1967

1967 was the 96th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

Hoover was incorporated in 1967.

Hosea Williams led marchers protesting the incarceration of Martin Luther King Jr on contempt charges in November 1967.

• Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham was selected as architect for the BJCC.
• The first Jefferson County Sales Tax of 1% was levied.
• The Alabama Conservancy was founded.
• The 106th Observation Squadron participated in Operation Clove Hitch III in the Caribbean.
• John Rice, his wife Angelena, and daughter Condoleezza moved to Denver, Colorado.
• The Cahaba Girl Scout Council opened meeting houses in public housing projects.
• Harvey Terrell succeeded Warren Whitney as president of The Club.
• The Regional Planning Commission was certified under the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966.
• The Birmingham Festival of Arts held a Salute to Japan.
• The Southern Club was demolished to make way for the 30-story First National-Southern Natural Building.
• March 15-19: The Sinclair Oil dinosaurs were displayed at the Roebuck Plaza Shopping Center.
• March 16: Rites of Spring appeared on Dick Clark's "Where the Action Is" program.
• April 3: "The Popeye Show", starring Cousin Cliff aired in color for the first time.
• May 6: An F2 tornado caused significant damage to West End.
• October 30: Martin Luther King Jr, Ralph Abernathy, Wyatt Walker, and A. D. King returned to Birmingham to surrender themselves on contempt charges stemming from the 1963 marches.
• November 12: Rector Cotesworth Lewis delivered a controversial sermon with President Lyndon Johnson in attendance at his Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.
• December 3: Exotic dancer Velvet Blaze was arrested for indecency during a performance at the Blue Note Lounge.
• Hank Ballard and The Midnighters split up.
• The Beaux Arts Krewe was founded to support the Birmingham Museum of Art.
• Gage Bush Englund founded the Huntington Dance Ensemble on Long Island.
• The former Hillman Hotel was demolished for a parking lot.
• The Birmingham Urban League was founded.

Business

• Frank Samford Jr was named CEO of the Liberty National Life Insurance Company.
• Rust Engineering was acquired by Litton Industries.
• Newman Waters sold Eastwood Mall to the Alabama Farm Bureau.
• Shook and Fletcher Insulation Company was spun off from the Shook and Fletcher Supply Company.
• Taits Gap Mine closed.
• Tommy Charles opened Tommy Charles Imported Cars.
• The Tutwiler Hotel was bought by the Great Southern Investment Corporation.
• Joe Wheeler bought the Pell City Steak House.
• Bruno's opened in a former Colonial Stores location on Carraway Boulevard.
• Howard Bearman joined Pediatrics East.
• O2 Ideas was founded by Cy Steiner and Shelley Stewart.
• Oscar Adams Jr and Harvey Burg opened the state's first racially-integrated law practice.
• Eve's Leaves opened in Mountain Brook Village.
• Paul Bryant and two other investors purchased Zeigler Meats.
• Alan Kaufman opened his first Stand 'N Snack restaurant.
• Browdy's moved to the Hill's building in Mountain Brook Village.
• Bob's Hickory Bar-B-Q moved from Central Park to Bessemer as Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q.
• William Powell became vice-president and branch manager for the First National Bank of Birmingham.
• Bob Watkins founded Bob Watkins Realty.
• Thomas C. Brasfield Construction became Brasfield & Gorrie.
• Jefferson Title Corp. was founded by E. Leon Sanders.
• The Birmingham Independent and the Cahaba Valley News became The Alabama Independent and Birmingham Independent

Government

• The City of Hoover was incorporated with Don Watts as mayor.
• October 12: Roosevelt City was incorporated.
• George Seibels succeeded Albert Boutwell as Mayor of Birmingham.
• Lurleen Wallace succeeded George Wallace as Governor of Alabama.
• Tom Bevill succeeded James Martin as Representative for the 7th Congressional District of Alabama.
• Thomas Stubbs was seated to represent Alabama Senate District 17.
• The first law enabling a Jefferson County Occupational Tax was passed.

Education

• The Auburn University College of Business was founded.
• Gresham Junior High School was built.
• Wenonah State Junior College graduated its first class.
• The University of Alabama School of Nursing moved from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham.
• Roebuck Plaza Elementary School was closed.
• Perry Cannon took over management of UAB's University College Library.

