1972

Cover of Stay Hungry, published 1972

1972 was the 101st year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

20th Street North in May 1972

• First National Bank was renamed AmSouth Bancorporation.
• Mary Kay Beard made the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.
• St Elias Maronite Church hosted the 1972 National Apostolate of Maronites convention.
• James C. Parsons was named Birmingham Police Chief.
• Joe Shannon retired from the U. S. Air Force.
• Ralph M. Tanner was succeeded Charles D. Hounshell as President of Birmingham-Southern College.
• George Wallace was shot on the campaign trail. Jere Beasley served as acting governor.
• Bull Connor was defeated in re-election bid for the Alabama Public Service Commission.
• Gage Bush Englund donated her collection of dolls to the Birmingham Public Library.
• The Tuscaloosa Sailing Club was founded.
• Frank Barker and Bill Hay founded the Birmingham Theological Seminary at Edgewood Presbyterian Church.
• The Grand Bijou Theatre revival cinema opened in the former Lyric Theatre.
• Bert Bank was appointed to oversee the implementation of court-ordered patient care improvements at Bryce Hospital and Partlow Hospital.
• William Noble was elected to the first of six terms as Mayor of Gardendale.
• April 1: The original Tutwiler Hotel closed its doors.
• May 18: The Birmingham Festival Theatre debuted with a performance of "The Threepenny Opera" at East Lake Library.
• July 15: The Buzzard Roost Bridge was destroyed by fire.
• Fall: The Red Mountain School opened.
• October 2: John Scates was sworn in as Mayor of Vestavia Hills.
• November 10: Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham was hijacked and flown to Havana, Cuba.
• December 31: Bernard Kincaid married Alfreda Harris.

Business

• BE&K was founded.
• Chuck Binninger founded the Electronic Repair Company in East Lake.
• Trilogy Leather was founded.
• WJLD-AM moved from downtown to Spaulding Ishkooda Road in Mason City.
• Carl Miller purchased office furniture dealer Bodine, Bryson and Rolling.
• The Owen-Richards Company became Motion Industries.
• Ken Forbes, Jr opened the Angry Revolt head shop in Homewood.
• WBRC-FM and WBRC-AM were acquired by Mooney Broadcasting.
• The Salt and Pepper chain of fast food restaurants debuted with eight locations in Birmingham.
• April: Seafood & Chicken Box opened.

Sports

• October: Alabama A&M beat Alabama State 8-7 in the Magic City Classic.
• December 2: Auburn defeated Alabama with two blocked punts in the 1972 Iron Bowl.
• Jimmy Means joined the Alabama Gang.
• Richard Gilliam was hired as Montevallo High School basketball coach.
• Eli Gold debuted as a sports announcer for the Mutual Broadcasting System.
• Mel Allen was inducted into the Sportswriters and Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Works

Buildings

The First National-Southern Natural Building

• Arthur Elementary School
• Birmingham International Airport Terminal Building
• Carson Filter Plant
• Daniel Payne College, Sayreton Road campus
• East Town Shopping Center
• First National-Southern Natural Building (now Regions Center)
• Homewood High School
• Mercy Hospital (now Cooper Green Mercy Hospital)
• Sheraton Inn at I-65 and 3rd Avenue North
• Ski Lodge Apartments I
• Tannehill Valley Estates bridge
• Garywood Assembly of God, new 450-seat sanctuary
• Expansion of Children's Hospital
• Completion of the Monte D'Oro subdivision
• Renovations to the YWCA Building
• July 22: Sloss Blast Furnace Site: 1st Avenue North was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Books

• Stay Hungry by Charles Gaines
• Reprint edition of Ethel Armes' 1910 The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama by Book Keeper's Press

Films and TV

• Fair Play, starring Phillip Alford
• The Erotic Adventures of Zorro and The Adult Version of Jeckyll & Hide, produced by David F. Friedman
• Kate Jackson appeared in "The Rookies"

Songs

• "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", The Temptations, featuring Dennis Edwards
• "Black Tattler" / "Stop the Merry-Go-Round" & "Black Haze Express", Sam Dees
• ""I've Been Lonely for So Long." Frederick Knight, recorded by Neal Hemphill

Individuals

• Elmer Moree left Woodlawn High School to become the first headmaster of Franklin Academy.
• Camille Desmarais was named rector of St John's Episcopal Church for the Deaf.

Births

• January 30: Jennifer Hale, actress and voice-over artist
• March 1: Jerome Murkerson, U. S. Marine gunnery sergeant killed in Iraq
• June 15: Carlos Subero, 2008 Birmingham Barons manager
• June 19: James-Paul Dice, meteorologist
• June 19: Antonio Spurling, attorney and real estate developer
• July 20: Jay Barker, football player and radio personality
• December 27: Walter Maddox, Mayor of Tuscaloosa
• Trey Devey, former executive director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra
• Sandi Gregory, attorney
• Chiquita Holloway, education specialist
• Sean Meyer, sommelier
• Chris Newsome, chef
• Conlin Payne, Lipscomb Police chief
• Shannon Riley, president of One Stop Environmental

Graduations

• Kamau Afrika graduated from Parker High School.
• Dale Benos earned a bachelor's in biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
• David Cromwell Johnson earned his juris doctorate from the Birmingham School of Law.
• David Cutcliffe graduated from Banks High School.
• Larry DeLucas earned a degree in chemistry from UAB.
• Owen Drake earned his associate's degree from Jefferson State Community College
• Rob Henrikson earned his juris doctorate at the Emory University School of Law.
• Larry Langford earned a degree in social and behavioral sciences from UAB.
• Branko Medenica earned a bachelor's degree in business at Birmingham-Southern College.
• Kim Price graduated from Benjamin Russell High School.
• Gary Weinberger completed a bachelors in American studies at the University of Alabama.
• Tobias Wolff earned a degree in English from Hertford College, Oxford.

Deaths

• Bill Battle Jr, Birmingham-Southern athletic director
• Clifford Stiles, owner of the Redmont Hotel from 1946.
• May 4: Reverend Arthur W. Dycer
• October 10: Tom Stewart, U. S. Senator (Tennessee)
• October 12: Walter Roland, blues pianist

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 1972

See Also

• 1972 Birmingham Athletics

1970s

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