Fitts and Alston Families Papers, MSS.4198

Abstract: Papers, correspondence, and photographs from three generations of two Tuscaloosa, Alabama, families.Scope and Content Note: The collection contains the papers, correspondence, and photographs from three generations of these two Tuscaloosa, Alabama, families. The largest group of materials concern the capsizing of Samuel Fitts Alston's yacht "Mary Frances" during a philanthropic cruise on the Black Warrior River in June 1919, where twenty-five people, mostly children, were drowned.There are also materials from Samuel's wife, Fannie Fitts Alston and their children, James Fitts Alston and Marilou Alston Rudulph, inlcuding Marilou's postcard collection.The collection also has two photograph albums and a small box of cabinet cards and carte de visite, as well as a portrait of Fannie Alston painted by Nicholas R. Brewer.Biographical/Historical Note