Sports

• The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame was founded.
• An Atlanta Braves vs. Southern League All-Stars exhibition game was called "on account of tornado".
• The 1967 Birmingham A's won the Southern League title by 3 1/2 games.
• January 2: Alabama won the Sugar Bowl 34-7 over Nebraska.
• July 8: The A's Reggie Jackson hit for the cycle in a game against Macon.
• June 17: Donald Cox caught a state record 40-pound channel catfish in Inland Lake.
• August 12: The AFL's Kansas City Chiefs defeated the New York Jets 30-17 in an exhibition game at Legion Field.
• Birmingham Vulcans RFC rugby team was founded.
• The 1967 Alabama Crimson Tide football team finished the regular season 8-2-1.
• The 1967 Auburn Tigers football team finished the regular season 6-4.
• December 2: Kenny Stabler ran for the game winning touchdown in the mud-soaked 1967 Iron Bowl.
• Vida Blue was drafted by the Kansas City A's.
• Vince Gibson was named head football coach at Kansas State University.
• Tommie Reynolds played a season for the New York Mets.
• Quarterback Bart Starr and tackle Steve Wright helped the Green Bay Packers to an NFL Championship.
• The Atlanta Braves fired manager Billy Hitchcock.
• Bill Yearby ended his football career with the Bridgeport Knights.
• Ted Kubiak made his major league debut with the Kansas City Athletics.

Works

• Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra
• Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out by Timothy Leary
• Odetta by Odetta
• "Anyway the Wind Blows"/"Don't Let Go" by the Rockin' Rebellions

Publications

• October 26: The first issue of UAB's Kaleidoscope was published.
• The Theory of Island Biogeography by Robert MacArthur & E. O. Wilson
• "Start Your Own Religion" pamphlet by Timothy Leary

Buildings

Rendering for the Central Bank and Trust Building

• Birmingham Museum of Art east wing
• Birmingham Police Department West Precinct in downtown Ensley
• Phillips High School renovations
• Highland Avenue Overpass over Elton B. Stephens Expressway
• John C. Yarbrough Community Center
• McElwain Baptist Church sanctuary
• Mountain Brook City Hall (1967)
• Central Bank and Trust building
• Bouldin Dam
• Houston Blount residence
• Cliffview Apartments
• Khalaf residence in Roebuck Springs-South Roebuck
• Western Supermarket at Shades Mountain Plaza
• Midfield Theater
• Japanese Gardens at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens
• Green Springs Shopping Center
• Gresham Junior High School
• construction of the Daniel Building began.
• Hayes High School library/auditorium expansion
• Eastwood Mall extension (Blach's)
• Center Point Fire Station No. 1
• Huffman High School
• Pizitz Middle School
• Shades Crest Baptist Church, new sanctuary
• Timberlane Apartments
• Vocational building at New Castle High School
• Vocational building at Rogers Area Vocational Center in Gardendale
• Westlee Park apartments (Phase 1)
• November 18: The Hayden Bridge was destroyed by fire.

Individuals

• January 1: Duard Le Grand was appointed editor of the Birmingham Post-Herald.
• Poet John Beecher returned to Birmingham to teach at Miles College.
• Rabbi Morton Wallack left Temple Beth-El.
• Rabbi Nahum Benathan left the Knesseth Israel Congregation.
• Fritz Woehle served as president of AIA Birmingham.
• Karl Seitz and Charlie Blair joined the staff of the Birmingham Post-Herald.
• Ferd Weil began a 2-year term as president of Temple Emanu-El.
• Engineer Bill Edmonds moved to Brussels, Belgium to head up Coppee Rust, an affiliate of Rust Engineering.
• Harold Long retired from First Congregational Christian Church.
• Immunologist Max D. Cooper and surgeon Bill Holdefer came to UAB.
• Jimmy Piersall joined the New York Mets' front office staff.
• Ida Moffett became chief of nursing for the Baptist Health Care System.
• Joseph Ellwanger left St Paul Lutheran Church.
• C. Ray Shubert succeeded Henry Gary as pastor of Avondale United Methodist Church.
• Barry Beckett came to work at FAME Studios.
• Singer Roscoe Robinson left Wand Records.
• Robert Adams became chief photographer for the Birmingham News.
• Sidney Smyer Jr succeeded his father as president of the Birmingham Realty Company.
• Harvard College dean John Monro left Cambridge to teach at Miles College in Fairfield.

Births

• January 1: Derrick Thomas, football player
• January 19: Eric Dover, guitarist and vocalist
• January 26: Giles Perkins, attorney
• February 6: Kenneth Coleman, Birmingham Business Alliance CEO
• February 8: Michael Ansley, basketball player
• March 23: John P. Strohm, guitarist and attorney
• April 8: Angela Wells, environmental specialist
• April 23: Siberian tigers Peggy and Sally were born at the Birmingham Zoo.
• April 24: Omar Vizquel, baseball player and 2019 Birmingham Barons manager
• May 25: Ruthie Bolton, WNBA player
• May 28: Keith Hall, housing manager
• June 6: Kathleen Rose-Byington, artist
• June 13: Ken Ward, television reporter
• July 5: Alan Ogg, basketball player
• July 20: Paul DeMarco, attorney and state legislator
• September 21: Jeff Trotman, software entrepreneur
• September 27: Willie Wyatt, football player
• October 9: Artur Davis, U. S. Congress
• December 13: Mike Mordecai, baseball player
• Dorothea Batiste, Circuit Court judge
• John Cassimus, entrepreneur
• Marquita Davis, early learning specialist and former Alabama Finance Director
• Scott Dawson, evangelist
• Tim Dyson, truck driver
• Brian Giattina, developer and accountant
• Chuck Hagler, Hueytown Police Chief
• Barbara Humphrey, track coach
• Rick Journey, television reporter
• Yakov Kasman, pianist
• Joe Maluff, co-owner of Full Moon Bar-B-Que
• Scott Myers, executive director of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
• Eric Ramsey, football player
• Yolanda Seay, accused murderer
• Warren Slater, murderer
• Sheila Snoddy, radio personality

