1956

1956 was the 85th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• Frank P. Samford, Jr commissioned a bronze replica of the Statue of Liberty for the Liberty National Building.
• The Woodlawn High School debate team won the inaugural Barkley Forum tournament in Atlanta.
• Bull Connor began his second term as Commissioner of Public Safety.
• David F. Friedman begins his career in exploitation films by partnering with Kroger Babb.
• Mack Russell succeeded Norris Hadaway as manager of the Alabama Theatre.
• Cecil M. Johnson named Birmingham Woman of the Year.
• The Birmingham Community Chest changes its name to United Appeal.
• WAPI-AM, WAFM-FM, WAPI-TV and the Birmingham News are sold to Newhouse.
• The Jefferson County Truck Growers Association moves to Finley Avenue.
• January 15: The University of Montevallo became coeducational.
• Maytown was incorporated.
• April 15: An F4 tornado killed 25 and injured 200 along a 20 mile path through Pleasant Grove, McDonald Chapel and Trussville.
• May 3: The Birmingham Amateur Radio Club is incorporated with Layton Dorman, president.

Civil Rights Movement

• February 1: Autherine Lucy enrolled at the University of Alabama. She was expelled a week later for causing disruption.
• April 10: Kenneth Adams, E. L. Vinson & Willis Vinson assaulted singer Nat King Cole on stage during a performance at Municipal Auditorium. They were each sentenced to 180 days in jail.
• May 26: A Montgomery judge banned the NAACP from operating in Alabama.
• June 5: The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights was founded by Fred Shuttlesworth at Sardis Baptist Church.
• December 25: Fred Shuttlesworth's home is bombed. He emerges from the basement unscathed.
• December 26: Fred Shuttlesworth leads hundreds of Blacks onto Birmingham busses in defiance of local law. 22 are arrested and Shuttlesworth files a federal lawsuit against the police.

Sports

• February 15: The Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City A's cancelled an exhibition at Rickwood Field due to segregation ordinances.
• The Birmingham Black Barons played their first season in the new Negro American League.
• December 1: Auburn defeated the Alabama 34-7 in the 1956 Iron Bowl at Legion Field.
• Alabama's men's basketball team was SEC champion with a 14-0 league record (21-3 overall).
• October 20: Howard College's final homecoming game at its East Lake campus was won 25-6 by Carson-Newman under steady rain. Viola Beard reigned as queen.
• Milton Graff set a Birmingham Barons single season record for at bats with 653.
• The Magic City Classic ends in a 0-0 tie.

Music

• The Birmingham Symphony Orchestra debuted as a fully professional ensemble.
• Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane releases the album "Martin and Blane Sing Martin and Blane".
• Tommy Charles releases the single "Our Love Affair"/"If You Were Me" on Decca Records.

Births

• July 11: Sela Ward, actress and model
• August 19: Buddy Aydelette, football player and politician
• October 10: Johnny O'Neal, jazz pianist
• December 14: Tony Nathan, football player and coach

Buildings

• Anna Dupuy Elementary School
• Vestavia Hills City Hall

Context

The 1956 Winter Games were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The Summer Olympics were in Melbourne, Australia. Elvis Presley had his first hit single, "Heartbreak Hotel". Morocco declared independence from France. My Fair Lady opened on Broadway. Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco and Maralyn Monroe married Arthur Miller. "Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" was made the national motto. Yankee Don Larsen pitched a perfect game 5 of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. President Eisenhower was re-elected, and Japan joined the United Nations.

Notable 1956 births included Mel Gibson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tom Hanks, Martina Navratilova, Dwight Yoakam, Bo Derek, and Larry Bird. Deaths that year included H. L. Mencken, A. A. Milne, Connie Mack, Jackson Pollock, Bertolt Brecht, Bela Lugosi, Art Tatum, and Tommy Dorsey.