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Industrial High School Postcard
Postcard for Birmingham, Alabama's Industrial High School, postmarked 1941. Under the direction of John T. "Fess" Whatley, Industrial (later renamed Parker) High School's instrumental music program produced numerous professional musicians who would…
Frank Adams on Ingenuity
In this short excerpt, Frank Adams recalls, from his years as a school band director, one parent’s resourceful innovation in the face of limited resources. Recorded by Burgin Mathews on September 9, 2009, in Frank Adams’s office at the Alabama Jazz…
Frank Adams on Music Education in Birmingham's Black Schools (1)
In this excerpt, Adams reflects on his early training in music, including his first informal lessons from his older brother Oscar and his experience in the elementary and high school bands of William Wise Handy and John T. “Fess” Whatley.…
Frank Adams on Music Education in Birmingham's Black Schools (2)
Frank Adams describes the musical culture of Birmingham’s segregated Black schools. In the opening portion of this excerpt, Adams reads from a lecture he was preparing for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, exploring the history of jazz and…
Frank Adams Compares the Bands of Fess Whatley and Sun Ra
As a high school student in the 1940s, Frank Adams played in both the bands of Fess Whatley, Birmingham's celebrated "Maker of Musicians," and Herman "Sonny" Blount, later famous as Sun Ra. In this interview excerpt, Adams compares the experience of…
John T. "Fess" Whatley
John T. “Fess” Whatley (1885 – 1972), Birmingham’s legendary “Maker of Musicians,” 1968. From 1917 into the 1950s, Whatley’s music program at Industrial / Parker High School produced numerous professional musicians, many of whom performed in the…
Lincoln School Band, 1930s
Lincoln School Band, 1930s. Band director William Wise Handy, nephew of W. C. Handy, is at far left, in black. Frank Adams is in the front row, third student from left, with clarinet.