Graduations

• Barbara Allen graduated from Ullman High School.
• James Andrews completed his M.D. at the LSU School of Medicine.
• Hank Erwin graduated from Ensley High School.
• Charles Gaines earned a Master of Fine Arts in writing at the University of Iowa.
• Art Hanes Jr earned a law degree from the University of Alabama.
• Earl Hilliard earned his juris doctorate at Howard University.
• D. Paul Jones earned his juris doctorate at the New York University School of Law.
• Ron McGuffie graduated from McAdory High School.
• Martha Myers earned a bachelor of arts at Samford University.
• Shin Oh completed his medical residency at Georgetown University Hospital.
• Dannetta K. Thornton Owens earned an advanced certificate in French at Carleton University.
• James H. Woodward completed a doctorate in engineering mathematics at Georgia Tech.
• Auburn University awarded its first doctoral degree to an African American student.

Marriages

• June 22: Writer Fred Bonnie to Susan Marchant.
• U. W. Clemon to Barbara Clemon
• Hank Penny to his fifth wife, Shari.
• Sandy Posey to Elvis impersonator Wade Cummings.

Awards

• John Harbert III was named "Marketing Man of the Year in Alabama".
• Quarterback Watson Brown was named to the Tennessee High School All-Star Football team.
• Mary Cobb Martin's "Waiting for What?" won the purchase award from the Bluff Park Art Association.
• Miss Alabama: Becky Alford
• AIA Architecture Firm Award: Hugh Stubbins and Associates

Deaths

• January 16: Robert Van de Graaff, physicist and inventor
• February 28: Matthew Leonard was killed in action in Viet Nam.
• April 21: Former Birmingham City Schools superintendent Charles Glenn died in Birmingham.
• May 6: Elephant keeper John Todd died.
• July 1: Air Force general and "Yea Alabama!" composer Epp Sykes died in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
• December 27: Paul Lehner, former Major League outfielder, died in Birmingham.
• Kirk Newell, football player and coach

See also: List of Birmingham homicides in 1967

Context

1967 is remembered as the "Summer of Love", with mass "be in"s and peace demonstrations across the United States. The UK nationalized its steel industry. Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died in a fire aboard the Apollo I launch vehicle. The American Basketball Association was organized. The 25th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was ratified. Greece and Sierra Leone experienced military coups. Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria in the Six Day War. Expo '67 was held in Montreal, Quebec. Muhammad Ali refused to report for military duty. Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu. The US and USSR agree to ban nuclear weapons in outer space. Thurgood Marshall was nominated to the Supreme Court. Race riots occurred in Tampa, Buffalo, Newark, Minneapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Washington DC. Pulsars and black holes were described for the first time. The Association of Southeast Asia Nations was formed. Che Guevara was executed. John McCain was taken prisoner in North Vietnam. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created. Robert McNamara resigned from the Johnson administration. Nicolae Ceauşescu rose to power in Romania. The Concorde aircraft was unveiled.

1967 births included those of actors Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Mira Sorvino, Laura Dern, Will Ferrell, Vin Diesel, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Benicio del Toro; musicians Kurt Cobain, R. Kelly, Dave Matthews; Billy Corgan, Harry Connick Jr, Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw, and athletes John Smoltz, Kenny Lofton, Deion Sanders, and Ty Detmer.

Deaths in 1967 included those of assassins Jack Ruby and Felix Yussupov; revolutionary Che Guevara, musicians Nelson Eddy, Woody Guthrie, Otis Redding and John Coltrane; artists Edward Hopper and René Magritte; writer Langston Hughes; poet Carl Sandburg; actors Claude Rains, Jayne Mansfield, Vivian Leigh and Spencer Tracy

The Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded in 1967. A Man for All Seasons swept the Academy Awards. Top grossing films include The Jungle Book, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Bonnie and Clyde and The Dirty Dozen. Albums released in 1967 included the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", debuts by Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, the Velvet Underground, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Doors. Top singles included "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum, "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees, and "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles. Super Bowl I was simulcast on CBS an NBC (while the Rolling Stones made their Ed Sullivan Show debut on CBS). "Flipper" and "Gilligan's Island" both got canceled during the year while "The Newlywed Game" and "Mannix" premiered.

1960s

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Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works