1958

1958 was the 87th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• January 24-February 15: Birmingham Festival of Arts 1958 Salute to Italy
• February 2: Dr Lawrence Reynolds formalized his donation of the Reynolds Historic Library to UAB.
• March 4: Vestavia Hills Baptist Church purchased George Ward's former Vestavia estate.
• April 16: Crooner Sammy Salvo appeared on American Bandstand.
• May 7: Birmingham Grotto of the National Speleological Society was founded.
• September 13: A 1/5th scale Statue of Liberty was installed atop the Liberty National Building on 20th Street South.
• The Cahaba Girl Scout Council was organized.
• The Gospel Harmonettes disbanded.
• St George Melkite Greek Catholic Church hosted the 1958 Melkite National Convention.
• John Patterson defeated George Wallace in the Democratic primary for Governor of Alabama.
• Birmingham's Regional Poison Control Center was established at Children's Hospital.
• "Cousin Cliff" Holman's "Cliff's Clubhouse" became "Cartoon Clubhouse".
• The Lyric Theatre closed its doors.
• December 13: A rare snowfall brought 3.3 inches to Birmingham.

Civil Rights Movement

• Birmingham Police arrested ministers who were organizing a bus boycott, leading to an FBI inquiry of allegations of misconduct.
• Fred Shuttlesworth began writing a weekly column for The Pittsburgh Courier, a national black newspaper.
• April 28: 54 sticks of dynamite were left outside Temple Beth-El, but were doused by rain, preventing an explosion.
• June 29: Bethel Baptist Church was bombed by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Business

• EBSCO Industries was formed by Elton B. Stephens.
• BUCO Building Constructors was founded.
• Green Acres Cafe opened its downtown location on 4th Avenue North.
• Michael Matsos opened the original Michael's in the Holiday Inn on Bessemer Super Highway.
• John Bishop opened the original Dreamland Bar-B-Que in Tuscaloosa.
• John Hand became CEO of the First National Bank of Birmingham.
• Al Belcher gained a majority share of Rickwood Field from partners Al DeMent and Rufus Lackey.
• Elmer Harris got his first job as a co-op student at Alabama Power Company.
• The Five Points Theatre and Homewood Theatre both closed.
• Nina Miglionico became president of the National Association of Women Lawyers.
• WABT-TV became WAPI-TV
• Cecil McGlohon succeeded Mack Russell as manager of the Alabama Theatre.
• The Alabaster Advertiser ceased publication.
• The Little Savoy Cafe closed after a fire.

Sports

• Bear Bryant took over as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.
• November 29: Auburn won a fifth straight Iron Bowl 14-8, finishing the season undefeated. Quarterback Lloyd Nix was the team's captain, and also went 9-0 as a starter for the Tigers' national champion baseball team.
• Alabama State University won the Magic City Classic over Alabama A&M by a score of 20-8.
• The 1958 Birmingham Barons won 91 games and the Southern Association pennant.
• Jim Davenport began a 12-year career as third baseman for the San Francisco Giants.
• Homewood's Joy League youth baseball league was formed.
• A 1/4 mile dirt oval was opened at the Birmingham International Raceway.
• Virgil Trucks pitched his last season in the major leagues, winning 9 games for Kansas City before being traded to the Yankees who used him in relief.
• April 21: Frank House scored two runs in a single inning as a pinch-hitter for the Kansas City A's.
• Bobby Bowden accepted the head coaching job at Samford University.
• Grambling State and Jackson State Universities joined the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Works

• Youngest of the World's Great Cities
• Jazz in Silhouette and The Nubians of Plutonia, jazz albums by Sun Ra
• Yancy Derringer starring Frances Bergen as Madame Francine premiered on CBS.

Buildings

• The Samford University campus in Shades Valley opened, with Seibert Stadium and other buildings.
• Ground was broken on the Oscar Wells Memorial Building for the Birmingham Museum of Art.
• Sardis Missionary Baptist Church
• Charles Byrd sold George Ward's Vestavia estate to Vestavia Hills Baptist Church.
• Hueytown High School
• A new 40-rank organ was installed at South Highland Presbyterian Church.
• Reynolds Historical Library
• Ed Salem's Drive-In No. 3 (Lakeview)
• The Little Savoy Cafe burned down and never re-opened.
• Anderson Electric opened a new plant at 1615 Moore Street Northeast in Leeds.

