Roosevelt City

This article is about the former municipality. For the current Birmingham neighborhood, see Roosevelt.

Robert Smith of the Roosevelt City Police Department in 1970

Roosevelt City was a majority Black incorporated municipality located between Midfield, Lipscomb, Brighton and Brownville to the southwest of Birmingham.

The community, sometimes referred to as "Niggertown," was unable to secure services from neighboring cities, even though state law dictated that business taxes in the unincorporated area would be paid to the nearest municipality.

With help from attorney Orzell Billingsley, Roosevelt City pursued incorporation as its own separate municipality. The Alabama State Legislature passed an amendment proposed by State Senator Richard Dominick to restrict Jefferson County communities within three miles of another city from incorporating, but Roosevelt City completed the process on October 23, 1967 before the new law could take effect.

Freddie Rogers served as Roosevelt City's first and only mayor. The new city quickly obtained federal grant funding to pay for new services such as police and fire departments and construction of a Roosevelt City Community Center. Rogers hoped to annex neighboring Lipscomb and other areas into the city, but those plans were never realized. Even so, with a population of 3,663 in 1972, Roosevelt City described itself as "the third-largest all-black city in the nation."

In early 1973 the city purchased the former Fox Restaurant and Tourist Court on Bessemer Super Highway, to be remodeled at a cost of $150,000 for use as a Roosevelt City Municipal Complex. City offices would relocate from the upper floor of a small building on Brighton Avenue. The new complex would also preserve the restaurant's kitchen and dining room, and have space for a municipal courtroom, housing authority. The tourist court would accommodate a fire station, police station, city jail, credit union, and lounge.

That March Roosevelt City opened bids for a new Valley Creek Treatment Plant, and began construction of low-income housing in Brewerfield. To avoid negative connotations, the housing project was designed to look like regular private homes and was not given a distinct name. In July the city began construction of a medical clinic.

Over time, Roosevelt city's anemic tax base threatened to bankrupt the city. Residents held a special election on July 12, 1988 and voted 718 to 404 to be annexed into Birmingham. The vote was contested, but it was upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court in August 1989.

Mayors

• Freddie Rogers, 1967–1988

References

• Douglas, Carlyle C. (August 1970) "Incorporation: A New Tactic For Saving Black Areas." Ebony Vol. 25, No. 10, pp. 100-105
• Welch, Adrienne (January 12, 1973) "Roosevelt City buys building for complex" Birmingham Post-Herald - via Newspapers.com