Steel Bowl

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The Steel Bowl was an annual college football bowl game held from 1938 to 1941 at Legion Field.

Proposals

A "Steel Bowl" was first proposed in February 1937 by the American Legion Worth Lewis Post No. 22 in Bessemer. They intended for the event to rival the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, and for it to raise funds, "to combat destruction of natural disasters and emergencies and ravages of disease amongst the children and citizens of Alabama." The Post sought approval of the full American Legion Alabama Department at its annual convention in Gadsden.

In November 1937 Labor News editor Ted Williams proposed the same idea as a means of promoting industry while also celebrating college football. He proposed inviting the University of Pittsburgh to take on the University of Alabama in Birmingham on New Year's Day. Birmingham Post columnist B. U. L. Connor agreed the proposal was "a fine idea," but suggested that, "With the Magic City about to become a big tin plate manufacturing center (in reference to the Fairfield Tin Mill then being built), why not call the game Tim Cup?" Similarly, Birmingham Age-Herald columnist John Temple Graves II favored the proposal, but inserted a stipulation that the Pittsburgh team should be "entitled to no Pittsburgh Plus," (in reference to U.S. Steel's policy to sell all of its products, no matter where made or delivered, at the mill price from its Pittsburgh plant plus the cost of freight from Pittsburgh.)

No real progress was made on the proposal that year or the next. By November 1939 a committee had begun meeting and attempted to arrange a matchup between smaller college teams. The Louisiana State Normal School (now Northwestern State University) had expressed interest in accepting an invitation. Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania was mentioned as a potential opponent.

1939 Steel Bowl Classic

On December 30, 1939 a "Steel Bowl Classic" was held at Legion Field pitting an All-Star team made up of players from nine Black high schools in [[Jefferson County] against undefeated Tuscaloosa Industrial High School. The game organized by Edward Q. Adams, former head football coach at Southern Normal School in Brewton, Escambia County who was then organizing boys' activities for the Titusville YMCA. The game was sponsored by the YMCA's "Colored Advisory Committee" and proceeds would benefit "the extension of colored work" by the organization.

A. B. Collins of Parker High School coached the All-Star team with players invited from Dunbar, Parker, Brighton, Powderly, Immaculata, Irondale, Rosedale and Westfield.

The game kicked off at 2:00 PM. The east stands were reserved for white spectators.

1941 Steel Bowl

A different Steel Bowl game was organized by promoter W. F. Hawie. He attended the October 23 meeting of the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board to seek their "endorsement" for a proposed matchup between Mississippi State and the Alabama Polytechnic Institute.

On October 24, Birmingham Post sportswriter Fred Parker laid out his arguments for why Birmingham could not expect to rival the major college bowl games. He noted the 24,000-seat capacity of Legion Field, the unfavorable climate, and the lack of major attractions (resorts, racing, nightlife, etc) to draw fans to travel. He also noted that local fans spoiled by big-time regular season match-ups like the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry were unlikely to attend a game between smaller teams without a local fan base.

The 1941 Steel Bowl was played Legion Field on January 1, 1941. The game was promoted as deciding a "Historically Black College and University Championship".

Wilberforce and Brown-Morris played the game. Lousy weather kept crowds away. The event was not repeated, but the Vulcan Bowl debuted in 1942 at Rickwood Field with a similar purpose.

1946

After the war, Hawie then operating an amusement park at Fairhope in Baldwin County, attempted to resurrect the game. In December 1945 he wired invitations from Mobile to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, the University of Virginia, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, and Temple University.

References

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