1936

1936 was the 65th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

The 1936 Avondale plane crash.

• January 1: The Emancipation Association of Birmingham held a celebration of 71 years of freedom with a program at Industrial High School.
• January 29: A rare snowfall brought 3.0 inches to Birmingham.
• February 12: The Boswell Sisters recorded their last songs together.
• February 28: Aviator Amelia Earhart delivered an address at Phillips High School's auditorium.
• May 1: Ersie Bradford became the first African American to serve on a Jefferson County jury.
• June 5: The pageant "From Mud-Covered Oxcart to Gilded Airplane" by Olive Zeigler was presented at Legion Field.
• August 15: A fatal plane crash occurred at the Central Park Field.
• August 16: Jack Brazleton crashed a bi-plane into the Avondale School.
• September 23: Civil rights activist and Communist Party organizer Joseph Gelders was abducted, beaten and flogged after a meeting of the International Labor Defense in Birmingham.
• The Birmingham Civic Symphonic Orchestra began playing free Sunday afternoon concerts at Avondale Park.
• The design of Cahaba Homestead Village was approved.
• Groundbreaking for Vulcan Park was held and the Vulcan statue was disassembled and moved to the site.
• The Jefferson County Department of Health recorded 85 new cases of polio, of which 10 were fatal.

Business

• Blach's moved to a new building.
• First Federal Savings Bank was chartered.
• July: The Iron and Steel Worker's Credit Union was founded.
• Mutual Savings Credit Union was established.
• Raleigh Jenkins Jr became president of the Jenkins Lumber Company at the retirement of his father, Raleigh Sr.
• The White Dairy Company was incorporated.
• U.S. Steel acquired the Virginia Bridge & Iron Co. of Roanoke, Virginia and its Birmingham fabricating plant.

Education

• September 14: The University of Alabama's Birmingham Extension Center opened in a house at 2131 6th Avenue North with Edward Austin as director and 116 students enrolled.
• St Joseph's School in Brookside closed.
• 122 students at Ensley High School contracted staphyloccal poisoning traced to cream puffs purchased from a local bakery.

Religion

• Louis Phillips succeeded Ike Adler as president of Temple Emanu-El.

Sports

• Arkansas AM&N joined the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
• Four light towers were erected at Rickwood Field, allowing for night games.
• November 27: Boxer Izzy Jannazzo went the distance against Barney Ross in a welterweight title bout at Madison Square Garden.

Works

Buildings

• Carbon Hill High School
• Harry Jackson residence
• Brown-Service Funeral Home
• Trussville Wastewater Treatment Plant

Movies

• Two in the Dark starring Gail Patrick
• My Man Godfrey starring Gail Patrick

Music

• Lil Johnson recorded "Sam the Hot Dog Man".

Individuals

• June 4: William Bankhead and was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
• July 7: Helen Davis became the first woman to register with the Alabama Board of Architects.
• William A. Bell succeeded Brooks Dickens as president of Miles College.
• Bull Connor became Commissioner of Public Safety.
• The Reverend James Coyle's remains were moved from Southside Catholic Cemetery to Elmwood Cemetery.
• Francis Falkenburg became manager of the Alabama Theatre.
• Al Gallodoro joined the Paul Whiteman orchestra.
• Joe Giattina returned to Birmingham.
• Stanleigh Malotte became house organist of the Alabama Theatre.
• Luther Patrick was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives.
• Hank Penny began his professional music career at WWL-AM in New Orleans.

Births

• January 12: Andrew J. Kennedy, Catholic priest
• January 20 Pinky Bass, photographer
• February 5: Jim Phillips, Auburn and NFL receiver
• February 18: Paul Hemphill, newspaper columnist and author
• March 15: Eli Stevens, restaurateur
• March 18: Frank Sikora, newspaper reporter and author
• June 15: Owen Drake, state representative
• July 15: Rod Davis, dean of Howard College of Arts and Sciences
• July 27: George Watson (ABC News), ABC News executive
• August 3: Wallace Malone, bank executive
• August 8: Arthur Means Jr, Carver High School band director
• August 16: Paul "Tall Paul" White, disc jockey
• September 24: Steve Williams, insurance executive and collector
• October: Derrill Crowe, physician and insurance executive
• October 19: James Bevel, minister and Civil Rights Movement leader
• October 25: John Robertson, missing Green Beret
• November 1: Andre Williams, musician
• November 5: William Christenberry, artist
• November 15: Sonny Smith, college basketball coach
• December: Jim Woodward, Jefferson County Sheriff
• December 7: Lloyd Nix, dentist and Auburn quaterback
• December 12: Ted Galloway, band director
• December 16: Jackie Burkett, NFL center
• December 17: Daniel Acker Sr, Shelby County Commissioner
• Barbara Evans, painter
• Walter G. Harris, school superintendent
• Jim Jeffrey, football player, coach and educator
• James Jones, Shelby County Sheriff
• Rhoda Denaburg Link, jeweler
• Murray Kidd, architect
• Clarence Marble, high school basketball coach
• Al O'Brien, painter

Marriages

• Donald Comer, Jr to Isabel Anderson.
• Actress Gail Patrick to restaurateur Robert Howard Cobb

Awards

• Miss Alabama: Gloria Lavenge/Tommy Marie Peck

Graduations

• Bear Bryant from the University of Alabama
• Kenneth Daniel from the University of Alabama, bachelor's in mechanical engineering
• Nina Miglionico from the Alabama School of Law
• Henry Stanford from Emory University
• Elton B. Stephens from the Alabama School of Law

Deaths

• January 16: James Meissner, aviator
• March 10: Edward Cabaniss, attorney
• March 20: George Crawford, industrialist
• April 4: James Van Hoose, former Mayor of Birmingham
• April 12: James Hall, Presbyterian minister and educator
• May 11: Robert Brown, businessman and Alabama State Fair president
• May 22: Irvin Wilhelm, Birmingham Barons pitcher and manager
• June 17: Henry Walthall, actor
• July 10: John Rountree, editor and publisher
• September 15: George Cruikshank, historian
• October 13: Frank Lathrop, lumber dealer
• Bem Price, architect

Gallery

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  The Loveman's building in 1936

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  Photograph of A. H. Parker from the 1936 Industrial High School class photo

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  Portrait of Alice Chalifoux in 1936

1930s

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