Don Hawkins

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This article is about the Birmingham City Councilor. For others with similar names, see Don Hawkins (disambiguation).

Donald Alexander Hawkins (born September 30, 1917 in East Lake; died March 5, 1978) was a four-term Birmingham City Councilor, serving two terms as council president.

Hawkins was one of four sons born to Robert and Katie Hawkins. He attended city schools and graduated from Woodlawn High School. He took a job in the transit department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Birmingham, and then left to work as a salesman for the Glidden Paint Co.. He married the former Mary Lou Eads and had four children. The family resided at 825 59th Street South.

During World War II Hawkins served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater, seeing action in the Battle of Okinawa. He reached the rank of chief quartermaster before he was discharged. After the war he was hired by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company as an accountant, office manager and territory salesman. In 1951 he took a job as an executed for the A. F. Speed Co., painting contractors.

Hawkins served one trm as president of the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America. He was also a member of the Eastern Salesman's Club, the Woodlawn Lions Club, East Lake Temple Lodge No. 842, Shrine Changers, American Legion, and the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

Hawkins also served as choir director at Woodlawn Methodist Church and was president of the Crestwood Civic Club. That group honored him as the 1957 "Mr Crestwood". He was also named "Mr Eastern Citizen in 1959 and co-chaired the United Appeal campaigns in 1957 and 1960.

Hawkins ran unsuccessfully for Commissioner of Public Improvements in the 1961 Birmingham municipal election. During the campaign he called for the city to lobby for more freeways and expressways, saying, "I will not be satisfied until I can drive to the four corners of this city on a beautiful freeway."

He entered the 1963 Birmingham municipal election as an at-large City Council candidate. As one of the top 18 vote-getters, he secured a place in the run-off ballot, and won a 4-year term on the new council as one of the top four candidates. He was elected council president in 1971 and served on the council until his death.

He also chaired the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board in the late 1960s. Roebuck-Hawkins Park was named in his memory.

References

  • Grainger, Charlie (April 16, 1961) "Hawkins believes he can do 'something for Birmingham'." The Birmingham News, p. 38