I have some exciting news: after nine years on the UNC faculty I'm returning to the University of Alabama, where I will hold the Paul and Charlene Jones Chair. This has been the hardest professional decision I have ever made, because I have had such a wonderful time in Chapel Hill. I am proud to have been part of a long tradition of faculty at UNC and I have had a terrific time working with the students at Chapel Hill. I've also benefited mightily from fabulous colleagues at the law school and at the university -- and at the other institutions in the triangle, too. I will take the lessons in teaching, scholarship, and law that I learned in Chapel Hill with me wherever I go. And I am appreciative of the faculty and administration at UNC for the support they've given me over the years; this has been a productive nine years, working on areas from trusts and estates and property pedagogy to empirical work on probate, slave trials, pre-Civil War jurisprudence, public constitutionalism and oratory, post-Civil War legal thought, legal realism, eugenics, even Black Power, along with work on North Carolina trust law reform, pro bono litigation, and editing, too. And I've got a few more projects that I've started in Chapel Hill that I'll wrap up soon, including one on the Klan in 1870s North Carolina and another on a 1802 slave conspiracy scare in north east North Carolina.
Much as I will miss Chapel Hill, Tuscaloosa is the place I need to be. Spirits are high in Tuscaloosa -- and not just because of football. We're recruiting fabulous students at the law school. My friend and co-author Mark Brandon (one of these days we'll have the Cambridge Companion to the Declaration of Independence out), who returned to Alabama from Vanderbilt University as dean three years ago, has made the law school an ideal place for scholars. As I learned during my first stint in Tuscaloosa, there is much work to be done in the court houses around the state, from pre-Civil War probate to a freedom suit filed -- and won -- on behalf of a child kidnapped in Philadelphia and sold into slavery in Alabama. Soon I'll be talking about a duel fought in Dallas County by two slave-owners over whether one of the owner's slaves burned down the house of another. I learned about this through my work on probate in Dallas County. Never ceases to surprise me how many stories are left to be mined from county courthouses throughout the South!
Of course the real reason I am moving -- as close readers of the faculty lounge have probably already guessed -- is that I've exhausted the places I want to photograph in North Carolina! Sometime later this summer when I resurface in Tuscaloosa I will start a whole new set of building trivia; my roaming is going to be Mississippi to Georgia, I think.
Congratulations, Al!
Posted by: Bridget Crawford | June 21, 2017 at 11:36 AM
Al, I have known you were leaving for a while and privately expressed my regrets. I would like to take this public opportunity to thank you for your time spent in Chapel Hill. It has been a pleasure to know you and you definitely must go down as one of the most interesting and eclectic law profs that I have been privileged to know. I will try to continue sending you occasional interesting photos from Maine.
Posted by: Bill Turnier | June 21, 2017 at 11:44 AM
Congrats Al! Alabama truly has a stellar faculty.
Posted by: Tamara Piety | June 21, 2017 at 01:36 PM
Congratulations!
Posted by: Mary Ellen Maatman | June 21, 2017 at 03:13 PM
Congratulations. Sorry we were never able to have met. Have enjoyed the posts and the location mysteries. Best of luck in Alabama, and you'll have to let me know if there are any bookstores down that way like Oak Knoll.
Posted by: Steve Garland | June 21, 2017 at 03:47 PM
I'm not saying you should take a picture of a herd of cows and call it the Auburn Law School, but... you should take a picture of a herd of cows and call it the Auburn Law School.
RMFT
Posted by: Derek Tokaz | June 21, 2017 at 06:45 PM
Best of luck in the new gig, Al! 'Bama is lucky to get you. And jus think - you'll have a Canadian among your new colleagues!
Posted by: Ian Holloway | June 21, 2017 at 06:52 PM
Thanks for all the kind words. I'm excited to get to Tuscaloosa and getting into the archives. Derek, at the law school in Tuscaloosa we love *both* the Alabama *and* the Auburn grads. For real. This reminds me of a conversation I had on a flight into Birmingham recently. I was sitting next to a rabid Alabama fan and when I mentioned that I was house-hunting in Tuscaloosa he said that I should get one of the condos that overlooks the football practice field. But that I'd need to sign an non-disclosure agreement. I nearly fell out of my seat; I said, I know all about that! And that I've even asked a final exam question based on that some years back. Then, I thought I'd say something humorous -- "do you root for teams like Auburn because Alabama wins too much and you think everyone should get to win?" He looked at me like I was from outer space and said, "I don't go for any of that socialism." He thought that the Auburn-Alabama rivalry was even more heated than UNC-Duke. I said I don't know about that -- but I'll look forward to gauging this for myself. A bunch of people sitting around thought that was one amusing conversation.
Posted by: Al Brophy | June 21, 2017 at 07:00 PM
Al,
I'm sure you'll be as excellent in Alabama as you have been everywhere; but as to the photo contest, you know Jason Mazzone is going to win no matter what you post.
Big Al
Posted by: Alexander Tsesis | June 21, 2017 at 09:34 PM
Congratulations Al. What a wonderful homecoming for you and Alabama. No doubt you'll be missed at UNC, but all of your amazing historical posts from the state will remain. Also glad that the state of Georgia will be part of your next rotation. Come back and visit us in Savannah anytime.
Posted by: Caprice Roberts | June 22, 2017 at 08:46 AM
I'll look forward to many Alabama photo contests! I hope you'll continue to send me the images 24 hours before you post them. :)
Posted by: Jason Mazzone | June 22, 2017 at 09:51 AM
How my brain reacts when I see Al's photo post: That's a series of red brick on top of some grey bricks, and let's see that's a street in the background with a stop sign, the grass appears to have been recently mowed. The way Jason Mazzone's more advanced intellect works: That is the site of the courthouse where one of the most important cases in U.S. history was decided, which I remember reading about in at least five books: My recall indicates that the front entrance was the locus of a discussion on a key issue that led to the advancement of civil rights. And me, I'm still on: So given how hard it is to figure this one out, I'll go eat a Nutella Candy before pondering it some more. And Jason: I think after posting my answer to Brophy's photo contest, I'll add three books to my reading list to help me better understand that point in history.
Back to preparing for my Sunday presentation....
Posted by: Alexander Tsesis | June 22, 2017 at 11:05 AM
Jason -- I've got a couple of good Alabama building trivia ideas already. Much fun to be had, very soon! I'm always amazed that you and Owen can identify these. I can barely tell what they are and I took the photos!
Posted by: Al Brophy | June 22, 2017 at 11:11 AM
Congrats, Al. UA is lucky to have you back!
Posted by: Sally Hadden | June 24, 2017 at 09:55 AM
Congratulations to you and to Alabama! They are lucky to have you.
Posted by: Hari Osofsky | June 24, 2017 at 10:50 PM
Huge Congrats, Al!
Posted by: Andy Wright | June 28, 2017 at 09:56 AM