Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame on the Judson College campus inspires, informs students’ living history performances
MARION, Ala. – Helen Keller, Zelda Fitzgerald, Tallulah Bankhead and Coretta Scott King are the names of just a few of the famous inductees in the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame. The lives of these notable women, as well as several other AWHOF members, inspired Judson speech students to research, write and perform living history monologues of our Alabama heroines.
The Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame was established at Judson College in 1970. To-date, over 80 distinguished women of Alabama who have left their marks on the state are its members. Only women who have been deceased for two years or longer are considered for the AWHOF.
Students made their living history presentations of AWHOF members for their public speaking course, which was taught by Professor George Frangoulis during one of Judson’s summer class terms.
Frangoulis said this about the assignment: “I told students to visit the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame, select at least two members, and research their lives. These women were then to become subjects for dramatic speeches, or epitaphs, spoken by the dead women themselves.
“I expected the students to delve deeply into the personal lives of their subjects, to write dramatic speeches in the voices of their subjects. Further, when giving their epitaphs, I wanted the students to assume the personas of their subjects, including wearing appropriate dress for the era during which the subjects lived,” Frangoulis said.
In preparation for the students’ dramatic performances, Frangoulis presented his class with readings and a video performance of Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology.” This work is a collection of short, free-form poems that collectively narrates the lives of the residents of a fictional small town, Spoon River. Each poem is an epitaph of a dead citizen of the town, delivered by the dead themselves. Originally published in 1916, the collected work of poetry has been adapted for the theater and performed on stage many times over the years.
Five Judson College students each presented two epitaphs for 10 AWHOF members; the students who performed are:
1) Brittany James of Birmingham, Ala.; she attended Midfield High School, and played Maria Fearing and Vera Hall.
2) Felicia Buish of Mobile; she attended Theodore High School, and played Bessie Bellingrath and Tallulah Bankhead.
3) Taylor Cason of Warrior, Ala.; she attended Hayden High School and played Hellen Keller and Nina Miglionico.
4) Bria Aaron of Tuscaloosa, 
Ala.; she attended Central High School East Campus, and played Lella Warren and Coretta Scott King.
5) Savannah Baxter of Wilmer, Ala.; she attended Mary G. Montgomery High School, and played Zelda Fitzgerald and Nancy Crews.
In his introduction of the students’ performance, Frangoulis said this: “Men’s names and accomplishments are often more remembered than their female companions and counterparts. Yet women have often contributed equally or more to the human heart and endeavors. Our little portraits of these women are but brief moments in colossal lives.”
“The performances by the young women were outstanding. This is the kind of thing we should do more of,” said Bill Mathews, the past Executive Secretary of the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.
