CMYK

10 Valley Vision Spring 2010

By Michael Hansberry

Famed photographerMargaret Bourke-White camethrough the South in the late30s, photographing life dur-ing the Great Depression.On her tour, she took pho-

tographs of life in the mills.A collection of five 8 by 4feet original prints of thesephotographs are built into thewalls of a testing lab buildingin the Shawmut area.“These are amazing photo-

graphs--the capturing of thesymmetry and things likethat,” says Georgine Clarke,performing arts programmanager for the AlabamaState Council on the Arts.“Margaret Bourke-White isone of America’s most sub-stantial photographers—women or otherwise.Bourke-White initially was

focused on industrial-themephotograpy in New York.She was a very ambitious

and took advantage of what-ever opportunities camealong,” Clarke says.The photos in th Shawmut

building are of mill workersin the factory working onlooms, weaving and cutting.The building in which the

photographs are housed is theWellington Sears TexTestlab, first owned by WestPoint Stevens, then JohnstonIndustries. It and wasacquired by Johnston Textilesin 2003. The building hasn’tbeen used since December2009.Martha Cato, Valley city

clerk, says the city is puttingforth its best effort to savethose photographs and thebuilding.Cato says the city doesn’t

have enough money to buythe building, so she is tryingto find investors, organiza-tion and private individualsto donate money.

Her dream is to turn thebuilding into an art museum.“I have contacted our state

historic commission, theNational Trust for HistoricPreservation and the state artcouncil,” Cato says. “I’vetried to think of any wherethat would be a source toobtain funding for the build-ing.”She is determined to perse-

vere. “We feel it it’s anational treasure, and wewant to share it with theworld. We’re not going tostop trying,” she says.Lee Tucker, treasurer for

Johnston Industries, says thecompany is not in the finan-cial position to donate thebuilding.As far as the value of the

photographs, Chris Walker,

assistant professor in theDepartment ofCommunication andJournalism at Auburn, saysthe pictures probably areworth a lot, but he can’t putan exact price on the pic-tures. In addition to that, thepictures have sustained waterdamaged over the years, butWalker says that’s somethingthat could possibly be fixed.“These huge pictures that

are made by someone likeMargaret Bourke-White is agreat deal,” Walker notes.Walker says he is not an

official authority on Bourke-White but secondary pictures,photos, held in the cityArchives, that no one hasseen before, are a rarity andare probably worth a greatamount because the images

aren’t as known.Bourke-White’s accom-

plishments are as grand asany photographer of her time.The famous photographer isknown for more than break-ing social standards when shetraded in her dress for bluejeans.She photographed Ghandi,

the iconic Empire StateBuilding, and a smilingJoseph Stalin among manyothers notables.She was the first female

photojournalist for Life mag-azine, where she took thepicture of the first cover ofFort Peck Dam on theMissouri River in Montana.Her bravery became appar-

ent when she worked in com-bat zones during World WarII. Bourke-White was the

most successful female pho-tographer of her time.She succeeded in the male-

dominated industry when theodds were against her.She even broke social

norms by throwing out herdress and wearing blue jeans.Bourke-White had an eye

for structure and angles.Her pictures always show-

cased an aspect of symmetryand patterns, which becameher trademark.She was the first female

photographer allowed to pho-tograph the military duringWorld War II, and was theonly American photographerin Moscow during theGerman bombardment.During the later part of the

1930s, Bourke-White and herthen fiancé, American author

Erskine Caldwell, decided towork on their collaborativebook, “Have You Seen TheirFaces?” Bourke pho-tographed “regular people” inthe South.Unlike Bourke-White,

Caldwell wasn’t as revered asshe.His stories about life in the

South did not sell well withSoutherners because they felthis stories made the Southseem slow and a bad place tolive.Despite that, Erskine’s

work is admired to this day.He is one of the more signifi-cant authors of the 20th cen-tury, and his books have soldmore than 80 million copiesworldwide.Bourke-Whitewas in Georgia withCaldwell, who was fromMoreland.Wayne Clarke, news editor

with the Valley Times-News,says Bourke-White andCaldwell decided to drivedown Highway 29, lookingfor laborers and ended up inValley.Clarke said they were tak-

ing the pictures as a personalproject and they were lookingfor hard workers to photo-graph. They happened uponthe mills, and the rest is his-tory.“To me, what comesover in her work is theartistry of it,” Clarke says.“Her concept of lighting,

there being no wasted spacein her pictures. It’s extraordi-nary to have someone of herability and her caliber to takethe pictures she did.”Clarke says the photo-

graphs are art treasures, andhe is deeply concerned aboutthe efforts needed to be takento save her photography inShawmut. “It’s an art-decotype building,” he says.“They should remain there.

There is no question that thepictures are art treasures.

Famous photographer’s work adorns walls

Postcard depicts view of West Point Manufacturing Company’s Shawmut Research Laboratory.

