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Kathryn Tucker Windham (née Tucker, June 2, 1918 – June 12, 2011) was an American storyteller,
author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
,
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, folklorist, and
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
. She was born in Selma,
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
, and grew up in nearby Thomasville. Tucker got her first writing job at the age of 12, reviewing movies for her cousin's small town newspaper, ''The Thomasville Times''. She earned a B.A. degree from Huntingdon College in 1939. Soon after graduating she became the first woman journalist for the '' Alabama Journal''. Starting in 1944, she worked for '' The Birmingham News''. In 1946 she married Amasa Benjamin Windham, with whom she had three children. In 1956 she went to work at the '' Selma Times-Journal'', where she won several
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
awards for her writing and photography. She died on June 12, 2011, ten days after her 93rd birthday. She was a longtime friend of artist Nall, who introduced her works to the art world at large.


Ghost stories

Kathryn Tucker Windham wrote a series of books of "true" ghost stories, based on local folklore, beginning with '' 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey'' (1969). Other titles were ''Jeffrey Introduces 13 More Southern Ghosts'' (1971), ''13 Georgia Ghosts and Jeffrey'' (1973), ''13 Mississippi Ghosts and Jeffrey'' (1974), ''13 Tennessee Ghosts and Jeffrey'' (1976), and ''Jeffrey's Latest 13: More Alabama Ghosts'' (1982). In 2004, she published ''Jeffrey's Favorite 13 Ghost Stories'', which was a collection of featured stories from previous books.


Jeffrey

Jeffrey is a purported ghost that took up residence in the Windham house in October 1966. According to a letter printed in the foreword to ''13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey'', Windham became interested in ghost stories after this ghost began to haunt her family. At first, the family heard footsteps in rooms that would later be found empty. Sometimes, objects had been moved. A photo allegedly of Jeffrey was accidentally taken when some young people visiting the Windham home decided to play with a Ouija board in an effort to contact the ghost. When photos from that night were developed, a dark shadowy blot with a vaguely human-like shape was found to be in one image. Soon after this picture was taken, Windham contacted Margaret Gillis , who was a noted collector of ghost stories, to ask about Jeffrey. Out of that meeting, the idea for ''13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey'' was inspired.


Storytelling

Following an invitation to speak at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, Windham began to gain attention for storytelling. She often appeared at storytelling events, historical meetings and classrooms. Her stories about
ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
s and growing up and living in the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
have earned her a place on
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's ''
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,'' which brought her national attention and praise. She also performed stories and gave commentaries on Alabama Public Radio's ''Alabama Life''. Mrs. Windham's commentaries were recorded by APR producers Samuel Hendren, Jason Norton and Brett Tannehill. Her commentaries still air the first weekday of every month on 89.3 WLRH Huntsville Public Radio's Sundial Writers Corner. Windham is the founder of the Alabama Tale Tellin' Festival, which has been held annually in Selma since 1978. Windham performed on stage in a one-woman play about Julia Tutwiler. Named ''They Call Me Julia'', the work was based on Windham's book of the same name.


Museum

The Thomasville campus of Coastal Alabama Community College is the site of the Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum. Her personal papers and manuscripts from 1939–2010 were donated to the special collections department of the
Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...
Libraries.


Honors and awards

* In 1990, Windham received the University of Alabama's Society of Fine Arts’ Alabama Arts Award. * On December 14, 1993, she was awarded the Honorary Degree Doctor of Literature from the University of Montevallo. * In 1995, Windham was honored as the Selma Rotary Club's Citizen of the Year. * In 1995, she received the Alabama State Council on the Arts Governor's Arts Awards. * In 1996, she received the National Storytelling Association's Circle of Excellence Award and Lifetime Achievement Award. * In 2000, she was selected as one of thirteen artists to represent Alabama as part of "Artists of Alabama 2000." * In 2000, she received the Alabama Humanities Award. * On October 4, 2001, Windham was inducted into the University of Alabama College of Communications Hall of Fame. * On August 18, 2003, she was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor, having been nominated by the novelist
Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) was an American novelist whose 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. She assisted her close friend Truman ...
, also from that state. * In 2008, Windham was named ABA Citizen of the Year by the Alabama Broadcasters Association. * In 2009, she received the Alabama Living Legacy Award from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.


Film

The 2004
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
, ''Kathryn: The Story of a Teller'', directed by Norton Dill, chronicles Windham's life and varied careers.


Bibliography

*''Treasured Alabama Recipes'', Strode Publishers (1964) *''13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey'', Strode Publishers (1969), *''Exploring Alabama'', Strode Publishers (1970) *''Jeffrey Introduces 13 More Southern Ghosts'', Strode Publishers (1971), *''Treasured Tennessee Recipes'', Strode Publishers (1972) *''Treasured Georgia Recipes'', Strode Publishers (1973) *''13 Georgia Ghosts and Jeffrey'', Strode Publishers (1973), *''13 Mississippi Ghosts and Jeffrey'', Strode Publishers (1974), *''Southern Cooking to Remember'', Strode Publishers (1974), *''Alabama: One Big Front Porch'', Strode Publishers (1975), *''13 Tennessee Ghosts and Jeffrey'', Strode Publishers (1976), *''The Ghost in the Sloss Furnaces'', Birmingham Historical Society and AmSouth Bank (1978) *''Count Those Buzzards! Stamp Those Grey Mules!: Superstitions remembered from a Southern childhood'', Strode Publishers (1979), *''Jeffrey's Latest 13: More Alabama Ghosts'', Strode Publishers (1982), *''Terrible Legends in America'', Seibido (1986) *''A Serigamy of Stories'', University Press of Mississippi (1988), *''Odd-egg Editor'', University Press of Mississippi (1990), *''The Autobiography of a Bell'', United Methodist Children's Home (1991) *''My Name is Julia'', Birmingham Public Library Press (1991) *''A Sampling of Selma Stories'', Selma Printing Service (1991) *''Twice Blessed'', Black Belt Press (1996) *''Encounters'', Black Belt Press (1997), *''The Bridal Wreath Bush'', Black Belt Press (1999), *''Piano Lessons and Other Recollections'', Major Tiara Press (2000) *''It's Christmas!'', River City Publishers (2002), *''Common Threads : Photographs and Stories from the South'' CKM Press (2004) *''Jeffrey's Favorite 13 Ghost Stories'', New South Books (2004), *''Ernest's Gift'', Junebug Books (2004), *''Twice Blessed'', River City Publishers (2007), *''Spit, Scarey Ann, and Sweat Bees: One Thing Leads to Another'', NewSouth Books (2009), *''She: The Old Woman Who Took Over My Life'', NewSouth Books (2011),


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Windham, Kathryn Tucker American photographers American public radio personalities American storytellers American women storytellers Huntingdon College alumni 1918 births 2011 deaths Associated Press reporters People from Selma, Alabama People from Thomasville, Alabama Writers from Alabama Ghost story writers American women photographers Journalists from Alabama American folklorists American women folklorists American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American women