William Lindsey McDonald papers, 1927-2009 | UNA Archives and Special Collections

By Dixie Norwood

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Collection Overview

Title: William Lindsey McDonald papers, 1927-2009

Primary Creator: William Lindsey McDonald papers, 1927-2009

Extent: 60.0 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: The Collection arranged into series.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The William Lindsey McDonald Collection (1927-2009; eighty-one boxes) is part of the research collection of William Lindsey McDonald, alumnus of the University of North Alabama, Florence City (AL) historian, and author. Research includes notes, correspondence, ephemera, scrapbooks, duplicated manuscripts, organizational minutes, artifacts, and numerous photographs. Most of the materials relate to the history of the Shoals area. Research articles related to Alabama and surrounding states also are part of this collection. Some materials are personal in nature, particularly those related to family history.

Biographical Note

William Lindsey (Bill) McDonald (June 7, 1927- June 20, 2009) was a native of Florence, Alabama. A lover of history since his youth, Bill McDonald was renowned for his in-depth knowledge of the area's history. A tireless researcher, he served as the Florence City Historian from 1989 and authored or co-authored fifteen books, as well as numerous articles in magazines, newspapers, and periodicals. After serving in World War II, Dr. McDonald received a degree in business administration from Florence State Teachers College (now UNA) in 1952. He was a member of the first graduation class of the new ROTC program, and after graduation from college, he left to serve as a Second Lieutenant in the Korean War. After retiring as an Army Reserve Colonel with thirty-eight years of service, Dr. McDonald had assignments on the staffs of the Provost Marshal General and the Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel at the Pentagon. In addition to his Florence State degree, Dr. McDonald graduated from the Army's Command and General Staff College (1974), the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (1975), and pursued seminary studies in the United Methodist Church. He was a member of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

After returning to the Shoals, Dr. McDonald was employed with the Tennessee Valley National Fertilizer Development Center and retired in 1988 as Chief of the Budget Staff. A retired minister, he served several rural churches in Lauderdale and Colbert Counties, and wrote prolifically on the history of Methodism in North Alabama. From 1968 to 1989, he served as Chair of the Florence Historical Board and in 1989 was appointed City Historian, a position he held until he died in 2009.

He also served as president of the Tennessee Valley Historical Society and the North Alabama Historical Association, as well as Conference Historian for the North Alabama United Methodist Church. Dr. McDonald assisted in the organization of five museums in the North Alabama area and researched and wrote the texts for more than seventy-five historical markers in Florence, Lauderdale County and Courtland. The recipient of numerous awards and commendations, Dr. McDonald was recognized by the UNA Alumni Association with a Community Service Award in October 2000 and conferred with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by UNA in May 2006.

Bill McDonald collected historical information about the Shoals area for more than half a century. His research involved personal interviews, painstaking analysis of original documents and materials, and an uncanny ability to piece together information and ideas in unique and interesting ways. His personal collection included notes, hundreds of photographs, research documents, and a number of limited and one-of-a kind resources. In addition to his books, the public most often had access to Dr. McDonald's wealth of knowledge through his writings on Shoals history in the Florence Times-Daily.

Bill McDonald was married to Dorothy Carter McDonald, an artist and retired teacher in the Florence City School System. They made their home in Florence and had two daughters: Dr. Nancy Carter McDonald and Suzannah Lee McDonald.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Biographical],
[Series 2: Organizations],
[Series 3: Correpondence],
[Series 4: Speeches],
[Series 5: Writings],
[Series 6: Sermons],
[Series 7: Research Articles],
[Series 8: Historic Sites],
[Series 9: Historic Sites--Lauderdale County],
[Series 10: Lauderdale County History],
[Series 11: East Lauderdale],
[Series 12: West Lauderdale],
[Series 13: Cloverdale],
[Series 14: Green Hill],
[Series 15: Pickwick],
[Series 16: St. Florian],
[Series 17: Waterloo],
[Series 18: Florence History],
[Series 19: Florence Lauderdale Public Library],
[Series 20: East Florence],
[Series 21: Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital],
[Series 22: Colbert County/Muscle Shoals],
[Series 23: Gilbert Plantation Records],
[Series 24: Wilson Dam/TVA],
[[information restricted]],
[Series 26: University of North Alabama],
[Series 27: Factories and Mills],
[Series 28: Churches],
[Series 29: Lauderdale County Families],
[Series 30: Families],
[Series 31: Prominent Persons],
[Series 32: John Coffee],
[Series 34: Patton and Weeden Families],
[Series 35: Black Residents in the Shoals],
[Series 36: Veterans],
[Series 37: Indian Collection],
[Series 38: Civil War Materials],
[Series 42: Journals],
[Series 39: Alabama],
[Series 41: Maps],
[Series 33: Jackson Family],
[Series 40: Tennessee],
[Series 43: Image Collection Index],
[All]

