1911

20th Street North c. 1911

1911 was the 40th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

Former president Theodore Roosevelt addresses a crowd in Ensley during the 7th Annual Conference on Child Labor.

• February 20: The Alabama Girls’ Industrial School became the Alabama Girls’ Technical Institute.
• March 10–12: The 7th Annual Conference on Child Labor was held in Birmingham.
• March 10: Former president Theodore Roosevelt addressed crowds in Corey (Fairfield), Ensley, and at Capitol Park in Birmingham.
• April: Construction of "model industrial city" Corey, begun in March 1910, was substantially completed.
• April 8: The 1911 Banner Mine explosion killed 128 convict miners.
• June 17: Holy Innocents Hospital was founded.
• October 16: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Far East put on shows at Smith's Park.
• November 11: A fire destroyed the plant of Roberts & Son, printers.
• The Allen Building was damaged by fire, requiring renewal of its facade.
• In Avondale Park, cages were erected for a small menagerie of animals.
• Birmingham changed from a Mayor-Aldermen system of government to a City Commission.
• The Birmingham Equal Suffrage Association was founded.
• Columbus Day was declared a state holiday.
• Jefferson County repealed local prohibition.
• The town of Garden City in Cullman/Blount County was incorporated.
• Mother Augustine of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration began planning a convent and school adjacent to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in West End.

Business

• May 31: The Shubert Theater was declared unsafe by the Birmingham Fire Chief and closed.
• Edgewater Mine opened.
• Hill's Food Stores were founded in Birmingham.
• William J. Long purchased a Ford automobile won in a raffle by a farmer to advertise his Long-Lewis Hardware business.
• The Jack Daniel Distilling Company returned to Birmingham.
• Bottler National Dope Company went out of business.
• Louis Gelders and G. W. Beringer purchased Parisian Dry Goods & Millinery Company from Bertha and Estella Sommers, changing the name to The Parisian Company.
• The Progressive Farmer Company decided to establish a central office in Birmingham.
• Architects David O. Whilldin and Bem Price dissolved their partnership.

Government

• January 10: Walter McAdory became Jefferson County Sheriff.
• August 11: Voters in Birmingham chose strictly-regulated saloons over local prohibition in a referendum.
• Truman Aldrich was appointed Postmaster of Birmingham by President Taft.
• John R. Allan became Shelby County Sheriff.
• John Gray became Walker County Sheriff.
• Thomas McDonald was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives.
• Hugh Morrow was elected to a second in the Alabama State Senate.
• Emmet O'Neal became Governor of Alabama.
• Oscar Underwood became U.S. House majority leader.

Religion

• March 19: Reverend Hans Reuter was installed at Zion Lutheran Church.
• The Altrurian Society was founded in Birmingham.
• Arthur Dycer was ordained in the Methodist Church of Canada.
• Isadore Shapiro became president of the Young Men's Hebrew Association.
• J. R. Turner became pastor of Highlands United Methodist Church.
• White's Chapel Baptist Church on Shades Mountain was organized.

Sports

• John Longwell served as football coach of the Howard College Bulldogs.
• Guy Tutwiler joined the Detroit Tigers.

Individuals

• December 1: Alf Brown resigned as Captain of Engine Company No. 2.
• Christian Enslen retired as head of the Jefferson County Savings Bank.
• Frank Evans was appointed an examiner of accounts by the governor.
• Edgar C. Horton became head of the Birmingham Weather Bureau.
• Miller Reese Hutchison became attached to Thomas Edison's laboratory.
• Solon Jacobs became president of the Birmingham Athletic Club.
• Geneva Mercer sold her first sculpture.
• Robert Nelson became Birmingham's health officer.
• Brother Joseph Zoettl was placed in charge of the power plant at St Bernard's Abbey in Cullman.

Births

Gail Patrick

• February 1: Helen Walpole, radio actress and writer
• February 28: Mortimer Jordan IV
• March 16: Alston Callahan, ophthalmologist
• March 18: Ferd Weil, businessman
• April 10: Martha Gaskins, educator
• May 20: Vet Boswell, singer
• June 20: Gail Patrick, actress
• June 28: Jimmy Hitchcock, sports hall of famer
• July 5: John Farr, Sr, auto dealer
• July 26: Delos Culp, university administrator
• August 4: Elton B. Stephens, entrepreneur and philanthropist
• September 7: Simon Kessler, president of Kessler's stores
• September 11: Alice Lee, attorney and newspaper editor
• October 7: Jo Jones, jazz drummer
• November 19: Mary Elizabeth Counselman, short story writer
• John Evins, business and civic leader
• Alfred Habeeb, anesthesiologist

Graduations

• Octavus Roy Cohen earned an engineering degree from Clemson Agricultural College.
• John Gallalee earned an engineering degree from the University of Virginia.
• Luther Hollums graduated from Central High School.

Deaths

• May 24: Willie Lewis Staggs, constable (murdered)
• September 28: Julia Christian, oldest known burial in Black Cemetery
• Margaret Bailey
• Hansford Chitty, Confederate veteran

• see also List of Birmingham homicides in 1911.

Works

The Women's Club House

Buildings

• 1st Church of Christ, Scientist
• Buck Creek Mill addition
• Drennen Department Store
• Leeds High School
• 16th Street Baptist Church
• Roebuck Springs Country Club
• Roper Tunnel
• St Clair County Courthouse addition/modification
• Southside Baptist Church
• Women's Club House on Highland Avenue

See Also

• 1911 Birmingham Barons

Gallery

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  Avondale Park postcard c. 1911

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  Crowd gathered after the 1911 Banner Mine explosion

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  Birmingham City Hall (1901) c. 1911

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  Morris Avenue c. 1911

Context

In 1911, the first Monte Carlo races were held. A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killed 146. The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. Roald Amundsen's expedition became the first to reach the South Pole.

Books published in 1911 included The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Popular music published included "Alexander's Ragtime Band" by Irving Berlin and "(On) Moonlight Bay" by Edward Madden & Percy Wenrich.

Notable births in 1911 included burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee, baseball player Hank Greenberg, actress Butterfly McQueen, President Ronald Reagan, author L. Ron Hubbard, murderer Jack Ruby, playwright Tennessee Williams, chemist Melvin Calvin, actor Vincent Price, film composer Bernard Herrmann, singer LaVerne Andrews, actress & dancer Ginger Rogers, actress Lucille Ball, and singer & actor Roy Rogers. Notable deaths included composer Gustav Mahler, dramatist W. S. Gilbert, temperance activist Carrie Nation, Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, aviator Eugene Burton Ely, and newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer.

1910s

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