1927

A Ku Klux Klansman hands out literature in downtown Birmingham in 1927

1927 was the 56th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• January 14: The Town of Hollywood was incorporated with Clarence Lloyd as its mayor.
• February 11: The state legislature approved the merger of Edgewood, Grove Park and Rosedale into the newly-incorporated City of Homewood. Red Cunningham took office as Mayor.
• Oak Mountain State Park was established.
• The Birmingham Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America absorbed the South Jefferson County Council.
• The David Lindsay Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was established in Montevallo.
• June 16: Jeff Calloway was abducted and beaten by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
• July: Gennett Records set up a portable recording studio at Starr Piano Store on 3rd Avenue North, capturing boogie-woogie and country blues songs performed by regional artists.
• Birmingham's Kamram Grotto hosted a national conference of grottoes.
• September 6: The Yellowhammer was adopted as the State Bird of Alabama.
• October 5-7: Aviator Charles Lindbergh visited Birmingham during his 22,000-mile national tour sponsored by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. He landed the Spirit of St. Louis at Roberts Field, spoke at the Tutwiler Hotel on the importance of investing in aviation infrastructure and was toasted at Municipal Auditorium.
• October 5: Hawkins Spring went dry, forcing the Alabama Water Company to make connection to the Warrior River to furnish water to Bessemer.
• December 26: The Alabama Theatre opened with a screening of "The Spotlight".

Business

• American Cast Iron Pipe Company added a third-shift to allow for continuous production.
• Sid Lee's Alabama Grocery Company dropped its other activities and became the Buffalo Rock Company.
• Birmingham News publisher Victor Hanson acquired the rival Birmingham Age-Herald and began publishing a joint Sunday edition as The Birmingham News Age-Herald.
• Associated Grocers of Alabama was organized by 13 independent grocers.
• The predecessor to West End's Alley's Drugs opened.
• April 22: The first C. F. Penn Hamburgers opened in Hartselle.
• May: The Oxmoor Furnaces ceased operation.
• June 27: Amid many other route changes, the Birmingham Electric Company returned the former Birmingham Tidewater Railway to service as the No. 27 Ensley No. 38 South East Lake streetcar line.
• Loren Aldridge founded Aldridge Nursery.
• Kirkman O'Neal bought out his Southern Steel Works partners and founded O'Neal Steel.
• Majestic Coffee Company was founded by Aristides Kokenes.
• Ollie's Barbecue moved from Titusville to Southside.
• The hoist at Woodward Iron Company's Redding Shaft on Red Mountain was removed, but the opening continued to serve as ventilation for the Songo No. 1 Mine.
• Alice Furnaces shut down.
• August: William Luquire founded the W. H. Luquire Burial Association.
• Passenger rail service to Shelby Furnace from Columbiana was ended.
• Alabama Power Company merged with the Gulf Electric Power Company.
• R. L. Zeigler founded R. L. Zeigler Co., Inc.
• Development of the Yamakita Country Club at Shelby Springs was curtailed.
• Douglas Arant became a partner in the firm of Bradley, Baldwin, All & White.
• George Connors Jr took over for his father as chairman of the Connors Steel Company.
• July 24: Mountain Brook's "Old Mill" opened as a tea room.
• November 19: Legion Field was dedicated at McLendon Park.
• December: Franklin Glass bought Victor Hanson's interest in the Montgomery Advertiser.

Government

• January 17: Bibb Graves was sworn in as Governor of Alabama, succeeded William Brandon.
• January 17: J. Chris Hartsfield succeeded Thomas Shirley as Jefferson County Sheriff.
• January 17: Curtis Falkner succeeded James Falkner as Shelby County Sheriff.
• January 17: S. D. Kilgore succeeded Guy O'Rear as Walker County Sheriff.
• February 2: The Town of Boyles was annexed by Tarrant City.
• March 4: Hugo Black was sworn into the U.S. Senate, taking the place of retiring Senator Oscar Underwood.
• April 11: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld punitive damages for employers of negligent workers in wrongful deaths in "Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Co. v. Yeldell."
• December 13: A referendum was held to raise a 1-mill tax to fund the Jefferson Tuberculosis Sanatorium.

Education

• Howard College opened a Pharmacy School.
• Bessemer Colored High School graduated its first class.
• E. B. Calhoun succeeded F. H. Chappelle as principal of Norwood Elementary School.
• Joseph Fanning Drake succeeded Theophilus Parker as president of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes.
• Photographer P. H. Polk joined the faculty of Tuskegee Institute.

Religion

• Max Roseman succeeded Louis Pizitz as president of Temple Beth-El.

