Alabama Secretary of State John H. Merrill and author Tom Ward have teamed up to release a new history book titled Alabama: The Bicentennial, which celebrates Alabama’s 200th anniversary of statehood in 2019.
According to a statement, the book celebrates over 400 past and present Alabamians, including “athletes, authors, agriculture, artists, autos, achievers, aviation, armed forces, astronauts, and advocates for freedom.”
Every school in Alabama that features a fourth-grade classroom will receive a complimentary copy.
Merrill announced 75% of the book proceeds will go to Friends of the Alabama Archives, a non-profit. Those funds will be used to sponsor fourth-grade field trips to the archives by schools that otherwise lack financial resources to make the trip.
“The great Rudyard Kipling once said, ‘If history were taught in the form of stories, it would not be forgotten,’” said Merrill, who will not receive any compensation from the book.
“When we encourage our students to read and tell these stories, we preserve the legacies of Alabama leaders of yesterday and today,” the 2020 candidate for U.S. Senate added. “When Tom and I started this project two years ago, we wanted to tie together the people, events, groups, and places that define the history in this state that we call home. Tom and I are so excited to release this book about a state and its people that are so special to us.”
Alabama: The Bicentennial is available for purchase at the Alabama Department of Archives & History and alabama200book.com. It will soon be available in bookstores around the state.
Kyle Morris also contributes daily to Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @RealKyleMorris.
