UA associate professor emeritus Dr. Robert O. Mellown was recently taped in an interview about the historic capital in Tuscaloosa for a special Bicentennial episode of the Emmy-winning series, Discovering Alabama, Discovering Alabama: State Capitals, which will be broadcast on October 8 and October 12, 2017, on Alabama Public Television. The episode will explore the histories and the mysteries of the state’s five capitals as told through archaeology and ghost stories, facts and folklore, and through written records and off-the-record legends. Mellown, who specializes in the historical architecture of Tuscaloosa and The University of Alabama, is an expert on the history of Tuscaloosa, which was Alabama’s state capital from 1826 until 1846, and he was a major source for the section.
Mellown is the author of numerous books and articles on architecture in Tuscaloosa including The University of Alabama – A Guide to the Campus and Its Architecture (University of Alabama Press); and Historic Structures Reports for the Jemison-Van de Graaff Mansion, Drish House, Marmaduke Williams House and Bryce Hospital. His most recent project is ten articles on the historic architecture of The University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa for SAH Archipedia. Mellown received his undergraduate degree in studio art from The University of Alabama. After receiving the PhD in art history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he returned to UA and taught nineteenth-century art and architecture for forty-one years. He is a lifetime member of the Tuscaloosa Preservation Society, a founding board member of the Jemison-Van de Graaff Mansion Foundation and a member of the Bryce Hospital Historical Committee. He is a member of the Tuscaloosa Bicentennial Committee and a consultant for the Alabama Bicentennial Commission.
Discovering Alabama: State Capitals Alabama Public Television
Premiering Sunday, October 8 at 6:00 p.m.
Left: Dr. Robert Mellown during an interview for Discovering Alabama’s Bicentennial special on our state capitals.