Executive Director

Scotty E. Kirkland is executive director of the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. Kirkland is an award-winning public historian and writer. He holds degrees in history and political science from Troy University Dothan and the University of South Alabama. His work on Alabama and the Modern South has received research and writing awards from the Gulf South Historical Association, Alabama Historical Association, Alabama Folklife Association, Alabama Department of Archives and History, and the Lillian E. Smith Center. He is a frequent contributor to Alabama Heritage and Alabama Living magazines and is the author of “Retrospect,” a monthly history column featured in Business Alabama Magazine. He is author of a forthcoming book on race and politics in twentieth-century Mobile.

Scotty can be reached at skirkland@mathewscenter.org