This photo captures a view of panels of Bourke-White’s photographs built into the walls in the Wellington Sears TexTest lab in Shawmut.

Contributed by the City of Valley

Photo by Chris Walker

The Walking Man: A Man Measured in Miles Timeline:24,902 miles

(Distance aroundthe world)- Oct.

10, 1986

33,000 miles- July28, 1999

40,000 miles- May10, 2002

50,000 miles- Aug.28, 2006

52,526 miles- May14, 2007

53,417 miles- July17, 2009

Most mileage:1992-353 dayswalked, 3585

miles, average 10miles/day

1993- 350 dayswalked, 4626

miles, average 13miles/day

By Vicki Johnson

53,417.That’s how many miles

Clinton Kirk, 90, has walkedsince 1982. What began as asimple habit quickly turnedinto record-breaking newsthat has spanned the pastthree decades.“It was just a habit I got

into. You get into a habit,and you don’t want to breakit,” Kirk says.Sometime around the

1990s, Kirk decided to givehimself the nickname “TheWalking Man,” and today itis what most of the citizens ofValley affectionately knownhim by.“I don’t reckon I’m a leg-

end,” he says. “I just startedwalking.”When you walk into the

house, you get a sense of howimportant it all is to him.Kirk now lives with hisdaughter Anita, just a fewblocks over from his oldhouse.

The hallway is coveredwith plaques and awardsreceived including the“Valley Haven Hike-Bike-Run Oldest Participant” and“The Guinness Book ofWorld Records for theEquivalent of Walking

Around the World at theEquator.”The plaques don’t stop

there. They continue on intohis bedroom. Dozens ofawards, photos and newspa-per articles line the peach col-ored wall opposite his bed.Next to his plush, brown

recliner is a shelf that con-tains albums full of walkingmemorabilia and his walkingnotebook.Kirk, a sharp man with a

kind face, records all of hiswalking mileage in a plainblack Five-Star, three-ringschool notebook and themiles are recorded on dozensof pages full of lopsidedcolumns.

Kirk began recording onJan. 1, 1986, and his recordends on July 17, 2009, span-ning 23 years. In his book, henotes that from 1982, whenhe actually began walking,until 1986, when he beganrecording, he was averagingaround five to six miles perday, accounting for the 3,000miles that are added to his

total mileage.“I did it every day that I

could walk there for a while.And in one stretch I went 763days without a miss, and inanother stretch I went a littleover 600 days,” he says.A native of Oak Hill,

W.Va., Kirk’s interest beganwhen he entered the Oak HillSports Festival competitionand won.“I was running in West

Virginia, and then I camedown here and started walk-ing. People kept talkingabout how walking was betterfor your health than running,”he says.Kirk doesn’t do much

walking now. “After 53,417miles my legs gave out onme,” he says. Although he isunable to continue, his legacyas “The Walking Man”remains.“I’ve had people tell me

that I inspired them to gowalking,” he says proudly.Kirk says his favorite time

to walk was in the morningbefore breakfast and he talks

about his routes.“A lot of times I’d go 10,

15, 20, 25 miles a day. Oneday I went 35 miles,” herecounts.Many of these long walks

took place during Valley-Haven’s Hike-Bike-Run daysand on a particular 35 miletrip,Kirk recalls how he made

the two day trip by himself injust one day. “I just keptwalking. I never did set mygoal to make any distance, Ijust kept walking,” he says.For now, to pass the time,

Kirk has become an avidcraftsman and has even beenfeatured in a local art show.

His specialty is woodencraftwork, particularly minia-ture houses and furnituremade out of sticks and otherwooden pieces.

He also collects almosteverything imaginable,including soda bottles, keys,matchbooks, and buttons.“My brother got me into col-lecting coins in 1967 and Ijust started there,” he recalls.

Kirk also has an extensivecollection of over 600 pensand pencils, which he storesin a small shed outside of hisold house. He met a pen col-lector in Valley and decidedto do the same thing himself.Many of his walking

records have been celebratedwith his family and friends inValley.

“My favorite one was the40,000 miles,” he says.

This particular milestonebrings back sweet memoriesfor Kirk because it was theonly walk his wife ever par-ticipated in. “[She] Neverwalked a mile any othertime,” he responds.In addition to his many

walking awards, Kirk waspresented the key to the cityof Valley and has receivednumerous letters from sena-tors, congressmen, and evenPresident Barack Obama.There’s a “Clinton Kirk” Daynamed for him by formerMayor Bobby Crowder andMayor Arnold Leak in cele-bration of his achievements.Walking is something that

is important to Clinton Kirk.Just look at all of his awardsor listen to his stories. Hiswalking record is remarkableand his enthusiasm for livinglife insatiable.

““AA lloott ooff ttiimmeess II’’dd ggoo 1100,, 1155,, 2200,, 2255 mmiilleess aa ddaayy..OOnnee ddaayy II wweenntt 3355 mmiilleess..””

Clinton Kirk