Vulcan Park & Museum

10/13/2026

Trailblazer. Leader. Rear Admiral. ⚓ “I believe very strongly that women should have the opportunity and obligation to serve all institutions, including the military.”

🇺🇸 Today, October 13, the U.S. Navy turns 251. Founded in 1775, it is a milestone we mark by honoring Alabama’s own Fran McKee, the first woman unrestricted line officer in American history to achieve the rank of rear admiral.

Before 1967, no woman could be promoted to flag rank, no matter her accomplishments or abilities. Even after that law was repealed, it took until 1976 for McKee, born September 13, 1926, in Florence, to break through.

She graduated from Phillips High School in Birmingham at 15 and earned a chemistry degree at the University of Alabama. McKee joined the Navy, planning to serve two years to save money and earn GI Bill benefits for an advanced degree, but she soon devoted her career to service.

McKee became Officer-in-Charge of the Naval Women Officers School, graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1957, and was one of the first two women to graduate from the Naval War College in 1970. That same year, she earned her master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University.

McKee was the first woman to hold several assignments, including Naval Security Group, Chief of Naval Education and Training, and Navy-wide Director of Human Resources Management. Her honors include the Legion of Merit with Gold Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star.

Retiring in 1981 and passing away in 2002, McKee was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

to step inside and discover Fran McKee’s story, alongside many other trailblazers who shaped our state, as we commemorate and the

📌 Exhibit on view daily in Vulcan Center
🔗 Plan your visit → click the link https://visitvulcan.com/explore/exhibits/

09/18/2026

From Nicaragua to Alabama. 🌎 Advocate. Councilman. CEO. 🤝🏼

As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama (¡HICA!), Dr. Carlos Alemán works to champion economic equality, civic engagement, and social justice for Latino and immigrant families throughout Alabama.

Born in Nicaragua, Alemán's family moved to California when he was just two years old, fleeing civil war. Growing up in a predominantly Latino neighborhood in San Francisco, he was surrounded by people who looked and spoke like him, an experience that would shape his life's work.

After earning a degree in history and Latin American and Latino studies from UC Santa Cruz, Alemán pursued a doctorate in history at Michigan State University, where he also met his wife, who would eventually bring him south to Alabama. He taught at Samford University in Birmingham for five years before joining ¡HICA! as Deputy Director in 2018. When founding CEO Isabel Rubio retired in 2021, Dr. Alemán stepped into the role, now leading an organization that serves around 4,000 immigrants across the state each year.

In 2020, Dr. Alemán was elected to the Homewood City Council, making him the first Latino elected to public office in Alabama, a milestone that reflects the same mission he carries through his work at ¡HICA!: building a state where every family has a voice and a place to belong.

Our exhibit panels are on view in both English and Spanish, so every visitor can experience these stories in the language that feels like home. 💙

during and step inside to discover Dr. Alemán's story, alongside many other trailblazers who shaped our state, as we commemorate

📌 Exhibit on view daily in the Vulcan Center
🔗 Plan your visit → click the link https://visitvulcan.com/explore/exhibits/

09/15/2026

Witness. Advocate. Truth-Teller. ⚖️ "If I am to call for truth, I must offer truth. We should all settle for nothing less."

On this day, September 15, 1963, a bomb ripped through the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, claiming the lives of four young girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Denise McNair (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (11).

Petric Smith, born in 1940 as Elizabeth Ann Hollifield, was a transgender man who played a pivotal role in helping bring the perpetrators to justice. After a conversation with his uncle, Robert Chambliss, who was one of the four bombers, Smith went to the FBI with as much information as he could gather, at great personal risk. Unfortunately, the FBI closed the case without prosecution for over a decade, until 1977, when Smith's testimony finally helped convict Chambliss for his role in the atrocity.

Smith spent the rest of his life advocating for others, working as a minister and championing the rights of Black Americans, women, and the gay community. He faced repeated threats for coming forward but never backed down and kept fighting for what he knew was right. Serving as a volunteer with the Alabama Forum, Smith wrote a monthly column called Getting To The Point, and helped organize Birmingham's first Pride Parade in 1989.

In 1994, Smith released a book under his birth name titled Long Time Coming: An Insider's Story of the Birmingham Church Bombing that Rocked the World. Smith passed away in 1998, but in the early 2000s, his book helped lead to the convictions of Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry for their involvement in the bombing.

to step inside and discover Smith's story, alongside many other trailblazers who shaped our state, as we commemorate

📌 Exhibit on view daily in the Vulcan Center
🔗 Plan your visit → click the link visitvulcan.com/explore/exhibits

09/05/2026

09/04/2026

📢BALLET IN THE SKY at Vulcan Park & Museum - $10 for adults. $6 for kids. Free under 4.

