Remembrances of Sarah Woolfolk Wiggins

Abstract

Remembrances of Sarah Woolfolk Wiggins Ruth Smith Truss and David E. Alsobrook Click for larger view View full resolution IN MEMORIAM Sarah Woolfolk Wiggins 1934–2020 Photo courtesy Rebecca Minder ruth smith truss Remarkable. This word has many connotations and is overused. Yet, it captures much about Sarah Wiggins—who she was and what she accomplished. Other terms are just as meaningful and apt: elegant, strong, intelligent, forthright, supportive, demanding, exceptional. Trying to capture the essence of Sarah Wiggins in a way that would make her proud and reflect well on her life’s work is a daunting task. Indeed, even as I write this tribute, I hear her voice and feel her influence. I met Dr. Wiggins in 1985 when I visited her office, in an old home (since razed) on the campus of the University of Alabama. That home, with its high ceilings, wooden floors, tiled bathroom, and wide porches front and back, situated in a yard of mature oak trees, came to symbolize so much of my sense of Sarah Wiggins. Here more than any other place, she passed on her love of Alabama history, her dedication to the profession, and her work ethic during countless hours in the “parlor” area of that house, reading manuscripts submitted to the Alabama Review. At an old dining room table, Dr. Wiggins evaluated submissions, assigned them to her research assistant for source- and fact-checking, and proofread multiple revisions on the path to publication. If an error crept in at any stage of the process, it did so at its own peril, because Dr. Wiggins’s eye, like her mind, was keen. From October 1976 (vol. 29, no. 4) to April 1996 (vol. 49, no. 2), Dr. Wiggins edited the Review. As editor, she allowed the author’s voice to shine; her work and contribution remained behind the scenes. The result was a journal that was uniformly polished, professional, [End Page 196] and recognized as a model for state-level publications. In short, she had the rare ability and rarer willingness to enhance rather than override the author’s voice. She was satisfied knowing that the published article was the best and most accurate work possible. Click for larger view View full resolution Dr. Ruth Truss (left), professor of history at the University of Montello, and Sarah Woolfolk Wiggins attend the induction of Sarah Haynsworth Gayle into the 2016 Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. Truss and Wiggins co-edited The Journal of Sarah Haynsworth Gayle: A Substitute for Social Intercourse, published in 2013 by the University of Alabama Press. Photo courtesy Rebecca Minder. A native of Montgomery, Sarah Woolfolk early developed a love for the stories of Alabama, both the state and the people. She left for Baton Rouge to attend graduate school, taught briefly in Virginia, and then in 1961, twenty-seven-year-old Sarah returned to her home state, to Tuscaloosa, to take a history faculty position at the University [End Page 197] of Alabama. On the day she moved into one of three apartments in a converted house, a charming fellow tenant with a wonderful smile knocked on her door and offered lunch—a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich and a Coke. In the telling, over twenty-five years later, she smiled reminiscently as she recalled the meeting that eventually led to her marriage to Peyton Wiggins, a young English professor. In my five years as her research assistant, Dr. Wiggins rarely shared personal information, making this story even more special. I quickly realized that Dr. Wiggins had definite priorities, in this order: daughter Henrietta, first; work, second. Her family retained always that ranking in her heart; by the time of her death, her family included not only her beloved Henri but also her son-in-law and two granddaughters. I trust that her granddaughters will come to appreciate fully their maternal grandmother and know that she was immensely proud of them, appreciating and valuing their individual identities, talents, and accomplishments. Dr. Wiggins’s work as a historian never ended. In her own research and writing, she was meticulous, a perfectionist; her approach was to be concise, accurate, and true to the sources—and to use...