1916

Birmingham c. 1916

1916 was the 45th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• January 2: The months-long premiere run of D. W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" at the Jefferson Theatre ended.
• February 28-March 4: "The Birth of a Nation" returned to the Jefferson Theatre for a limited engagement.
• March 13: "Fashion Week" was held in Birmingham.
• March: A growing fad for roller skating prompted safety concerns and calls for a public roller skating rink.
• April 2: The Hippodrome Roller Skating Rink opened in the former Orpheum Theater.
• April 15: "Dare-Devil Derrill" balanced in a chair on the edge of the Jefferson County Bank Building as a stunt for Chero-Cola.
• May 16–18: 1916 Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans at the Alabama State Fairgrounds and around the city.
• May 18: Weenona Hanson founded the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs.
• May 24: Lula Mehaffey became the first woman to graduate from Howard College.
• August 1: The Birmingham street tax went into affect.
• October 5-14: 1916 Alabama State Fair
• October 18: A 5.1 earthquake struck the Birmingham District, causing damage, but no injuries.
• October 22: An explosion at Roden Mine killed 18 people.
• October 23: The Ringling Circus visited Birmingham.
• November 14: An explosion at Bessie Mine killed 30 people.
• The 10th Congressional District of Alabama was created.
• The Alabama Chapter of the American Institute of Architects was organized.
• Birmingham's 1910s typhoid epidemic continued.
• Lauderdale College elementary school burned.
• Residents of the newly formed the Shades Valley School District passed a three-mill tax to build a high school.
• The USS Birmingham (CL-2) became flagship of Destroyer Force Atlantic Fleet, and Torpedo Flotilla 3.
• Woodlawn High School was established.

Sterling Edwards at his dealership in 21st Street South, c. 1916

Business

• January 1: The lease for the Florence Hotel expired.
• February 5: The Central State Bank of Calera was chartered.
• August 28: The Colonial Theater opened in Birmingham.
• The Birmingham Slag Company was purchased by Charles L. Ireland.
• Edwards Motor Company was founded by Sterling Edwards.
• Norwood Hospital was established.
• Ward, Sterne & Company was founded by the merger of George Ward's securities firm with the Sterne Securities Company.
• D. Graham relocated his film distribution company, which handled B. S. Moss Productions, to Birmingham from New Orleans.
• Jacques Wambsganss opened the De Luxe Studio photography studio at 1918½ 2nd Avenue North.

Religion

• January: Reverend Albert Johnson became pastor of South Highland Presbyterian Church.
• April 1: Wilmer Poyner became rector of St Andrew's Episcopal Church.
• W. E. Morris became pastor of Highlands United Methodist Church.
• Milton Sears became pastor of Bethel Baptist Church.
• R. I. Walston succeeded R. E. Tyler as pastor of East Lake United Methodist Church.

Sports

• May 23-25: A major international wrestling tournament was held at Rickwood Field.
• John Longwell became the head coach of both football and basketball at Howard College.
• Jack Nabors tied the Major League record by pitching 19 consecutive losses for the Philadelphia Athletics.
• Lonnie Noojin became both head baseball coach and athletic director for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
• Stuffy Stewart made his Major League debut with the St Louis Cardinals.

Works

St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church (erected 1916, renovated 1965)

• "If I Ever Get Back to Birmingham" by James Alexander Brennan and O. E. "Chick" Story
• The Magic Word by Frederick Kitson Cowley

Buildings

• Alabama Great Southern Depot
• T. S. Abernathy residence
• Harris Transfer Company warehouse
• Mount Hebron School
• Saks Building
• St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church (replacement building)
• Oak Grove School

Individuals

• June 16: Donald Beatty soloed a small plane he constructed himself at his grandfather's farm in Tarrant.
• Wiley Alford became president of the Birmingham Athletic Club.
• L. Frazer Banks succeeded Roy Dimmitt as principal of Ensley High School.
• L. A. Fealy was arrested for practicing medicine without a license.
• Hill Ferguson served as secretary for the National Association of Real Estate Boards.
• William Harding became the chair of the Federal Reserve.
• Hubert Harper settled in Birmingham.
• Charles Lewis succeeded J. B. Kincaid as Mayor of Leeds.
• A. C. Oxford prepared scrapbooks with examples of his photos, disposing of the remainder of his prints and plates.
• P. H. Polk enrolled in the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
• Thomas Shirley was promoted to Chief of Detectives in the Birmingham Police Department.
• George Ward became president of the Birmingham Board of Education.
• Charles Whelan Jr resigned as Birmingham City Physician.

