1972

Birmingham's skyline with smog, August 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

• 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.
• 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.
• New Castle High School was renamed Fultondale High School.
• Bert Bank was appointed to oversee the implementation of court-ordered patient care improvements at Bryce Hospital and Partlow Hospital.
• January: The first Birmingham Boat Show was held in the newly-opened BJCC North Exhibit Hall.
• January: Gay activists Jack Baker and Barbara Gittings spoke at the University of Alabama.
• April 1: The original Tutwiler Hotel closed its doors.
• April 12: Three Dog Night headlined a massive concert at Legion Field.
• May 6: Black Oak Arkansas headlined a concert at the Birmingham International Raceway.
• May 18: The Birmingham Festival Theatre debuted with a performance of "The Threepenny Opera" at East Lake Library.
• June 30: The Highland Racquet Club (former Birmingham Country Club building) was destroyed by fire.
• July 15: The Buzzard Roost Bridge was destroyed by fire.
• August 15: Birmingham signed a "Ciudad Compañera" pact with Cobán, Guatemala.
• The Birmingham Festival of Arts organized a "Salute to the USA".
• Fall: The Red Mountain School opened.
• September: The Ladies' Philoptochos Society at Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral organized the first Birmingham Greek Festival.
• October 5–14: 1972 Alabama State Fair.
• The Ladies Philoptochos Society at the Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral began hosting Birmingham's annual Greek Festival.
• November 10: Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham was hijacked and flown to Havana, Cuba.
• December 2: The massive "Golly Hole" sinkhole appeared near Calera.
• December 12: Deep Purple and Fleetwood Mac played at Municipal Auditorium.

Business

• January 1: Stull's Highland Ice Cream Co. merged into the Barber's Ice Cream Company.
• First National Bank was renamed AmSouth Bancorporation.
• April: The Forty Thieves Restaurant and Lounge opened in Lakeview
• April: Seafood & Chicken Box opened.
• Ken Forbes Jr opened the Angry Revolt head shop in Homewood.
• BE&K was founded.
• Chuck Binninger founded the Electronic Repair Company in East Lake.
• The Food World chain was launched by Bruno's.
• Carl Miller purchased office furniture dealer Bodine, Bryson and Rolling.
• The Owen-Richards Company became Motion Industries.
• The Salt and Pepper chain of fast food restaurants debuted with eight locations in Birmingham.
• The Thomas Jefferson Hotel was renamed the "Cabana Hotel".
• Trilogy Leather was founded.
• WBRC-FM and WBRC-AM were acquired by Mooney Broadcasting.
• WJLD-AM moved from downtown to Spaulding Ishkooda Road in Mason City.
• Alabama Brick Deliver was founded by C. J. South.
• George N. and Kostas Sarris opened Sarris Steak and Seafood in Homewood.
• Jim Walter Resources began accessing the Blue Creek Seam of bituminous coal at the Brookwood Mine near Brookwood.
• The accounting firm of Pearce & Summerford was founded.

Government

• 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.
• William Noble was elected to the first of six terms as Mayor of Gardendale.
• The Birmingham Board of Education sold the former Bryant School property to the City of Birmingham.
• 1972 primary elections were held.
• The 1972 general election was held.
• October 2: John Scates was sworn in as Mayor of Vestavia Hills.

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
• Barber's Dairy dairy plant
• 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
• Summer Terrace Apartments in Center Point
• Mercy Hospital (now Cooper Green Mercy Hospital)
• Sheraton Inn at I-65 and 3rd Avenue North
• Ski Lodge Apartments I
• Nob Hill Apartments on Valley Avenue
• Tannehill Valley Estates bridge
• Valley Brook Apartments in Apple Valley
• Vestavia Hills Baptist Church
• 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
• Interior renovations at St Paul's Cathedral
• May: The Arnold Palmer Putting Course opened at Cascade Plunge.
• 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

• Camille Desmarais was named rector of St John's Episcopal Church for the Deaf.
• Robert Guillot was appointed as president of Florence State University.
• Elmer Moree left Woodlawn High School to become the first headmaster of Franklin Academy.
• Jim Parsons succeeded Jamie Moore as Chief of the Birmingham Police Department.
• Kool Korner Sandwiches owner Ildefonso Ramirez defected to the United States from Cuba.
• USMC Chief Warrant Officer and Medal of Honor recipient Harold Wilson retired from his military service.
• Frank W. Bromberg succeeded his father, Charles L. Bromberg, as president of National Woodworks.
• November 13: Butch Boackle joined the Birmingham Police Department.

