Leah Atkins at Auburn University

Jefferson County native Leah Marie Rawls Atkins (1935-2024) was a historian of the American South and a champion water skier early in her life. Best known as one of the nation’s preeminent scholars of Alabama history, her career established new heights for women in both academia and sports.

Atkins was born in Birmingham on April 24, 1935, to Jack Rawls and Margaret Jones Rawls. She grew up on her family’s land near Oak Hill Cemetery before moving to Homewood, Jefferson County, at seven years old. From 1951 to 1958, Atkins dominated the field of water skiing. During her first competition at 16, Atkins placed first at the Ontario Water Ski Championships. She went on to win the Water Ski World Championships in Toronto, Canada, in 1953, becoming the first Alabamian to achieve the award. For her accomplishments, Atkins became the first woman to be inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, in 1976.

Leah Rawls Water Skiing

After graduating from Shades Valley High School, Atkins attended Auburn University, where she studied history, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1958 and a master’s degree in 1960. In 1974, Atkins became the first Auburn student to earn a doctorate in history. Atkins fell in love with Auburn at the age of seven, after visiting her cousin who attended what was then known as Alabama Polytechnic Institute. In 1954, during her first year as an Auburn student, Atkins married football player George Atkins. The two enjoyed a 60-year marriage and had four children together.

Atkins taught history at Auburn as a graduate student and then an instructor and gained expertise in Alabama’s history. After completing her doctorate, she continued her teaching career at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Samford University. During those years, Atkins led the establishment of the nonprofit Friends of the Alabama Archives in 1982, to help support the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH).

Atkins taught at Samford University for 12 years before returning to Auburn in 1985 to become the founding director of the Auburn University Center for Arts & Humanities, later renamed the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities and known colloquially as “Pebble Hill.” Based on the extension ideal of Auburn as a land-grant institution, the center provides programming in Alabama schools, towns, and communities to strengthen the bond among the academic community, the arts and humanities, and the public. During her tenure, Atkins spearheaded fundraising, conferences, workshops, lifelong learning classes, field trips, writing retreats, local history projects, and library reading discussions.

Leah Atkins at Pebble Hill

Atkins authored numerous books and journal articles focused on a wide range of topics pertaining to Alabama history, often bringing light to Alabama’s lesser-known people and events. She wrote about Birmingham history, early Alabama settlers, plantation culture, the steel industry, university women, art, several biographies, and numerous other topics. Alongside William Rogers, Robert Ward, and Wayne Flynt, Rawls coauthored the 1994 book Alabama: The History of a Deep South State, a foundational text for southern historians. The book was divided into three distinct sections based on time period; Rawls authored the section “From Early Times to the End of the Civil War.” The quintessential introduction to Alabama’s history, the book attempts to give a comprehensive overview of Alabama’s history, covering key social movements, political history, and military events in the state. It remains a valuable entry point for scholars as well as general audiences seeking a broad introduction to Alabama history. The book won the 1995 James F. Sulzby Award from the Alabama Historical Association (AHA) for the best book on Alabama history. The following year, her book Nineteenth Century Club: Celebrating 100 Years of "Mutual Mental Improvement” was awarded AHA’s Clinton Jackson and Evelyn Coley Book Award for the best book or pamphlet focusing on local historical concerns.

Atkins also contributed entries on Henry W. Collier and Andrew B. Moore in the 2001 book Alabama Governors: A Political History of the State and wrote the introduction for Lewy Dorman’s 1995 book Party Politics in Alabama from 1850 to 1860. In 2006, her history, Developed for the Service of Alabama: The Centennial History of the Alabama Power Company, 1906-2006, was published and is considered an exhaustive work on the important utility company.

Her passion for education and Alabama history led her to become a member of several notable organizations, including the Auburn Library Development Committee. She was president of the AHA from 1986-87 and a trustee for the ADAH from 2019 until her death on October 4, 2024, at the age of 89.

For her contributions to Alabama history and for her groundbreaking achievements, Atkins was awarded the Auburn Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor. In honor of her athletic legacy, Auburn University established the Leah Rawls Atkins Award for female student-athletes, which annually honors a female student-athlete who displays excellence in academics and athletics and who models leadership, integrity, and courage. It is the highest award an Auburn female student-athlete can receive.   

Selected Works by Leah Rawls Atkins

The Valley and the Hills: An Illustrated History of Birmingham and Jefferson County, Alabama (1981) 

Alabama: The History of a Deep South State (1994)

Made in Alabama: A State Legacy, with E. Bryding Adams (1995) 

Nineteenth Century Club: Celebrating 100 Years of "Mutual Mental Improvement" (1895-1995) (1995)

John M. Harbert III: Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer (1999)

The Warrior and the Tombigbee: Two Rivers Flowing Through History (2000) 

Alabama: The History, Geography, Economics, and Civic of an American State, with Hardy Jackson (2004)

“Developed for the Service of Alabama”: The Centennial History of the Alabama Power Company (2006)