1964
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1964 was the 93rd year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.
Events
- Easter Sunday, March 29: Billy Graham Easter Rally at Legion Field
- Amerigo Marino succeeded Arthur Winograd as conductor of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
- The Norwood Community Ministry was founded by pastor David Singleton at Handley Memorial Church in Norwood.
- August: A concert at Rickwood Field featured Jackie Wilson, The Drifters, B. B. King, Gene Chandler, Gladys Night [sic], Sam & Dave, Irma Thomas and emcee "Gorgeous George".
- August 11: In the 1964 Birmingham-Homewood merger referendum residents of Homewood voted by a margin of 6 ballots to merge into Birmingham.
- December: In a special referendum authorized by the Alabama Supreme Court, residents of Homewood, whose possible annexation into Birmingham was still in the courts, approved Birmingham's Mayor-Council form of government by a margin of 2,374 to 611.
- Rock group The Ramrods split up.
- Residents of Vesthaven voted 35-0 to be annexed into Vestavia Hills.
- South Highland School closed.
- The Birmingham Botanical Society was founded.
- Rosalyn Heights was annexed into Birmingham's Penfield Park neighborhood.
- Briarwood Christian School was founded as a kindergarten.
- The Pelham Fire Department was organized as a volunteer force.
- Harvard College dean John Monro began volunteering as an English instructor at Miles College.
Business
- September 10: The Avonwood Rest Home was incorporated.
- October 17: Britling Cafeteria closed their flagship 1st Avenue North location.
- October 22: Britling West opened at Five Points West.
- Jim Davenport's Pizza Palace opened.
- Miller Gorrie bought Thomas Brasfield's construction company.
- H. S. Metals was founded by brothers Joseph and Gaston Stein.
- The Griffin Wheel Co. opened a manufacturing plant near Bessemer.
- Jack Shannon founded J. H. Shannon & Co. investment bankers.
- Jesse Lewis founded The Birmingham Times.
- Jefferson Home Furniture moved from 1808 3rd Avenue North to 1716 2nd Avenue North.
- WAPI-TV installed a new RCA Traveling Wave broadcast antenna on its Red Mountain tower.
- Alex Gatewood founded The Locker Room clothier in Tuscaloosa.
- Prestige Productions Records was founded.
- Tuscaloosa Testing Laboratory was founded in Tuscaloosa.
- The Cahaba Valley News became the The Birmingham Independent and the Cahaba Valley News
- Fred and Rheta Skelton opened South Haven Nursing Home.
Civil Rights
- June 9: Tuscaloosa Police violently broke up a Civil Rights march from First African Baptist Church to the new Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.
- July 2: President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- July 31: Ollie McClung filed a challenge to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
- September 17: The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama found part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 unconstitutional.
- September 23: Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black issued an order staying the decision of the District Court.
- December 14: The United States Supreme Court ruled in Katzenbach v. McClung that Ollie's Barbecue and other restaurants were subject to the public accommodations clause of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- Dave Brubeck performed at the first integrated concert at the University of Alabama.
Sports
- 1964 Birmingham Barons
- July 23: 1964 Birmingham Barons star Bert Campaneris made his Major League debut.
- November 26: 1964 Iron Bowl
Works
- "The Greatest Live Show on Earth", album by Jerry Lee Lewis recorded at Municipal Auditorium
Buildings
- January 2: The Parliament House hotel opened its doors to guests.
- Brookwood Forest Elementary School in Mountain Brook
- Collegeville Housing Community
- Exchange Security Bank Mountain Brook branch
- Hewitt-Trussville Junior High
- Logan Martin Dam
- Tuscaloosa County Courthouse in Tuscaloosa
- Valley Elementary School in Pelham
- Meyer Planetarium at Birmingham-Southern College
- Monte D'Oro subdivision
- Roebuck Park Baptist Church education building
- Birmingham Travelodge No. 1 was remodeled and added a rooftop swimming pool.
- The Hood-McPherson building had renovations made.
- Sears Vestavia Hills at Vestavia Hills Mall
- South Haven Nursing Home in Hoover
Demolitions
- Southern Hotel at 20th Street and 4th Avenue North
- Alley School at Green Springs Avenue / 20th Avenue South for construction of I-65
Individuals
- Benny Carle left Birmingham to take a job in Huntsville.
- Don Morrison was granted his license to practice architecture.
- Sonny Penhale was elected to his first term as Mayor of Helena.
- Jonathan McPherson was the first African American to pass the patrolman examination given by the Birmingham Police Department
- Maryon Allen wrote a society column for The Birmingham News.
- Cholly Atkins was hired as in-house choreographer for Motown Records.
Births
- January 3: Buck Johnson, basketball player
- January 5: David Garrett, law librarian and playwright
- January 20: Mark Gottfried, basketball coach
- January 21: Howard Yeilding, Jefferson County Personnel Board president
- January 28: Justin Fox, journalist
- March 2: Justin Brown, conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra
- March 27: Bubba Bussey, radio show host
- March 27: Eddie Vines, Jefferson County Circuit Court judge
- April 23: Vance Moody, Homewood City Council member
- April 24: Carol Robinson, Birmingham News crime reporter
- April 27: Lori Locust, Birmingham Iron coach
- May 26: Caitlín R. Kiernan, novelist
- May 28: Sheldon Haygood, television sports anchor
- June 15: Courteney Cox Arquette, actress
- June 19: Kevin Schwantz, motorcycle racer and trainer
- June 21: Chris Hodges, pastor of Church of the Highlands
- July 6; Lillie Leatherwood, Olympic sprinter
- July 13: Damon Johnson, guitarist and rock singer
- July 18: Todd Henderson, attorney and former law enforcement officer
- August: Daniel Coleman, president of Birmingham-Southern College
- August 24: David Bonnett, race car driver
- August 24: Oteil Burbridge, bass player
- September 9: Ben Tamburello, football player
- October 2: Hector Villanueva, baseball player
- October 3: Rick Burgess, radio show host
- October 6: Lucy Bonds, owner of Lucy's Coffee and Tea
- October 10: Jerome Mincy, basketball player
- October 20: Clifford Allison, race car driver
- October 20: Drew Galloway, artist
- October 26: Steve Marshall, Attorney General of Alabama
- November 5: Guido Maus, artist and gallery owner
- November 7: Michael Papajohn, stunt performer and actor
- November 22: Olin Barnes III, insurance executive
- December 8: Thomas Martin, chairman of Alabama Power Company
- December 24: Bridgett Jones, salon owner
- Kathryn Woodson Barr, head of the Highlands School
- Charles Benjamin, coach for Birmingham City Schools
- Floyd Council, Birmingham Public Library director
- Scott Daniels, radio personality
- Bobby Jackson, fantasy miniaturist
- Melissa Kendrick, social activist and owner of Sojourns
- Lee Long, artist and cartoonist
- Mark Pettway, detective sergeant in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
- Connie Rowe, Jasper police chief
- Bill Scott, chief of the San Francisco, California police department
- Fernandez Sims, minister and family counselor
- Sanjay Singh, business executive
Graduations and awards
- Bill Elder earned a bachelor of arts in religion at Baylor University.
- William Cobb's "The Concrete Soldier" was named "Story of the Year" by Story magazine.
- Mike Froning earned a master's in mathematics at Johns Hopkins University.
- Steve Williams graduated from the Birmingham School of Law.
Deaths
- January 21: Howard Yeilding, Jefferson County Personnel Board president
- April 28: William Shortridge, funeral director
- December 8: Thomas Martin, Alabama Power Co. president
- List of homicides in 1964
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