Series 30: Families

Box 41

Folder 1: Marriages--Colbert County
Folder 2: Marriages--Lauderale County
Folder 3: Surname Searches in the Colbert & Lauderdale County Courthouses
Folder 4: Surname Searches in the Colbert & Lauderdale County Courthouses
Folder 5: "Marriages in the Muscle Shoals District Ninety-Three Years Ago" (1830's)
Folder 6: History of the Picts
Folder 7: Redding
Folder 8: Lewis B. Allen Family
Folder 9: Johnson Hood Rowell
Folder 10: Johnson Hood Rowell
Folder 11: Johnson Hood Rowell
Folder 12: Newman
Folder 13: The Jones-Donnell Papers
Folder 14: Allen Family History
Folder 15: Armistead-Winston Families and Cypress Hill Plantations--Florence, Alabama
Folder 16: Armistead-Winston Families and Cypress Hill Plantations--Florence, Alabama
Folder 17: Jackson & Kirkman Papers--"Discovering Sully:Portraits of the Jackson Brothers" (Jameson Jones)
Folder 18: Jackson & Kirkman Papers
Folder 19: Jackson II
Folder 20: Scattered Recollections of Elizabeth K. O'Neal and Susan K. Vaughn
Folder 21: Reynolds Family Papers
Folder 22: Reynolds Family
Folder 23: Killen, McDougal, Richardson, Stutts & Wright Families of Killen & Green Hill
Folder 24: The White Family of Lauderdale County, Alabama
Folder 25: Armstead Barton Estate Papers
Folder 26: Virgil Thompson Papers
Folder 27: A Collection of Reports & Articles on the Family, Descendants, and Ancestors of Willis Arnold

Box 42

Folder 1: The Border of Riding Clans Followed by a History of the Clan Dickson (1889)
Folder 2: The Border of Riding Clans Followed by a History of the Clan Dickson (1889)
Folder 3: Additional Material on the Dickson Family
Folder 4: "Weathersby Haynes" by Roseanna Cain--Waterloo Families
Folder 5: Creede
Folder 6: Creede
Folder 7: Sharp Family in the United States (1580-2004)
Folder 8: Sharp Family in the United States (1580-2004)
Folder 9: Sharp Family in the United States (1580-2004)
Folder 10: Sharp Family in the United States (1580-2004)
Folder 11: Terrell
Folder 12: Bailey, Richard Records
Folder 13: Cannon, David--Will and Miscellaneous Papers
Folder 14: Story of Nancy Louisa White Creede and Creede, Colorado/Nichols Family
Folder 15: Descendants of William Sharp
Folder 16: "Origins of the Irish Nation" by John O'Hurt (1892)
Folder 17: Fowler and Hagood Families of Lauderdale County
Folder 18: Fowler and Hagood Families of Lauderdale County
Folder 19: Fowler and Hagood Families of Lauderdale County
Folder 20: Fowler and Hagood Families of Lauderdale County
Folder 21: Fowler and Hagood Families of Lauderdale County
Folder 22: Fowler and Hagood Families of Lauderdale County
Folder 23: Fowler and Hagood Families of Lauderdale County
Folder 24: Fowler and Hagood Families of Lauderdale County

Box 43

Folder 1: Miscellaneous Family Information
Folder 2: Family Forms (Blank)
Folder 3: Johnson, Annie Rowell Hood Papers--Personal
Folder 4: Johnson, Annie Rowell Hood Papers--"The Effects of Associations and Surroundings Upon Man and Nations" (Speech by Robert Vaughn, 1875)
Folder 5: Johnson, Annie Rowell Hood Papers--Diary of Mary Francis Wallis (c.1882)
Folder 6: White Family Photo Album (1 of 2)
Folder 7: White Family Photo Album (2 of 2)