Sports

• January 1: Alabama and Stanford tied 7-7 in the Rose Bowl.
• April 17: Outfielder Sammy West made his debut with the Washington Senators.
• Pitcher Satchel Paige broke his contract with the Negro Southern League's Chattanooga Black Lookouts to sign with Bill Gatewood's Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League.
• Pitcher John Wilson debuted with the Boston Red Sox.
• Alabama Power Company and the Birmingham Post claimed silver loving cups at the conclusion of the 1927 Indoor Baseball League of Birmingham season.
• 1927 Birmingham Barons
• Wallace Wade hung up his baseball coaching hat to focus on the 1927 Alabama Crimson Tide football team.

Works

• Alabama State Land Act of 1927
• November 10: Jimmie Tarlton and Tom Darby recorded "Birmingham Jail" for Columbia Records.
• Jaybird Coleman recorded for the Gennett, Silvertone and Black Patti record labels.
• Lucille Bogan, Harry Charles and Alex Channey recorded for Paramount Records in Chicago.

Books

• Honor Bound, novel by Jack Bethea
• Laurel and Straw, novel by James Saxon Childers

Buildings

The Alabama Theatre opened in 1927

• Anderson Electric built a new plant at 44th Street and 7th Avenue North.
• The Avon Theater in Lakeview was constructed.
• Birmingham Fire Station No. 3 was constructed on Highland Avenue.
• Birmingham Fire Station No. 22 was constructed on Clairmont Avenue.
• The new Birmingham Public Library opened in Woodrow Wilson Park.
• The Country Club of Birmingham built a sprawling new clubhouse in Mountain Brook.
• Ensley First United Methodist Church completed an education building.
• The Mediterranean-styled Ensley Theatre opened.
• The Famous Theater opened on 4th Avenue North.
• The elaborately ornamented Florentine Building on 2nd Avenue North was completed.
• Grace Episcopal Church in Woodlawn was completed.
• A new shelter was built for the Greater Birmingham Humane Society.
• Greater Shiloh Baptist Church began worshiping in the basement of their church building, still under construction.
• A classroom wing was added to Industrial High School.
• The 6-story Kenilworth Arms apartment building on Highland Avenue opened.
• The Little Theatre opened at Caldwell Park.
• Lloyd Hall was built for the University of Alabama's chemistry department.
• The Thomas Martin residence on Stratford Road was built for Alabama Power Company president Thomas Martin.
• Minor High School was rebuilt after a fire.
• An addition to Hemphill Elementary School was completed.
• The landmark Quinlan Castle apartment building on 21st Street South opened.
• The project to roof over the infield bleachers at Rickwood Field was completed.
• The Venetian Village Building on 11th Street South was completed.
• The George Wofford residence was built on Salisbury Road.
• Cahaba Road was paved.
• November 19: The 21,000 seat Legion Field opened with a game between Howard College and Birmingham-Southern.
• December 25: The Alabama Theatre opened its doors for a private preview party.

Demolitions

• Oak Grove Elementary School was destroyed by fire.
• The Jefferson County Bank Building was torn down to make way for the Florentine Building.

Individuals

• Aviator Donald Beatty was inducted into the Order of Quiet Birdmen.
• Architect Harry Pembleton began working for Miller and Martin as a chief draftsman for commercial projects.
• Peahead Walker was hired as head football coach at Elon College near Burlington, North Carolina.

