In this week’s deep dive into the archives of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times and Mobile’s Press-Register, we find images of two people with deep ties to Alabama who died of coronavirus.

Bennie Adkins in 2014 received the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam. He died after being hospitalized with the coronavirus, his foundation said. He was 86.

Photographer Theodore Gaffney joined more than a dozen Freedom Riders as they boarded two buses out of Washington in 1961, capturing images as the historic journey made its way through the South. Gaffney died of coronavirus at age 92.

This feature regularly includes photographs from the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the Associated Press, Library of Congress and Getty Images.

For more historic Alabama photographs, visit our Alabama Vintage Instagram account and the AL.com vintage photos page.

Any topics you’d like us to explore on our Vinatage Insta or an old photo you would like us to find? Drop me a line at jgray@al.com.