Alabama Bicentennial Commission

Sources:

Alabama Bicentennial Commission, Program administration files, minutes of the executive committee, 1972-1976, Alabama Dept. of Archives and History.

The Alabama Revolution Bicentennial Commission, commonly known as the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, was created by executive order #28 by Governor George C. Wallace on 1971 Dec. 29 "to cooperate and participate with national and local groups to plan for the commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the nation." The Commission was composed of an executive committee consisting of the Governor as chairman, House Speaker Sage Lyons as vice-chairman, Assistant Finance Director Richard B. Stone as assistant commissioner, and Bureau of Publicity and Information Director Doug Benton and Assistant Director Colleen Pippen as associate commissioners. The Governor's administrative assistant, Robert M. Bowick, served as executive director of the Commission. Other members of the Commission included the State Treasurer, Auditor, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Education, the directors of the Ala. Historical Commission and Dept. of Archives and History, and more than sixty individuals representing academic, business, and civic organization throughout the state.

The Commission was responsible for establishing programs and organizing events to celebrate the Bicentennial and for administering matching funds made available by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. Among the numerous statewide projects initiated or overseen by the Commission were the production and distribution of "How You Comin', Alabama," a film promoting Bicentennial activities throughout the state; the Alabama Bicentennial Trail Program, which provided for the placement of two hundred signs identifying individual sites of historical importance.

Other projects included the Bicentennial Publication Program, which oversaw the reprinting of out-of-print books and the publication of new works on Ala. history; the Yearly Medallion Program, which awarded $2,500 scholarships for essays by high school students; the Automobile Tag, Plate, and Mug Program, which licensed and merchandised souvenirs; the Johnny Horizon Clean-up Program, which sought to involve grade school students in a statewide anti-litter campaign; the Bicentennial Summer Reading Program, in which 167 libraries encouraged and rewarded 75,000 school children to read during the summer months; and various fund raising efforts to restore historical sites such as Tannehill Furnace, Fort Toulouse, and the State Capitol.