1930

1930 was the 59th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• January 13: Seven miners were killed in the 1930 Peerless Mine explosion.
• January 29: A rare snowfall brought 5.5 inches to Birmingham.
• May 13: The USS Birmingham (CL-2) was sold for scrap.
• May 23: A memorial plaque was placed at Holman School.
• December 10-19: The Birmingham Jug Band recorded nine songs for Okeh Records in Atlanta.
• Four World War I German guns were relocated to Altamont Park from Woodrow Wilson Park.
• A total of 811 first-run motion pictures were screened in Birmingham of which 673 received the Birmingham Motion Picture Council's endorsement.
• The Golden Leaf Quartet recorded for Brunswick Records in Atlanta.
• Inland Lake was created with a dam on the Blackburn Fork of the Little Warrior River.
• Paul Hayne School converted from a high school to Paul Hayne Opportunity High School with R. F. Jarvis as principal.
• Phillips High School expanded down to 9th grade as students from Paul Hayne School were admitted.
• The Roebuck Springs Country Club was purchased by the City of Birmingham.

Business

• August 16: Communist Party newspaper The Southern Worker began publication.
• American Trust and Savings Bank merged with First National Bank of Birmingham.
• The Bank of Alabama failed and sold its assets to the Ensley National Bank.
• The Bank of Ensley closed.
• The City of Birmingham was forced to withdraw funding from WAPI-AM.
• The Ensley Grill opened for business.
• Ollie Wade McClung joined his father, James Ollie McClung, at Ollie's Barbecue.
• W. Paul Pim created the syndicated feature cartoons Baby Mine and Telling Tommy.
• The Ritz Theatre was bought by the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Company (RKO) and Karl Hoblitzelle was named managing director.
• Oscar Wells retired as president of First National Bank of Birmingham after 15 years. John Persons became the new president.

Religion

• Abraham Bengis became rabbi of the Knesseth Israel Congregation and Temple Beth-El.
• First United Methodist Church of Bessemer added a pipe organ.
• Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church suffered a fire.

Sports

• June 27: Charlie Perkins debuted pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics.
• November 27: War Eagle II debuted.
• Ivy Andrews played for the Birmingham Barons.
• Bear Bryant played for the Red Bugs' Arkansas state football championship.
• Joe Sewell completed his 1,103rd straight baseball game, the seventh-longest streak in history.

Works

Buildings

• Five Points Bowling Center
• North Birmingham Elementary School addition
• Ramsay High School
• Simon-Buck House
• Theodore Swann residence
• Ware Building
• West End High School

Music

• "New Birmingham Jail" by Jimmie Tarlton and Tom Darby

Individuals

• George Bender quit as maitre d'hotel at the Tutwiler Hotel and took charge of the dining room at the Bangor Cave Club.
• The Boswell Sisters moved their act to New York City.
• Johnny Mack Brown was given his first starring role in a western movie entitled Billy the Kid.
• Mrs. Cecil A. Carlisle became principal of Edgewood Elementary School.
• R. D. Hurlbert became principal of Gate City Elementary School.
• W. R. McCord became principal of Thomas School.
• Architect John Miller retired.
• Sculptor Giuseppe Moretti moved back to Italy with his wife and assistant.
• John Persons was promoted to Brigadier General in the Alabama National Guard.
• Dorsey Whittington became director of the Birmingham Conservatory of Music.
• L. Virgil Wilder became principal of Wilson Elementary School.

Births

• February 3: David Foley, priest
• February 18: Frank House, baseball player
• March 11: Chuck Morgan, attorney
• May 28: Douglas E. Jones, professor of geology and college administrator
• June 12: Jim Nabors, actor
• June 20: Bobby Frank Cherry, church bomber
• July 4: Marion Worth, country music singer
• July 22: Jerry Grundhoefer, nightclub owner
• July 30: A. D. King, pastor and Civil Rights leader
• August 14: Joseph Schreiber, choirmaster
• August 18: Gene Bartow, basketball coach
• August 24: John Grenier, Attorney and politician
• December 13: Country Boy Eddie, country singer
• December 15: John Claypool, minister
• December 31: Odetta, folk singer
• Nelson H. Smith, pastor and Civil Rights leader
• Charles Brammer, winemaker
• Neal Hemphill, record producer
• Annie Lindsay, dance teacher
• Ward McIntyre, broadcaster
• Huland Moore, jewelry repairer
• Shorty White, football coach

Graduations

• Nina Miglionico from Woodlawn High School
• Virginia Tyler from Birmingham-Southern College, bachelor's degree in English
• Carl Elliott from Vina High School
• William Bradford Huie from the University of Alabama

Marriages

• May 28: Pedro Gusman to Vera Hancock
• Rev. John C. Fletcher to Estelle Caldwell

Deaths

• January 8: Benjamin Wyman, physician
• February 9: Tom Ashford, alderman and business owner
• August 15: Guy Tutwiler, baseball player
• December: Joseph Bishop, miner
• December 18: Robert Terrell, banker
• John Carmichael, chancellor
• Mary Gordon Duffee, historian
• James Weatherly, attorney and Birmingham City Commissioner
• Harvey G. Woodward, businessman

Context

In 1930, the Great Depression continued.

1930s

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