Births

• January 8: Alann Johnson, minister
• January 30: Jennifer Hale, actress and voice-over artist
• March 1: Jerome Murkerson, U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant killed in Iraq
• March 17: Marc Gunn, musician and podcaster
• April 3: LaToya Cantrell, mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana
• April 6: Jason Hervey, actor and former HealthSouth executive
• June 15: Carlos Subero, 2008 Birmingham Barons manager
• June 19: James-Paul Dice, meteorologist
• June 19: Antonio Spurling, attorney and real estate developer
• June 21: April Odom, director of communications for the City of Birmingham
• July 14: U.S. Air Force officer Ken Bourland was born in Birmingham.
• July 17: Darrell O'Quinn, Birmingham Community Advisory Board president
• July 20: Jay Barker, football player and radio personality
• September 6: Josh Evans, UAB Blazers and NFL football player
• September 29: Al Elliott, rapper, poet and educator
• October 7: Michael Harriot, writer and poet
• October 18: A male zebra was born at the Birmingham Zoo.
• November 30: David Powell, IT services manager
• December 13: Zeus Garrett, music and event promoter
• December 27: Walt Maddox, Mayor of Tuscaloosa
• Frank Adams Jr, health care consultant, president of A. G. Gaston Boys and Girls Clubs
• Jay Brandrup, founder and principal of Kinetic Communications
• Jeffrey Cain, guitarist and record producer
• Ann Marie Corgill, 2014-2015 Alabama State Teacher of the Year
• Trey Devey, former executive director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra
• Tene Dolphin, deputy director for business diversity and opportunity for the City of Birmingham.
• Dearniki Echols, community activist
• Joel Gilbert, attorney and lobbyist
• Onis "Trey" Glenn, EPA Region 4 administrator
• Sandi Gregory, attorney
• Chiquita Holloway, education specialist
• Richard Jacks, real estate agent, former meteorologist
• Sean Meyer, sommelier
• Chris Newsome, chef
• Conlin Payne, Lipscomb Police chief
• Imani Perry, scholar and professor
• Amy Pleasant, artist
• Shannon Riley, president of One Stop Environmental
• Paul Roberts, physician
• Deloris Robinson, geophysicist
• Donald Watkins Jr, insurance agent and entrepreneur

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.
• Charles Webster graduated from Hewitt-Trussville High School.
• Tobias Wolff earned a degree in English from Hertford College, Oxford.

Marriages

• Stanley Oliver to the former Laura Miller.
• December 31: Bernard Kincaid married Alfreda Harris.

Deaths

• January 12: John T. "Fess" Whatley, band director
• May 4: Reverend Arthur W. Dycer
• May 24: Mignon Hall Blair, newspaper reporter
• June 26: Don Buel Schuyler, architect
• September 2: Marti Turnipseed Moore, Civil Rights activist
• September 10: Ann Hodges, struck by a meteorite in 1954
• September 24: John Proferis, restaurateur
• October 10: Tom Stewart, U. S. Senator (Tennessee)
• October 12: Walter Roland, blues pianist
• November 21: Owen Gresham, Jefferson County School Board member
• December 25: Dud Bascomb, jazz trumpeter
• Bill Battle Jr, Birmingham-Southern athletic director
• Clifford Stiles, owner of the Redmont Hotel from 1946.

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 1972

See Also

• 1972 Birmingham Athletics

1970s

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Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works