1926
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1926 was the 55th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.
Events
- January 18: Indiana Little led a large march of Black applicants to register to vote at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
- January 29: 27 people were killed in an explosion at the Mossboro Mine.
- June 22: Camp Margaret Murray Washington began operating in Bessemer.
- August 21: The 13th annual Ex-Slaves of Alabama reunion was held at 32nd Street and 10th Avenue North.
- September: WBRC-AM broadcast a live address by Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans to a statewide Ku Klux Klan convention.
- December 27: Bessie Smith performed at the Frolic Theater.
- The Birmingham Amateur Radio Club was founded.
- Magic City Lodge No. 860 was chartered.
- Mineral Springs Park reopened as the North Birmingham Golf Course.
- The Woodward's Big Four gospel quartet broke up.
- WMAV-AM was licensed to the the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn.
- The Nelson Realty Company purchased Shelby Springs from the family of Ray McMillan.
- The Birmingham Electric Company building on 1st Avenue North suffered damage from a fire.
Business
- William, Robert, Charles and Frank Bromberg joined their father, Frederick Bromberg, as partners in Bromberg's.
- Mason Crow founded the Crow Real Estate & Insurance Company.
- The Empire Theater opened.
- Glenn Messer founded the Southern Aircraft Corporation and opened Messer Field.
- Guaranty Federal Savings and Loan was founded.
- Hollywood was developed by Clyde Nelson.
- The Jemison Company began developing Mountain Brook Estates.
- James McWane founded the Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company in Provo, Utah.
- The Norwood Clinic was incorporated.
- Ollie McClung opened the first Ollie's Barbecue near Elmwood Cemetery.
- Lonnie Noojin bought out his brother's interest in the Noojin Supply Company.
- The Piccadilly Theater began screening films.
- Sonny Boy Products was founded.
- Sloss Furnaces was updated with new equipment.
- Leonard Terrell opened the Terrell Store.
- C. I. Taylor's Indianapolis ABCs baseball team folded.
- The Doll House Sweet Shoppe was incorporated by Sigmund and Mildred Nesselroth and Sol Catonzano.
- The Country Club of Birmingham moved to Mountain Brook.
- The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company opened the Fairfield Sheet Mill.
- The Robert E. Lee Klan sold the former Birmingham Athletic Club building on 20th Street North to the Birmingham YMCA.
- Molton, Allen & Williams moved to 2026 3rd Avenue North.
- Raymond Rochell began bottling Orange Crush.
- James Head founded a distribution company.
- The Trianon Theatre closed.
- February 3: WKBC-AM went on the air.
Government
- 1926 general election
- The city of Homewood was incorporated with the merger of Edgewood, Rosedale and Grove Park.
- U. S. Highway 11 was dedicated.
- The 1926 Birmingham Zoning Ordinance reinforced the city's physical segregation.
- Brownville, Tuscaloosa County got a post office.
Education
- Payne University changed its name to Greater Payne University.
- Tuggle Institute entered a partnership with Birmingham City Schools.
Religion
- Trinity Methodist Church (Southside) was dispersed.
- Mt Olive United Methodist Church was organized.
- October 30: Trinity United Methodist Church (Edgewood) was organized.
Sports
- January 1: The 1925 Alabama Crimson Tide football team defeated the University of Washington 20-19 in the 1926 Rose Bowl.
- The 1926 Alabama Crimson Tide football team went 9-0 and was invited to the 1927 Rose Bowl.
- The Birmingham Black Barons returned to the field as part of a newly re-organized Negro Southern League.
- April 13: The Birmingham Barons' Sammy West set a team record with 6 hits in a game against Chattanooga.
- Archer Howard Hill won his first of 196 consecutive field tournaments.
Works
- "Birmingham Boys", song by the Birmingham Jubilee Singers
- The 23-foot "Electra" statue was placed atop the Alabama Power Building.
- The "Magic City sign" was erected in front of Birmingham Terminal Station.
- The feature film Men of Steel, filmed in Ensley, premiered at the Franklin Theatre.
- Bertha "Chippie" Hill's "Pratt City Blues" was released
- The Alabama Power Company's "Reddy Kilowatt" character made his debut
- Epp Sykes wrote "Yea Alabama!" for a contest sponsored by the Rammer-Jammer
- June: "A Love Story of Vulcan and Electra" by B. U. L. Conner ran daily in The Birmingham Post
- An E. M. Skinner organ was installed at Ensley Highlands Presbyterian Church.
- Coot Grant recorded a series of country blues songs with Blind Blake.
Books
- The Deep Seam, novel by Jack Bethea
- Polk's Birmingham City Directory (1926) Birmingham: R. L. Polk & Co.
