2001

2001 was the 130th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• January 17: Agnes gallery, after 77 exhibitions and working with over 75 artists, closed.
• February 4: Church of the Highlands was founded.
• February 6: Fraternal Order of Police Birmingham Lodge No. 1 held their first meeting in their new meeting hall on Winewood Road.
• April 27: Pop trio 3rd Faze signed a recording contract with GFI Productions, a subsidiary of HealthSouth.
• May 12: The first Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil after the departure of Aaron Beam was held.
• June 21: President George W. Bush visited the Birmingham area.
• July 3: The Birmingham Film Commission was established by the City of Birmingham.
• September 22: Six people were killed in an apartment fire deliberately set in Fairfield.
• September 23: 13 miners were killed in the 2001 Jim Walter No. 5 Mine explosion.
• 2001 Birmingham City Council election
• October 21: Topper Price and the Upsetters played as part of the Phelan Park Music Series.
• November 11: Emmanuel Lutheran Church was founded in north Shelby County.
• The Northport Heritage Museum opened.
• Thomas Blanton was convicted of murder for his role in the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church.
• The Birmingham Museum of Art acquired Luis Jiménez's monumental sculpture "Steelworker".

Business

• January: Adam Stocks purchased WFHK-AM for a reported $275,000.
• August 4: Books-A-Million opened at The Summit.
• September: The Bama Belle began service in Tuscaloosa.
• November 9: Shelia Smoot's contract with WBRC 6 ended.
• Suiza Foods merged with Dean Foods, the Dallas, Texas-based parent of Barber's Dairy.

Establishments

• July 16: Bank marketing consulting firm Bancography was founded.
• ProAssurance was created from the merger of the Mutual Assurance Society of Alabama and the Michigan-based Professionals Group, Inc.
• The Birmingham Children's Choir was incorporated.

Media

• February 2: WRRS-FM switched formats to "modern rock/adult contemporary", becoming "101.1 the Spot".

Sports

• April 9: Tim Hummel tied a Birmingham Barons record with 3 triples in a game against Greenville.
• September 29: Miles College defeated Stillman College in the first Steel City Classic 24-22.
• The Birmingham Thunderbolts played in the XFL's lone season.
• Brian Shoop's BSC Panthers won the NAIA national championship in baseball.
• The Alabama Slammers began their only season as a part of the Women's American Football League.

Works

• August 25: A new playground at Triangle Park in Forest Park was dedicated.
• September: 3rd Faze's self-titled debut album was released.

Books

• The Cost of Courage: The Journey of An American Congressman (reprint) by Carl Elliott and Micheal D'Orso
• Murder Boogies with Elvis by Anne George

Buildings

• Alabama Veterans Memorial Park
• Colonial Brookwood Village renovations (including Gus Mayer interiors)
• Bright Star Restaurant bar addition
• Fraternal Order of Police Birmingham Lodge No. 1
• Magnolia Hills golf course
• MountainTop Community Church
• Spain Park High School
• Blount Hall
• Bruno's supermarket at Alabama Highway 150 in Hoover

Roads

• April 19: Lakeshore Parkway extension from Shannon Wenonah Road to Alabama State Highway 150

Individuals

• January 15: Condoleezza Rice became National Security Advisor.
• March 29: Chris McNair resigned from the Jefferson County Commission.
• September 5: Howell Raines became Executive Editor of The New York Times.
• December 13: Kim Emerson was appointed Kimberly's Chief of Police.
• Oliver Adams retired as chief of the Bessemer Police Department.
• Michael Adler succeeded the retiring Aubrey Edwards as minister of music at Shades Mountain Baptist Church.
• Ralph Cook retired from the Alabama Supreme Court and joined the firm of Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton.
• Walter Maddox became personnel director for Tuscaloosa City Schools and later a Tuscaloosa City Councilor.
• Arthur Price succeeded Christopher Hamlin as Pastor of 16th Street Baptist Church.
• Patsy Stanley succeeded Cindy Cason as principal of Homewood Middle School.

Awards

• Alabama Academy of Honor: W. Ann Reynolds, Harper Lee, Sydney McDonald, Marvin Engel, Thomas Meredith
• Alabama Business Hall of Fame: R. C. Cobb, Jr, Edward Friend, Jr, James Head, Wallace Malone, Jr, Edward Robbins, Robert Weil
• Birmingham Business Hall of Fame: Neal Berte, Thomas Bradford, John Eagan, J. Stanley Mackin, William Spencer III
• Alabama Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame: Donald Green

Births

• Frankie (tortoise)

Graduations

• Jason Simpson, B.S. in Meteorology from Mississippi State University

Deaths

• Nancy Crews, aviator
• Arthur Stewart, portraitist
• January 4: John Rhoden, sculptor
• March 2: Dennis Washburn, columnist and publisher
• April 8: Jimmy Hill, Pleasant Grove grocer
• May 19: Musician and teacher Barbara Dorough Thomas
• July 10: baseball player Al Lary
• September 8: disc jockey Walter Anglin
• September 11: Birmingham natives Lynn Edwards Angell and Bill Godshalk, during the terrorist attacks.
• September 17: Bubba Church, baseball player
• December 21: Ed Salem, former Alabama Crimson Tide football star and restauranteur

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 2001

See Also

• 2001 City Stages
• 2001 Birmingham Barons
• 2001 Birmingham Steeldogs
• 2001 UAB Blazers
• 2001 Iron Bowl

2000s

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Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works