Births

• January 16: Nutritionist and dean of the UAB School of Public Heath Juan Navia was born in Havana, Cuba.
• January 26: Grocer and Big B CEO Anthony Bruno was born.
• February 6: Hardware dealer Vance McBride was born in Sewickly, Pennsylvania.
• March 7: Art historian, writer and editor Pat Farmer was born in Winchester, Massachusetts.
• April 12: University of Alabama School of Medicine dean James Pittman was born in Orlando, Florida.
• April 27: Civil Rights activist Coretta Scott King was born Coretta Scott in Heiberger, Perry County.
• April 27: Champion shot-putter and attorney Charlie Fonville was born in Birmingham.
• May 6: Singer, songwriter, Miss Alabama and Mrs. Mickey Rooney B. J. Baker was born Betty Jane Phillips in Birmingham.
• May 25: Gynecologist and BJCC board member Gil Wideman was born in Walker County.
• May 27: Mathematics professor Abdulalim Shabazz was born Lonnie Cross in Bessemer.
• June 6: Mayor of Hoover John Hodnett was born in Majestic, Kentucky.
• July 14: Birmingham building inspector Myron Sasser was born in Tallapoosa County.
• July 29: Actress and educator Betty Caldwell was born Alice Elizabeth Caldwell in Birmingham.
• August 17: City planner and Auburn University professor Robert Juster was born in London, England.
• August 22: World War II veteran Russell Brakefield was born in Winston County.
• September 30: Novelist Cecil Dawkins was born in Birmingham.
• October 6: Alabama Power Company president Joe Farley was born in Birmingham.
• October 14: Grocer Dominic Lusco was born.
• October 25: Judge William Acker was born.
• November 13: Actor Hal Lynch was born in Birmingham.
• November 18: R&B singer Hank Ballard was born John Henry Kendricks in Detroit, Michigan.
• November 19: Educator Wayne Teague was born in Cullman.
• November 21: Contractor D. Riley Stuart was born in Greenville, Butler County.
• November 26: UAB administrator Gloria Howton was born Gloria Sterman in Reform, Pickens County.
• December 4: Poet and novelist Anne George was born in Montgomery.
• December 6: Formal wear dealer J. O. Tant Jr was born.
• December 27: Writer, communications director, actor and social activist John Wright was born in Birmingham.
• December 31: Dancer, choreographer and Birmingham Civic Ballet founder Lola Mae Jones Coates was born Lola Mae Jones.
• Restaurateur Jack Caddell was born in Birmingham.
• Radio host, educator and jazz vocalist Jesse Champion was born in Dolomite.
• Grocer, restaurateur and Civil Rights guard Joe Hendricks was born in Boligee, Green County.
• Illustrator Phil Neel was born.
• Music critic Oliver Roosevelt was born.
• Toy store owner Herman Spivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Sculptor and educator Hannah Stewart was born.
• Attorney and publisher Asa Rountree III was born in Birmingham.
• Wrestler Tojo Yamamoto was born Harold Watanabe in Hawai'i.
• Alabama State Hornets football coach George James was born.
• Birmingham Zoo director Jack Throp was born in Arizona.

Graduations

• Theater manager Norris Hadaway graduated from Bessemer High School.
• Paul Hardin completed his divinity degree at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Arthur Shores completed a degree in education at Talladega College.

Marriages

• May 7: Richmond Beatty married the former Floy Ward.
• Clarence Allgood married Marie Maxwell.
• Henry Higginbotham married Flora Belle Quinton.
• Alberta Robinson married William Shuttlesworth.
• Howell Vines married Alma Huey.

Deaths

• Architect Daniel Reamer died.
• March 5: Restaurateur Louis Gelders died.
• March 7: Birmingham Ice & Cold Storage Co. president Franklin Rushton died in Birmingham.
• March 16: Theater owner Jake Wells died in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
• April 8: Convicted murderer Horace DeVaughan was executed at Kilby State Prison in Atmore. He was the first to have his sentenced carried out by use of the electric chair.
• August 15: Avondale Mills founder and former Governor of Alabama B. B. Comer died in Birmingham.
• November: A construction worker fell from the ceiling of the Alabama Theatre, and is said to still haunt the building.
• November 27: Labor organizer and negotiator William Fairley died in Ensley.

Context

1927 was the spring of the great Mississippi flood, covering 27,000 square miles between April 22 and May 5, killing an unknown number of people and forcing the relocation of more than 600,000 from the delta. Australia moved its capital from Melbourne to Canberra. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded. Andrew Kehoe murdered 38 schoolchildren in Bath Township, Michigan. Ibn Saud established his family's dynasty over the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd on the Arabia peninsula. Charles Lindbergh carried out his epic nonstop solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. The United States established the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration. The Nanchang Uprising gave birth to the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Mount Rushmore park was dedicated, with plans for a monumental carving of four presidential portraits. Joseph Stalin assumed control of the Soviet Communist Party from Leon Trotsky. The Ford Motor Company introduced the Model A. The BBC was granted a royal charter. Despite huge death tolls from earthquakes in China and Japan, the world's population topped 2 billion for the first time.

The top-grossing films of 1927 were "The Jazz Singer," "Wings," "It," (with Clara Bow, the "It girl") and "Love". The German film "Metropolis" came in at number 14. Louis Bromfield's novel, Early Autumn was awarded the Pulitzer and Henri Bergson won the Nobel for literature.

Notables born in 1927 include actors Peter Falk, Eartha Kitt, Gina Lollobrigida, Roger Moore and Sidney Poitier, musicians Antionio Carlos Jobim and Harry Belafonte, Bob "Capt. Kangaroo" Keeshan, comics Harvey Korman and Erma Bombeck, playwright Neil Simon, novelists Robert Ludlum and Gabriel García Márquez, labor activist César Chávez, baseball manager Tommy Lasorda, and Pope Benedict XVI.

Among those who died in 1927 were author Gaston Leroux, architect Hermann Muthesius, accused murderer Lizzie Borden, anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, and dancer Isadora Duncan.

1920s

<< 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 >>

Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works