- George W. Hamilton, ed. (1926) Beautiful Homes and Buildings of Alabama. Turner & McPherson, Architects
- George I. Adams, Charles Butts, L. W. Stephenson, & Wythe Cooke (1926) Geology of Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Special Report No. 14. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press
Buildings
- 1453 Smolian Place
- 24th Street Viaduct over the Railroad Reservation in downtown Birmingham
- Avalon Apartments on Highland Avenue at Rushton Park
- Avon Building at 29th Street and 7th Avenue South in Lakeview
- Bankhead Hotel on 5th Avenue North
- Bethel Baptist Church in Collegeville
- Temple Beth-El on Highland Avenue
- Big Branch Bridge covered bridge near Hanceville
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 4 on 24th Street North in downtown Birmingham
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 10 at 4120 2nd Avenue South in Avondale
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 14 at 210 Graymont Avenue West in Graymont
- Birmingham News building addition
- Black Creek Bridge in Fultondale
- Bottega Favorita building on Highland Avenue
- Central Park Presbyterian Church in Belview Heights
- Councill Elementary School on Avenue M Ensley
- Diana Hall at 525-531 19th Street North Bessemer
- A. G. Dobbins residence
- Donnachaidh residence on Southwood Road in Mountain Brook
- Edgewood Elementary School in Homewood
- Ensley High School addition
- First Baptist Church of Birmingham education building
- Gibson Elementary School in Woodlawn
- Hill Building on 5th Avenue South in Avondale
- Hollywood Country Club in Shades Valley
- Hood-McPherson building (Ensley)
- Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Hillman
- Independent Presbyterian Church on Highland Avenue at Rushton Park
- LaSalle Apartments
- Leeds High School
- McElwain Elementary School in Eastwood
- Moore School in Ensley
- Phoenix Building on 2nd Avenue North
- Pratt Elementary School addition
- Ritz Theatre on 2nd Avenue North
- Ruhama Baptist Church in East Lake
- Shades Cahaba School addition
- Shades Mountain Baptist Church on Canyon Road
- Spanish Stores at Five Points South
- West End Masonic Temple on Tuscaloosa Avenue
- Woodlawn High School addition
- Young Men's Hebrew Association building on 18th Street North
Demolitions
- January 22: Minor High School was heavily damaged in a fire.
Individuals
- Tallulah Bankhead made a splash on the London stage as Amy in Sidney Howard's Pulitzer-winning "They Knew What They Wanted".
- Hugo Black addressed a statewide gathering of the Ku Klux Klan.
- Mack Burley succeeded George Word as president of Miles College.
- Oliver Carmichael succeeded Thomas Palmer as President of the University of Montevallo.
- Luther Davis Sr succeeded D. Beatty Robertson as Mayor of Tuscaloosa.
- B. M. Montgomery became principal of Rosedale School.
- J. E. Morris succeeded W. E. Faust as pastor of East Lake United Methodist Church.
- Charles Rice took office as the first Mayor of Homewood.
- W. A. Smart succeeded George Stewart as pastor of First United Methodist Church.
- Irita Van Doren succeeded Stuart Sherman as book editor of the New York Herald Tribune.
- Henry Walthall starred opposite Lillian Gish in The Scarlet Letter.
- Theo Wright became principal of Barker Elementary School.
Births
- January 24: Everett Lawler, musician, arranger, bandleader and educator
- February 3: Richard Yates, author and educator
- February 8: Rosamond McDuff, Birmingham police officer and computer programmer
- March 5: Henry Blankenship, jazz musician
- March 27: Solomon Zarzour, owner of Sol's Hot Dogs
- April 3: Alex Grammas, professional baseball player
- April 4: Pearl Carlile, co-founder of Carlile's Barbecue
- April 5: Glenn Ireland II, Vulcan Materials executive and Glenwood Health Services founder
- April 14: Harry Gilmer, NFL quarterback
- June 28: Jack Shannon, investment banker and developer
- July 15: Henry Tuttle, pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church
- August 8: Urbie Green, jazz trombonist
- August 9: David Crenshaw Jr, U.S. Steel worker and entrepreneur
- August 9: Everett Shepherd Jr, real estate developer
- September 10: Arthur Jazwinski, traffic engineer
- September 19: Lurleen Wallace, Governor of Alabama
- September 25: Wink Chapman, Center Point City Council member
- September 26: Lynn Hope saxophonist
- September 28: Oliver Dillard, U.S. Army Major General
- October 13: Robert Bell, scholar, librarian and novelist
- October 14: Bill Justis, musician, songwriter and record producer
- Gabby Bell, Birmingham Barons play-by-play announcer
- Roosevelt Bell, Birmingham City Council member
- Tom Caldwell, pediatrician and amateur historian
- David Crenshaw, steelworker and social activist
- Joe Erben, salesman and bar owner
- Angela Hernández, math professor
- Raymond Josof, owner of Raymond's Five Points Market
- Kathryn Lacey, owner of Oak Hill Kindergarten
- Chris McNair, photographer, Alabama State Representative and Jefferson County Commission member
- Clarke Stallworth, newspaper editor, columnist and writing coach
- Jack Voorhies, radio announcer, ad producer and comedian
- Cordell Wynn, president of Stillman College
Graduations
- Clarence Allgood completed his bachelor of science at Alabama Polytechnic Institute.
- Ivy Andrews graduated from Dora High School.
- Hobart Grooms completed law school at the University of Kentucky.
- Mike Higgins graduated from W. H. Adamson High School in Dallas, Texas.
- Ida Moffett completed nursing school at Birmingham Baptist Hospital.
- Virginia Tyler graduated from Shades Cahaba School.
- Robert Van de Graaff earned his bachelor's in physics at Queen's College, Oxford
Marriages
- January: P. H. Polk married the former Margaret Blanche Thompson of Brunswick, Georgia.
- March 13: R. C. Coleman married the former Mable Pate.
- November 24: William Rushton Jr married the former Elizabeth Perry.
Awards
Deaths
- January 26: A. B. Moore and Ruby Thornton were found murdered near Roebuck.
- June 1: Mel Drennen, Mayor of Birmingham
- August 9: William Hickman, Jefferson County Treasurer
- September 16: Robert Jemison Sr, president of the Birmingham Railway, Light & Power Company and real estate developer
- September 29: Julia Neely Finch, writer and poet
- October 27: W. G. Lunsford, building contractor
- December 2: Alfred Keily Sr, photographer
- December 31: A. A. Peters, endowment secretary of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Alabama.
- Joseph Turner, architect
Context
1926
The top-grossing films of 1926 were
Notables born in 1926 include
Among those who died in 1926 were
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