Jim Baggett
James Leo Baggett Jr (born 1962 in Birmingham) is a historian who served as archivist of the City of Birmingham and director of the Department of Archives and Manuscripts at the Birmingham Public Library from 1997 to 2023.
Baggett grew up in the Acmar community in St Clair County. He graduated from Moody High School in 1981 and attended Jefferson State Community College before completing a bachelor's degree in history in public history at UAB in 1986.
He began working at the Birmingham Public Library as an intern under Marvin Whiting while completing his master's in public history in 1988. Baggett left Birmingham to pursue a PhD in history at the University of Mississippi. He withdrew in 1991 to work on a grant-funded project to process the records of the Kaul Lumber Company, which had been donated to the Birmingham Public Library Archives. He completed a master's degree in library and information studies at the University of Alabama in 1997. He succeeded Whiting as head of the archives following his retirement in 1996.
Baggett is the author of several books about Alabama history and has written articles for various publications. He has served as curator or co-curator for several exhibitions which draw from the archives. He also contributed a Reading Birmingham book column for the online news site BirminghamWatch.
Baggett has served as president of the Society of Alabama Archivists, Chair of the Jefferson County Historical Commission, and as a trustee of the Birmingham Historical Society and the Alabama Historical Association. Known for his knowledge of the civil rights movement in Birmingham and other historical events in Alabama, Baggett has presented lectures across the United States and Europe.
In 2013 the Alabama Historical Association presented Baggett with the "Virginia Van Der Veer Hamilton Award" for his contributions to public history. On April 4, 2019 Baggett received the "Eminent Librarian Award" during the Alabama Library Association annual conference in Point Clear, Baldwin County. In 2021 the Alabama Historical Association presented Baggett with the "Milo B. Howard Award" for the best article published in The Alabama Review. He was honored the same year as an "Outstanding Alumnus" of the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies. In 2022 the Society of Alabama Archivists presented him with their Marvin Yeomans Whiting Award.
Baggett lives in Birmingham with his wife, Marci, and daughter.
Publications
- Baggett, James L. (1993) Kaul Lumber Company, Kaul Land and Lumber Company, Sample Lumber Company Records, 1836-1966 Birmingham Public Library Press
- Baggett, James L., editor (2005) A Woman of the Town: Louise Wooster, Birmingham's Magdalen. Birmingham Public Library Press ISBN 9780970315779
- Baggett, James L. (2006) Historic Photos of Birmingham. Turner Publishing ISBN 9781596522541
- Baggett, James L. (2009) Alabama Illustrated: Engravings from 19th Century Newspapers. Turner Publishing ISBN 9781596525368
- Baggett, James L. (2010) Remembering Birmingham. Turner Publishing ISBN 9781596526020
References
- "James L. Baggett, Birmingham’s History Keeper." (October 30, 2012) The Birmingham Buff
- Williams, Roy L. (April 05, 2019) "BPL Archivist Jim Baggett Wins 2019 Eminent Librarian Award at Alabama Library Association Conference" Birmingham Public Library newsletter
- "BPL's Jim Baggett Honored by Alabama Historical Association, University of Alabama" (April 12, 2021) Birmingham Public Library Blog - accessed April 13, 2021
- Michaels, Ryan (June 20, 2023) "Jim Baggett, Birmingham (AL)’s Foremost Historian, to Retire on June 23" The Birmingham Times
- Akin, Emery (June 23, 2023) "Jim Baggett, head archivist for nearly 30 years, retires from Birmingham Public Library" CBS42.com