📍Ballet in the Sky — Saturday, September 26, 5:30–7:30 PM at Vulcan Park and Museum's Overlook.

🩰 Live ballet performances + education, plus food trucks, face painting, V and Vesta, the Observation Deck, and the Revolutionary Roots exhibit.

🧺 Bring a blanket or a lawn chair!

🏙️ A whole evening on Red Mountain for less than a movie ticket.

🎟️ Tickets at visitvulcan.com

📸 Humberto Ramazzina

09/03/2026

Educator. Advocate. Trailblazer. 👩🏽‍🏫📖

On this day, September 3, 1903, Carrie A. Tuggle opened the doors of the Tuggle Institute with just $2.50 to her name, offering food, shelter, and education to orphaned and destitute Black children in Birmingham.

Born into slavery in Eufaula, Alabama, in 1858, Tuggle later moved to Birmingham around the turn of the century. Working as a welfare officer assigned to look out for children accused of crimes, she once begged a court to pardon two young boys (one only 10 years old) and volunteered to take them home with her instead. That profound act of grace became the very seed of the Institute.

The Tuggle Institute provided a home and education for hundreds of students, including future pioneers like A.G. Gaston, Erskine Hawkins, and Fess Whatley, earning a reputation as one of the most effective and beneficial institutions in the South. Following Tuggle’s death in 1924, the school was eventually integrated into the public school system, preserving her mission for generations.

Tuggle's impact reached far beyond the classroom. She created and edited The Truth newspaper, helped establish the Jefferson County Juvenile Domestic Court, and in 1920, became the first Black woman to register to vote in Jefferson County following the passage of the 19th Amendment. She then used her community standing to vouch for and help other Black women register alongside her.

Today, her legacy directly lives on in Tuggle Elementary School and in the countless lives she transformed.

to step inside and discover more of Tuggle's story, alongside many other trailblazers who shaped our state, as we commemorate

📌 Exhibit on view daily in the Vulcan Center
🔗 Plan your visit → click the link visitvulcan.com/explore/exhibits

08/29/2026

08/27/2026

This ain’t Georgia, but we’ve got our own BIG PEACH 🍑👀 Happy National Peach Day, y’all!

08/11/2026

Advocate. Organizer. Chief. 🪶"If you are Indian, you are part of my people."

On this day in 1984, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs formally recognized the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, making it the only federally recognized Native American tribe in Alabama.

Though their ancestors lived here for hundreds of years, it wasn't until 1983 that government-to-government relations began to take shape, paving the way for full federal recognition the following year, giving the Poarch Creek the same privileges and immunities as other federally recognized tribes.

This hard-won victory was built on a foundation laid decades earlier by Chief Calvin McGhee, its central architect and tireless advocate.

Born in 1903, McGhee began advocating for tribal status in 1947. When Escambia County's newly established Poarch Consolidated School only educated Indian children through the sixth grade, McGhee and his fellow tribe members pushed back, successfully demanding bus service so their children could attend junior and high school. This was years before Brown v. Board of Education would abolish "separate-but-equal" nationwide.

In 1950, McGhee became the first to organize the Poarch Creek into a formal government complete with laws and elections, establishing the Creek Nation East of the Mississippi at Poarch, the predecessor to today's Tribe. He didn't stop there. In 1962, he sued the federal government on behalf of the Creek tribes, demanding reparations for the 1814 treaty that had stripped Native Americans of their land. That effort paid off in 1972, when the Indian Claims Commission awarded nearly $4 million (around $30 million today) to more than 7,000 descendants of the displaced Creek people.

Chief McGhee continued to lead the Poarch Creek until his death in 1970, 14 years before their decades-long fight for recognition reached its fullest realization on August 11, 1984.

to see how Chief Calvin McGhee's legacy lives on in along with many other trailblazers who shaped our state's history as we commemorate

📌 Exhibit on view daily in the Vulcan Center
🔗 Plan your visit → click the link visitvulcan.com/explore/exhibits

08/02/2026

Paws at the Park 🐾 Pets are welcome at Vulcan! Waste stations are available throughout the Park. Remember to clean up after your furry friend so our grounds stay clean and beautiful for every visitor (two-legged AND four-legged! 🐶)


📸 IG Wh***ey River