Voices of Huntsville | Lily Flagg's Signal by SueAnne Griffith
Voices of Huntsville is awarded to a local resident of Huntsville, Madison County, Madison City, Decatur, and surrounding areas to share their personal perspective of our community. Our Voices of Huntsville feature shares their creative passion and unique perspective about what they absolutely love about Huntsville in a format that best speaks to their own creativity, vlog, blog, photo essay. Interested in becoming a TSG Huntsville Voice of Huntsville? Apply here!
Portrait photography courtesy of White Rabbit Studios.
Portrait photography courtesy of White Rabbit Studios.
Portrait photography courtesy of White Rabbit Studios.
Portrait photography courtesy of White Rabbit Studios.
Portrait photography courtesy of White Rabbit Studios.
Portrait photography courtesy of White Rabbit Studios.
January 2023
SueAnne Griffith of Lily Flagg’s Signal Podcast
Hi, I’m SueAnne Griffith, creator and host of Lily Flagg’s Signal, a podcast centered on the history of Huntsville, Alabama. I’ve always loved finding out new things about my hometown—particularly with regard to the people and stories that very much matter but may have been left out of the standard local history intros. I started this show to share these stories with any and all people interested in the history of our city, whether you’re a new resident or have lived here all your life.
I spend many hours researching and writing each episode, and for one episode next month, I even visited Wisconsin archives to dig through century-old correspondence to learn more about a part-time-Huntsvillian of the early 1900s. This season features parties on electric street cars, spelunking rocket scientists, interviews with multiple awesome local experts, a so-called “trial of the century” (though every century seems to have many of those!), an amazing nurse, and even the story of how I got pulled over by the marine police when I was twelve, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with casual listeners and hardcore history nerds alike! The episode premiering today – “Ding, Ding, Ding Go the Street Cars” – is a fun look into Huntsville’s first foray into public transportation and all the beautiful nostalgia associated with electric street cars, plus a few nods to a certain Judy Garland song. I hope you enjoy it and maybe learn something fun that changes how you look at our historic city!
LISTEN NOW:
Lily Flagg’s Signal: Ding Ding Ding Goes the Street Car
About SueAnne Griffith and Lily Flagg’s Signal Podcast
SueAnne Griffith is the creator and host of Lily Flagg’s Signal, a history podcast focused on Huntsville, Alabama. After spending years attending and volunteering at various reenactments, tours, and museums, she started researching her hometown’s local history outside of the provided scripts and found that there were lots of interesting tidbits about the city that just wouldn’t fit in a standard tour or brochure. Too lazy to write a book and too excited to limit the knowledge-sharing to just texting fun facts to her friends, she started Lily Flagg’s Signal as a way to share her findings with a broader audience. From first-hand sources on well-known Huntsville lore to correcting misconceptions about popular tall tales, to historical events and people who don’t get talked about often enough, the show seeks to educate Huntsvillians about their city and how the past impacts our present. Griffith describes her target audience as “anyone with an interest in old stories who’s willing to listen to me talk for twenty minutes a week.” Season two of Lily Flagg’s Signal premiers on January 23, 2023, and is available wherever you get your podcasts. Just look for the (intentionally) poorly Photoshopped cow logo, based on an 1890s newspaper drawing of Lily Flagg herself!
If you’re looking for somewhere to start in season one, the “Russel-Erskine and the Birdmen” mini-episode is a good intro to the show. It was Griffith’s first foray into podcasting, as well as one of her favorite examples of how the sometimes-forgotten actions of “everyday people” can result in historic and heroic stories.
The historical finding that pushed Griffith “over the edge” into starting a podcast came about while researching Huntsville’s early leadership, specifically why Wikipedia stated “The first President of Huntsville is unknown.” This research eventually became “The Case of the Missing Mayor.”
Another interesting discovery from historical research is just how similar people “back then” are to us. There are lots of parallels between Victorian newspapers and modern social media, as discussed in episode four, “Newspapers!”, which also highlights the Black-owned Huntsville Gazette run by Charles Hendley from 1879 to 1894.
In addition to the audio format of podcasting, another facet of Lily Flagg’s Signal is using Instagram to share info and photos, including lots of “here’s a cool thing I found at the library today” posts, which has led to making lots of connections with other Huntsville residents with a passion for history, cow puns, and the smell of old books.
SueAnne, we have absolutely loved hearing a little bit about your process for your clever, informative, local history-packed podcast—Lily Flagg’s Signal! Be sure and give her a follow on Instagram and head here to listen to the latest podcast.
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