Births

Art Hanes in 1938

• January 11: Russell Yarbrough, Birmingham City Council member
• January 23: Bo Russell, ASHOF inductee
• March 6: Saul Weingeroff, wrestling manager
• March 20: Earl Stallings, pastor of First Baptist Church of Birmingham
• April 10: Ed Sprague, founder of Wahouma Building Supply
• April 22: Henry Stanford, Birmingham-Southern College president
• May 8: Tony Brandino, founder of the Brandino Brass Co.
• May 16: Dud Bascomb, jazz trumpeter
• May 28: Walker Percy, novelist
• May 29: Virginia Pounds Brown, historian
• July 16: Miles Copeland, jazz musician and CIA operative
• July 23: D. O. McClusky Jr, hospital administrator
• July 31: Billy Hitchcock, ASHOF inductee
• August 15: Joseph Raya, Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop
• August 26: Virginia Hill, mob boss
• August 29: Wing Soon Joe, restaurateur
• October 18: William Yester, prosthetist
• October 19: Art Hanes, former Mayor of Birmingham
• October 28: Ed Levy, baseball player
• November 5: William D. Sulzby, executive with Hayes International Corporation
• November 8: Robert Meyer Jr, US Air Force officer
• November 12: Cecil Bauer, businessman
• November 29: Charles W. Ireland, chairman of Vulcan Materials
• December 22: Charley Boswell, blind golfer
• Willie Arrington, Alabaster city councilor
• Sister Mary Leo, teacher

Graduations

• Frank Dixon completed his law degree at the University of Virginia.
• Emma Gelders graduated from Smith College.
• Sigmund Nesselroth completed a degree in architecture at Harvard University.

Marriages

• June 14: Houston Brice, Sr to Earlyne Reynolds
• June 15: Leo E. Bashinsky to Cora Young
• Lonnie Noojin to the former Willie Lucille McNaron.

A. O. Lane in 1887

Deaths

• January 28: Mitchell Porter, judge
• March 24: Julia Tutwiler, educator and social reformer
• April: A. O. Lane, former Mayor of Birmingham
• July 4: A. B. Loveman, merchant
• September 16: Peyton Bowman, attorney
• Roxy Norton, owner of Norton's Drug Store

See also 1916 Roden Mine explosion & 1916 Bessie Mine explosion.

Context

In 1916, World War I continued, but the U.S. continued to avoid involvement. Germany made the Sussex pledge. The last Emperor of China, Yuan Shikai, abdicated the throne and the Republic of China was restored. The Chicago Cubs played their first game at Weeghman Park (now Wrigley Field). The Saturday Evening Post published its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting. European countries began observing daylight saving time. German agents caused the Black Tom explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey. The National Park Service was created. President Woodrow Wilson was re-elected. Gustav Holst finished composing The Planets.

Notable books released in 1916 included Rinkitink in Oz by L. Frank Baum, The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by Jame Joyce, and The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain. Popular music published in 1916 included "Beale Street Blues" by W. C. Handy and "I Ain't Got Nobody" by Spencer Williams, Roger Graham & Dave Peyton.

Notable births in 1916 included actress & consumer advocate Betty Furness, codebreaker Peter Twinn, photographer David Douglas Duncan, singer Dinah Shore, voice actress Lucille Bliss, actor Gregory Peck, author Beverly Cleary, artist George Tuska, automobile manufacturer Ferruccio Lamborghini, actor Glenn Ford, biologist Francis Crick, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, social scientist Herbert Simon, actress Olivia de Havilland, architect Lawrence Halprin, physicist Alexander Prokhorov, baseball player Phil Cavarretta, actor Van Johnson, author Roald Dahl, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, French President François Mitterrand, television journalist Walter Cronkite, voice actor Daws Butler, basketball announcer Chick Hearn, actor Kirk Douglas, author Shirley Jackson, and actress Betty Grable. Notable deaths included physicist Ernst Mach, writer Henry James, Chinese politician Yuan Shikai, German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, and artist Thomas Eakins.

1910s

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