Date of Award
5-2024
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
English BA
Department
English; History
First Advisor
Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, Ph.D.
Advisor Department
History
Abstract
This paper analyzes the origins of the Azalea Trail in Mobile, Alabama, and the history of its corresponding Azalea Trail Maid program. The Trail is a walking and driving trail through the historic areas of Mobile, in which hundreds of azalea bushes have been planted along the roads. Beginning in 1929, the Azalea Trail takes tourists through the heart of downtown Mobile, the city’s antebellum homes, and other local attractions. In 1949, the program expanded to include a “Trail Court,” and in 1951, it created a festival to crown an Azalea Trail Queen and select the members of her court, who were costumed in 1850s regalia. The Queen reigned over the festivities, many of which were themed around the Old South and its subsequent romanticization via the Lost Cause. This paper argues that Mobile’s white women perpetuated an antebellum fantasy that gradually increased in grandeur, especially during the late 1950s and 1960s, when legal racial segregation began to crumble. The Azalea Trail Maids’ prestige can be linked directly to the social unrest in Mobile following various turning points in both local and national politics due to the success of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Mobile’s school desegregation. This paper emphasizes the crucial role Southern white women have played in upholding white supremacy since the Reconstruction era through modes of civic duty and historic preservation.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Rawls, Emma, "The Azalea Trail Maids: White Women’s Contributions to the Lost Cause in Mobile, Alabama" (2024). Honors Theses. 961.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/961