Individuals

• Leslie S. Wright succeeded Harwell Davis as President of Samford University.
• Woodlawn High School graduate Lili Gentle married Hollywood producer Richard D. Zanuck.
• Shihan Oyama began his karate training.
• July 23: Maureen Brumbeloe became the Birmingham Police Department's first uniformed female officer.
• July 4: Nolan Shivers began a 49-year career with the Birmingham Police Department.
• Accountant Hoyt Bedingfield began working for the City of Birmingham.
• Monk and sculptor Joseph Zoettl completed his last work in the Ave Maria Grotto.
• Lili Gentle married Richard D. Zanuck in Hollywood, California.

Births

• January 5: Joe Cribbs, football player
• January 10: Pat Keedy, baseball player
• January 10: Ronnie Dixon, entrepreneur
• January 24: Mike Harmon, race car driver
• January 31: Rafael Santana, 2007 Birmingham Barons manager
• March 8: Brian Shoop, BSC Panthers and UAB Blazers baseball coach
• April: Beverly McGinnis, BFRS battalion chief
• April 7: Richard Rutledge, Roebuck Springs-South Roebuck neighborhood president
• April 23: Carl Bailey, basketball player
• May 6: Don McNeal, football player
• May 13: Gregory Clarke, pastor
• May 14: Don VanCleave, Magic Platter owner and CIMS founder
• May 26: Wes Clements, Birmingham Barons hitting coach
• July 8: David Aizenman, physician
• September 14: Nancy Lewis, missing Children's Hospital cook
• October 25: Chris Clark, artist
• October 27: Wayne Taylor, Trussville City Council president
• November 16: Michael Dubruiel, priest and author
• December 28: Phil Sims, Pinson businessman and politician
• Patrick Cooper, attorney
• Danny Davis, NASA executive
• Moody Duff, former Birmingham Police Deputy Chief
• Art Franklin, newscaster
• Ernie Mundi, Steve's Grocery owner
• Annetta Nunn, former Birmingham Police Chief
• Tony Picklesimer, auto dealer
• Nick Pihakis, restaurateur
• Rush Propst, football coach
• Mary Smith, Birmingham and Fairfield police officer
• Ray Watts, neurologist and President of UAB.

Awards

• Miss Alabama: Lee Thornberry
• Mr Crestwood: M. A. Sanders
• Charley Boswell won the "Ben Hogan Trophy" given by the Golf Writers Association of America.
• The Auburn Tigers' Jerry Wilson was an All-Southeastern Conference selection.
• Guy Hunt was ordained a minister of the Primitive Baptist Church.

Graduations

• Educator Lydia Lewis Alexander from Talladega College
• Artist William Christenberry from the University of Alabama
• Federal judge Ira De Ment from the University of Alabama School of Law.
• Birmingham City Schools superintendent Cleveland Hammonds from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a bachelor of arts in history
• Emil Menzel completed a Ph.D. in psychology at Vanderbilt University.
• Barber Vincent Oliver from Woodlawn High School
• Federal judge Sam Pointer, Jr from New York University
• Community activist Doris Powell from Ullman High School

Deaths

• James A. Lewis, architect
• Dorothea Long Moretti, widow of sculptor Giuseppe Moretti

Context

The European Union came into existence in 1958 with the implementation of the Treaty of Rome. Sputnik fell to earth after four months in orbit. Bobby Fischer won the US Chess Championship at 14. The peace symbol was designed. Elvis Presley joined the U.S. Army. Krushchev became premier of the Soviet Union. Expo '58 in Brussels featured the Atomium. Brazil won the 1958 World Cup. Alaska became a U.S. state. Charles became Prince of Wales. The Smurfs debuted in Belgium. Pope John XXIII succeeded Pope Pius XII after his death. Numerous former French colonies in Africa became independent nations.

Notable 1958 births include those of Ellen DeGeneres, Ice-T, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Gary Oldman, Alec Baldwin, Michelle Pfeiffer, Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Kevin Bacon, Jeff Foxworthy, and Andrea Bocelli. Deaths in 1958 included W. C. Handy, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Pope Pius XII, and Tyrone Power. Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Top grossing films included The Bridge on the River Kwai, Peyton Place. South Pacific, and King Creole. Gigi won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's was published, as were Vladimir Nabakov's Lolita and Ian Fleming's Dr. No. The Kingston Trio and the Everly Brothers shared space on the pop charts with the Chipmunks and Elvis Presley. The New York Yankees won the World Series over the Milwaukee Braves.

1950s

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