [0:00-2:16]

• Please donate to our GoFundMe! [2:17-5:51]

• Please vote for us for the Anthem Awards! [5:52-7:10]

• Introducing Zahra Ebrahim [7:11-8:26]

• Zahra’s background and journey into this work [8:27-25:17]

• Community engagement and moving at the speed of trust [25:18-31:34]

• Deep and human, not broad and cold [31:35-44:35]

• Do your homework and listen [44:36-53:39]

• What do we preserve and why? [53:40-1:03:20]

• Why diversifying real estate matters [1:03:21-1:10:29]

• Credits [1:10:30-1:11:50]

Credits: 

Thank you to Zahra Ebrahim and Elaine Gant. This episode was edited and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/urbanistmedia

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture. Or drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Today, pod squad, you’re in for a treat: Rukaiyah Adams is one of our favorite, most inspiring people on the planet. Rukaiyah had a long, successful career in investment banking before she moved back home to Portland, Oregon and joined the board of the Albina Vision Trust, an organization dedicated to restoring the historic Black neighborhood of Albina, where Rukaiyah grew up. Today, she’s the Chief Executive Officer of the 1803 Fund, and she’s raising hundreds of millions of dollars that she will invest not only in Albina but in community-based organizations in education, place, and culture and belonging across Portland, Oregon. 

Credits: 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via Venmo or Paypal. 

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture.

Drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Thank you to Rukaiyah Adams. This episode was edited and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk.