1957

1957 was the 86th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

The Central Park Theatre was rented to the North Alabama Citizens Council and used for meetings of the Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy in 1957.

• February: The Country Boy Eddie Show debuted on WBRC 6.
• February 7: The U.S. Army Reserve's 87th Maneuver Area Command was formed.
• March 3: A group of hooded Klan members toured the Jimmy Morgan Zoo.
• March 21: Sen. John Kennedy spoke on "Labour Racketeering" at a banquet for the Alabama League of Municipalities in Birmingham.
• April 8: Singer Bobby Darin began a week long engagement at Mike's South Pacific in Homewood.
• April 23: A minor earthquake centered near the Tennessee River below Guntersville Dam alarmed residents across the Birmingham area.
• June: Susie the elephant joined Mona at the Jimmy Morgan Zoo.
• September: Co-producer Gail Patrick brought Raymond Burr to Birmingham to promote their new series "Perry Mason".
• November 4: The William Elias B. Davis statue was rededicated at its present location at Hillman Hospital.
• November 17: An F4 tornado tore through western Walker County.
• The Alabama Theatre's marquee was upgraded with "new display effects."
• The Birmingham Public Library's Titusville Branch Library was established.
• A new well for Center Point was tapped by Cullen Scott.
• Birmingham's Downtown Improvement Association was established.
• Humphry Osmond coined the term "psychedelic" to describe the effects of hallucinogenic drugs.
• The Association for Retarded Citizens of Jefferson County was founded.
• Local doo-wop group "The Cavaliers" (Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, and Kell Osbourne) relocated to Cleveland, Ohio.
• The Roma Country Club in Homewood was incorporated.
• Naval officer Jeremiah Denton developed the "Haystack Concept" for concealing aircraft carriers from radar.
• Tom York's "Morning Show" debuted on WBRC-TV.
• The Festival of Arts hosted a "Salute to England and Alabama".
• The Zoo Express miniature railroad began service at the Jimmy Morgan Zoo.
• Gastroenterologist Basil Hirschowitz and two physicists produced a working prototype of the first fiber-optic endoscope.
• The 1896 Tuskegee Chapel was destroyed in a fire.
• The Buten Museum of Wedgewood opened in Merion, Pennsylvania.
• The Birmingham Humane Society stopped providing boarding and grooming services.
• W. A. Belcher donated the 17-acre property surrounding Hawkins Spring to the city of Midfield for a park.
• The Birmingham Museum of Art hosted an exhibition of "Chinese Ivories from the Smithsonian Institution".
• Allright Parking System purchased the ground lease for the Morris Hotel block.

Civil Rights movement

• January 25: Carl and Alexinia Baldwin sued to desegregate the waiting rooms at Birmingham Terminal Station.
• February 14: Fred Shuttlesworth joined Martin Luther King Jr, Ralph Abernathy, Joseph Lowery and others to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
• March 4: Judge Seybourn Lynne dismissed the Baldwins' lawsuit. They appealed.
• March 6: Fred and Ruby Shuttlesworth challenged the segregation of the Birmingham Terminal Station waiting rooms. Lamar Weaver was assaulted outside after he greeted the couple.
• April 10: George Dickerson's home at 1143 12th Place North in Fountain Heights, which he had purchased two days earlier, was destroyed by a bomb.
• April: The Ashbury Howard residence in Bessemer was damaged by a bomb.
• April 28: The Allen Temple AME Church in Bessemer was bombed during a service.
• May 17: Shuttlesworth spoke on "The New Negro Church" at a "Prayer Pilgrimage" of black leaders in Washington D.C.
• July: A home under construction on Dynamite Hill was damaged by a bomb.
• July: A home at 1216 13th Street North in Fountain Heights was damaged by two bomb blasts.
• August 29: The U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 over Strom Thurmond's filibuster, establishing federal oversight of voting rights for federal offices.
• September 2 (Labor Day): Edward "Judge" Aaron was abducted from Airport Road by six members of the Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy and then tortured and mutilated in Chalkville.
• September 9: Fred Shuttlesworth and other parents were assaulted by an armed mob when they attempted to enroll their children at Phillips High School.
• November: A home under construction in Bessemer was damaged by a bomb.
• December: Five homes on Dynamite Hill were damaged by a single large bomb blast.
• Birmingham Post-Herald reporter Andrew Glaze testified against a Jefferson County Sheriff's Office deputy accused of beating two black men and then moved to New York City in fear for his life.

Business

• June 19: Colonial Stores opened a new location in Norwood.
• June 27: Hill's Food Stores opened a new location in Norwood.
• July: Vincent Carnaggio founded Pediatrics East in East Lake.
• July: The Orange Crush-Grapico Bottling Company changed its name to the Orange Crush Grapico Company.
• September: Bartell Broadcasters purchased WILD-AM and switched to a Top-40 format, which it called WYDE-AM.
• John Hontzas opened Niki's West restaurant on Finley Avenue.
• Bob and Maxine Sykes opened "The Ice Spot" in Central Park
• Vernon Braden opened Braden's Furniture in Trussville.
• Storer Broadcasting sold WBRC 6 to Taft Radio and Television of Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Tommy Charles and Doug Layton left WSGN-AM for WYDE-AM.
• Western Supermarkets opened a fourth location at Crestwood Shopping Center.
• John Collins opened Lyric Hot Dogs.
• The Atlanta Stove Works closed their Georgia foundry and consolidated production at their Birmingham Stove & Range Company plant in Collegeville.
• Milton and Frank House joined with Bob Wright to operate the Alabama Farmers Market.
• Utopia Cleaners and Laundry opened new locations at Five Points West Shopping City and Crestwood Shopping Center.
• Morris Barstein and Max Corenblum founded their first War Surplus Store on 4th Avenue North.
• Standard Furnishing Co. changed their name to Standard Furniture.
• Hall Thompson purchased the North Alabama Caterpillar dealership in Birmingham.
• Sergei Kampakis purchased the Birmingham Beverage Company from the Cohen family.
• After going public, Vulcan Materials Company acquired Lambert Brothers, the Union Chemicals and Materials Corporation, and seven other companies.
• After suffering a stroke, Charles Carraway turned the operation of Carraway Hospital over to his son, Ben.
• The Woodlawn Theatre closed down.

Education

• Howard College moved from East Lake to Shades Valley.
• Banks High School opened to freshmen.
• Western-Olin High School was accredited.
• The University Hospital School of Nursing was accredited.
• Wilkerson Middle School opened.
• Saint Rose Academy opened a kindergarten in the Terence Mackin residence's former garage.

Government

• May 22: The town of Sylvan Springs was incorporated.
• May 31: The town of Trussville was elevated to the status of "city".
• The Town of County Line was incorporated.

Religion

• May 6: Vestavia Hills Baptist Church was organized.
• The 1957 Presbyterian General Assembly was hosted in Birmingham by South Highland Presbyterian Church.
• Warrior First Baptist Church changed its name to First Baptist Church of Warrior.

Sports

• August 31: The NFL's Detroit Lions defeated the Washington Redskins 31-14 in an exhibition game at Legion Field.
• November 30: Auburn shut out Alabama in the Iron Bowl at Legion Field.
• Johnny Pesky managed the 1957 Birmingham Barons.
• Bear Bryant accepted an offer to leave Texas A&M to coach the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.
• Gene Bartow's St Charles High School boys' basketball team won the Missouri state championship
• H. B. Thompson founded the Gardendale Youth Baseball program.
• The Detroit Tigers traded pitcher Virgil Trucks to the Kansas City Athletics.
• Cyclone Anaya defeated Tor Yamata to claim the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight title in Birmingham.
• Elmer Moree's St Clair County High School Saints won the state basketball championship.
• Elbert Jemison won a 2nd consecutive Alabama amateur golf championship.
• Jim Pyburn played his final season with the Baltimore Orioles.

Individuals

• Inez Andrews left the Gospel Harmonettes to join the Caravans.
• Betty Jane Baker divorced musician Buddy Baker.
• Clarence Baldwin succeeded Claude Warren as pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church.
• Raymond Boland was ordained as a Catholic priest.
• Frank Moore Cross was appointed an associate professor at Harvard Divinity School.
• Noel Gaylor was promoted to operations officer for the Commander of the Pacific Fleet in the U.S. Navy.
• Lili Gentle appeared in the film "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" with Tony Randall.
• Elijah Gilliam joined the 1957 Birmingham Black Barons roster.
• Nathan Glick began his career as an illustrator for Progressive Farmer.
• Nathan Goldstein succeeded Hyman Miller as president of the Jewish Community Center.
• Jack Gotta joined the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.
• Tod Griffin appeared in the B-movie feature "She Devil".
• Glenn Ireland II joined the board of Vulcan Materials Company.
• Clarence Kelly was appointed to supervise the FBI Birmingham Field Office.
• R. B. Knox succeeded Hoyt Ayers as Chief of the Birmingham Fire Department.
• Max Kimerling succeeded J. Harold Shevin as president of Temple Beth-El.
• Virgil Ledbetter began coaching the Howard Bulldogs football team.
• W. Landon Miller became pastor of Ruhama Baptist Church.
• Harold Newman took the orders of a Theravādin monk in Laos and adopted the Dharma name "Sumangalo".
• James Newman succeeded Oliver Carmichael as President of the University of Alabama.
• David Orange joined the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
• Howard Phillips succeeded F. Edward Lund as President of the University of Montevallo.
• Alma Johnson began hosting "Lunching with Alma" on WJLD-AM.
• Madelyn Poole began her tenure as pianist and music director for Town and Gown Theatre.
• Carl Salter served as president of the Crestwood Civic Club.
• Henry Stanford succeeded Guy Snavely as President of Birmingham-Southern College.

Births

• January: Dandy, an African lion
• January 8: Doug Jones, Helena police chief
• February 10: Samantha Shaw, former Alabama State Auditor
• February 14: Alan Hunter, MTV VJ
• February 14: Reggie King, NBA player
• February 18: Gary Richardson, Midfield mayor and radio executive
• March 17: Barry Krauss, football player
• April: Jesse Chambers, reporter
• April 10: Robert Leslie Palmer, attorney and author
• April 18: Finis St John IV, attorney and University of Alabama trustee
• April 25: Johnny High, NBA player
• May 27: Carol Hendrickson, Navy nurse
• June 11: Dewayne Davis, minister and chorister
• June 20: Stuart Oates, Oak Hill Cemetery director
• June 22: Keith McCord, NBA player
• August 30: Otis Dismuke, educator
• September 7: Jack Williams, legislator
• September 21: Mark Childress, novelist
• November 20: Dwight Stephenson, NFL player
• November 23: Andrew Toney, NBA player
• December 31: Steve Gaines, Baptist minister
• Samm Bennett, percussionist
• Donnetta Brown, educator
• Brad Creed, college administrator
• David Dionne, park director
• Buddy Gray, Baptist minister
• Eric Jack, dean of the Collat School of Business
• Alan Jacobs, academic
• Mama Petite, hippopotamus
• Willie Pittman, mechanic and entrepreneur
• Jeff Pizitz, president of Pizitz Management Group
• James Raper, nurse practitioner
• Dolester Miles, pastry chef
• Walter Moore, educator
• Bill Riccio, founder of the Aryan National Front
• Greg Shaw, Chief Judge of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary
• Bob Sims, Al.com directpr
• Randy Smith, Birmingham Police Department officer
• Glennon Threatt, attorney
• Anthony Underwood, automobile dealer
• Andrew Westmoreland, President of Samford University
• Meged Yisra'el (born Melvin Miller), NFL player

Awards

• Tommy Charles was named "Best DJ of the Year" by the Birmingham Advertising Club.
• Harry Brock Jr received the "Young Bankers Award" from the Alabama Bankers Association.
• Don Hawkins was named "Mr Crestwood" by the Crestwood Civic Club.
• Shug Jordan split the "SEC Coach of the Year" voting with Wade Walker.
• Anna Strange was named "Miss Alabama".
• Golfer Charley Boswell was given an award from the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.
• Bertha Smith won the first "Miss University Center" pageant.
• Toni Moore was crowned "Miss Howard College".
• Civitan International founder Courtney Shropshire was given a Key to the City of Birmingham.
• Willie Mays won the first of twelve consecutive "Gold Glove" awards.

Graduations

• John Badham graduated from Indian Springs School.
• Kirkwood Balton graduated from Miles College.
• Harry Brock Jr completed a degree from the School of Financial Public Relations at Northwestern University.
• John Buchanan Jr earned his doctorate from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
• Max D. Cooper graduated from Tulane University.
• Bob Curlee graduated from Howard College.
• Chriss Doss graduated from Howard College.
• Roland Frye completed a Guggenheim Fellowship.
• John C. Fletcher Jr completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Heidelberg, Germany.
• Robert F. Gibbons completed a Ph.D. at Tulane University.
• Miller Gorrie graduated from Auburn University
• Bill Holdefer earned his M.D. at the University of Maryland.
• Chervis Isom graduated from Phillips High School.
• Fob James earned a degree in civil engineering at Auburn University.
• Ray Mohl graduated from Washington Irving High School in Tarrytown, New York.
• Bud Moore graduated from West End High School.
• Sam Pointer Jr completed a juris doctorate at the University of Alabama School of Law.
• Alma Powell completed a bachelor of arts at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Richard Shelby graduated from the University of Alabama.
• Gene Stallings graduated from Texas A&M University.
• Joab Thomas completed a master's degree in botany at Harvard University.

Marriages

• March: Jim Phillips married Mickey Kennedy.
• September 21: Attorney Orzell Billingsley married Geselda Hill.
• G. B. Burt married.

Retirements

• Journalist Joe David Brown left TIME magazine.
• Blanche Dean retired from teaching.
• Troy Ingram resigned from the position of Exalted Cyclops of the Alabama Knights, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
• Clarence Mullins retired from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
• Clarence Going, assistant superintendent of Birmingham City Schools, retired.
• Mildred Warner retired from the presidency of Gulf States Paper.

Deaths

• An iron worker was killed when the new steeple at Hunter Street Baptist Church collapsed.
• March 9: Malcolm Dabney, dentist
• March 17: Seale Harris, physician
• April 8: Dorothy Sebastian, actress
• May 26: Luther Patrick, attorney and former U.S. Representative
• June: Caroline Johnson, social activist
• July 10: George Salem Sr, restaurateur
• July 25: Frank Welch, baseball player
• September 24: Carrie Hill, artist
• November: Hubert Harper, cartoonist
• John C. Forney, attorney and Alderman
• Sally Comer Blount Lathrop
• Lynn Strickland, tire dealer
• See also: List of homicides in 1957

Works

• Glenn House's neon sign for Moon Winx Lodge in Alberta City was installed.
• Anthony Perkins starred as Jimmy Piersall in the film based on his memoir, "Fear Strikes Out.
• Cartoonist Phil Neel's drawing of "Aubie" debuted on the Auburn Tigers media guide.

Books

• The Gospel According to Jesus by Ted Hightower was published by Fleming H. Revell of Westwood, New Jersey.

Buildings

• Banks High School
• Birmingham Zoo Bear Moat
• Bush K-8 School addition
• Federal Reserve building expansion
• Birmingham Terminal Cold Storage at the Birmingham Food Terminal
• Municipal Auditorium lobby and meeting rooms
• Crestwood Shopping Center
• Erwin Middle School
• [[First Christian Church] on 21st Street North
• First Presbyterian Church education building
• Hill Elementary School addition
• Hunter Street Baptist Church in Bush Hills
• Leland Shopping Center in Alberta City
• Liberty Motors building
• McElwain Baptist Church fellowship hall
• Newfound Creek Trestle was rebuilt and decked.
• Purcell Wing at Carraway Hospital
• Bethel Baptist Church parsonage, Collegeville
• Lawrence Reynolds Library (groundbreaking)
• Roebuck Marketplace
• Russell Hall at Samford University
• Lewis Smith Dam (groundbreaking)
• The Club men's club room and ladies' card room
• Tuggle Elementary School addition
• Ullman High School classroom annex
• Wilkerson Middle School
• December 1: The A. E. Burgess Co. started the state's first interstate highway construction project.

Music

• Sun Ra's first album, "Super-Sonic Jazz" was released on Saturn Records.
• Tommy Charles' single, "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade is Over"/"Love, You're a Stranger" was released on Decca Records.
• Haywood Henry's record "I Love You Truly" was released on Davis Records
• Bill Justis' single "Raunchy", released on Sun Records, reached #2 on the Billboard U.S. chart.
• Urbie Green's album, "Let's Face the Music and Dance" was released on RCA Victor.
• Odetta's album, "At the Gate of Horn" was released on Tradition Records.
• Sammy Salvo's single "One Little Baby"/"Lonely Dreamer" was released on Mark V Records

Context

Notable 1956 births included __. Deaths that year included __.

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Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works