The century celebration is set for Friday, after having been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its theme is “Constellations Navigating by the Stars,” and the parade will feature 20 units – 19 floats, and the queen’s carriage.“In the Crewe, you’ll see three generations,” said Ankerson. “Grandaddies and sons. That has held us together for so many years. It’s a wonderful tradition.
“It’s like having four weddings,” said Ankerson, who serves as a tour guide at the museum, and is the de facto historian for the Crewe of Columbus as he referred to his daughters’ weddings and their individual crowning at the past balls. “The Crewe democratized Carnival,” said Cart Blackwell, curator of the Mobile Carnival Museum. “Prior to the finding of the Crewe, it was a small cast of characters involved with the actual parades and balls. They spread it out. It’s a big organization. It’s that constant spreading out of Carnival that is very meaningful.”
In 1946, the Crewe of Columbus celebrated its silvery anniversary with the first parade on the streets of Mobile since 1942. All parades were canceled during World War II, though organizations gathered for their annual balls. “It was my first parade I’ve been to, after the War, and it was my personal 1,000th ball,” Dean said.“Back then, they allowed fire inside the ballroom, and they had six-to-eight chandeliers hanging from the ceiling of the Civic Center auditorium,” Dean recalled. “I remember a man coming out on a tall ladder and lit those candles in the chandeliers before the ball. It was a beautiful scene.
Mother Nature wasn’t cooperative. The Feb. 14, 1969, parade was thwarted by torrential rains, canceling the parade. A group of maskers then loaded onto buses and were transported to Bel Air Mall where they “parade on foot and snake-danced” and even took part of a style show that was taking place at the mall that night, according to the 50th anniversary booklet.
A member of the Crewe of Columbus tosses a handful of beads to the crowds gathered along the streets of downtown Mobile, Ala. Friday Feb 12, 1999. Ankerson estimates it taking eight years before someone moves off the group’s waiting list to becoming an associate member and then to an active member who is allowed on a float.
Alabama is also one of 10 states that celebrates a version of Indigenous People’s Day during the Columbus Day holiday in early October. The state put its own spin on the holiday in 2000,
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