City of Monroeville Back in Spotlight for “Go Set a Watchman’
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All eyes are on a small town in South Alabama this week, as author Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman” comes out. We traveled to Monroeville, where residents are reacting to the book…and the influx of visitors coming with it.
Monroeville Alabama, the hometown of celebrated author Harper Lee, is back in the national spotlight once again. Lee’s newest novel will be released on Tuesday and residents are already seeing tourists from around the country.
“Everywhere we go, if we say Monroeville, ‘Oh, To Kill a Mockingbird!'”
That’s the response Moneroeville resident Flo Sanderson has received for decades after telling people where she’s from. And she says with the release of “Go Set a Watchman,” she expects Monroeville to gain even more exposure.
“There’s quite a bit of, a list of activities that have already been set up and we have people like you coming in from different radio stations, TV stations, and a lot of print people are here too.”
Sanderson is a former professor, who now volunteers at the local museum, known to locals as the old courthouse.
It’s the courthouse that inspired the one in “To Kill a Mockingbird,’ where protagonist Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman.
“If you look at the registry at the old courthouse, people from everywhere have signed in.”
And residents are expecting more signatures this week.
“It’s just part of the town,” says Michael MacCaughelty. “You can’t get away from it. It’s a big part of the community, it provides a lot of economic vitality through tourism.”
MacCaughelty is the Pastor of Monroeville Presbyterian Church. He says visitors come to get a firsthand experience of Monroeville and to put a name with a place.
“A lot of people are going to be coming into town,” he says. “Publishers from New York…When the book was announced, they were coming from London and all over, from Europe, it’s amazing.”
Brian Jones with the Department of Tourism says the book’s release is a great opportunity to showcase the state.
“In fact, there’s already a lot of events being planned in Monroeville so we’re getting ready for another ton of publicity about the state.”
“It’s a worldwide phenomenon and here it is in small town south Alabama,” MacCaughelty says.
“The spotlight is back on the town and back on Harper Lee again,” Sanderson says.
Go Set a Watchman comes out this Tuesday, July 14th. A marathon reading of the book will take place at the Old Courthouse Museum in Monroeville at 7am that day.
The first chapter is already available to read online.
