1922

1921 was the 51st year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• January 21: The Birmingham Flying Club (Escadrilles) was reorganized as the 135th Observation Squadron of the Alabama National Guard.
• Spring: Writer Margaret Mitchell spent several weeks in Birmingham as a guest of Augusta Dearborn.
• May 1–2: Antonio Scotti's Grand Opera Company performed "Tosca", "La Boheme", "Carmen", "Pagliacci", and "Il segreto di Susanna" at the Jefferson Theatre, presented by the Birmingham Music Club. The event marked the "Tosca' debut of young tenor Armand Tokatyan, who joined the Metropolitan Opera the following year.
• May 17: Jefferson County Health Officer Judson Dowling was abducted by a group of masked men, flogged, and ordered to leave town, apparently because of his campaign to improve food safety by requiring milk sold commercially to be pasteurized.
• May 18: William White founded the American Business Clubs service organization.
• June 24: The USS Osmond Ingram was decommissioned.
• November: The Robert E. Lee Klan No. 1 organized a "parade" of 400 vehicles, their license plates covered with cloth, from Avondale Park to downtown Birmingham via the "subway" tunnel below Birmingham Terminal Station.
• November 11 (Armistice Day): The "Spirit of the American Doughboy" was dedicated at the corner of 19th Street North and Carolina Avenue.
• November 22: Dolomite No. 3 Mine explosion
• Members of the Phoenix Club developed the Hillcrest Golf & Country Club
• Industrial High School music director Fess Whatley began performing with his "Jazz Demons".
• The Kamram Grotto masonic society was founded.
• The first senior class from Hueytown High School was graduated.
• The first senior class from Jones Valley High School was graduated.
• The USS Birmingham (CL-2) was assigned to serve as flagship of the Special Service Squadron at the Panama Canal Zone.
• A supposed "Axe syndicate" continued to target shop owners in Birmingham.
• Glasgow Hill Cemetery and Henry Ellen Cemetery were established.
• Jefferson County Schools took over the company school at Jew Hollow and relocated it to Mineral Springs.
• Frances Nimmo Greene toured Northern Alabama speaking in favor of the "Seaport Amendment" allowing the state to issue bonds to construct and operate a port facility at Mobile.

Business

• January 1: Joseph Smolian bought Louis Pizitz' interest in the Pizitz department store chain.
• February 1: Alf Porter opened a large Porter's department store in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Joy Young Restaurant moved to 20th Street North.
• B. B. Comer and two partners purchased the Birmingham Age-Herald.
• Birmingham's first Gus Mayer store opened in the Retail Block on 5th Avenue North.
• Jacob Friedman purchased the City Paper Company.
• Architect John Davis joined the firm of Warren & Knight.
• The Empire Company merged with Henry T. DeBardeleben's Maryland Coal and Coke Company and the Corona Coal Company to form the DeBardeleben Coal Corporation.
• Rail trackage and a turntable were installed at the Hardie-Tynes plant.
• The Zac Smith Stationery Company moved into the Brown-Marx Building.
• A. N. Chappell & Co. opened a new preserving plant for its Bama brand food products.

Establishments

• March 16: The Woodlawn Infirmary opened.
• April 24: WSY-AM went on the air.
• June 24: The Woodlawn Theatre opened on 1st Avenue North.
• August 19: Cotton's department store opened.
• September: WMAV-AM went on the air.
• October 23: Employers Mutual Insurance Company of Alabama was incorporated.
• November: The Todd-Witte Dry Goods Co. was organized.
• Martin, Thompson & Turner attorneys
• The Birmingham Baptist Hospital School of Nursing was founded at Highland Baptist Hospital on 22nd Street South.
• Busch's jewelers
• Seale Harris opened the Gorgas Hospital Hotel.
• The Simon Hubig Co. opened a bakery on 26th Street North.
• Joe Denaburg opened Levy's Fine Jewelry.
• Melrose Ice Cream opened on 26th Street North.
• Minnie Todd opened Mrs Todd's Cafeteria on 21st Street South.
• William Badham founded the Naphthalene Products Company.
• Victor Adding Machine Company branch on 5th Avenue North
• The Virginia Bridge & Iron Co. opened a manufacturing plant at 700 39th Street North.

Disestablishments

• The Rye-Ola Company closed.
• WIAG-AM signed off.
• Independent Presbyterian Church established the Children's Fresh Air Farm in Bluff Park.

Government

• 1922 general election
• May: The Birmingham City Commission declined to vote on an ordinance to limit parking in heart of the business district, calling for more study of the matter.
• June 16: The Birmingham City Commission members were indicted by a Grand Jury on charges of violating the Corrupt Practices Act by promising public offices to supporters.
• Erskine Ramsay was appointed to the Birmingham Board of Education.
• The City of Birmingham contracted with the Gamewell Fire Alarm Company of Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts to replace its existing telegraph-based fire alarm system with alarm call boxes in the downtown area.

Sports

• Smutter Matthews succeeded Carlton Molesworth as manager of the Birmingham Barons.
• Willis Keinholz succeeded Mike Donahue as coach of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute football team.
• Harris Cope succeeded Robert Marshall as coach of the Howard College Bulldogs football team.
• Gordon Lewis succeeded Gordon Lewis as coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team.
• May 5: Ernie Cox made his Major League debut with the Chicago White Sox.
• Newt Joseph made his Negro National League debut with the Kansas City Monarchs.

Works

Birmingham Trust building, built in 1922

The Masonic Temple, built in 1922

Silver's Building, built in 1922

• "The Green Apple," painting by Georgia O'Keeffe at the Birmingham Museum of Art
• Nigger, novel by Clement Wood
• "Wurlitzer Manufacturing Co. Opus 540", pipe organ at Norwood Methodist Church

Buildings

• Alberta Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa
• Avondale Elementary School on 8th Court South
• Banner Baking Co. on 14th Street North
• Belcher-Nixon building at "Tuxedo Junction"
• Birmingham Baptist Hospital on Princeton Avenue
• Birmingham News building addition
• Birmingham Trust building on 20th Street North
• Buffalo Rock building and Buffalo Rock sign on 26th Street North
• Central Park Elementary School classroom addition
• Corner High School classroom addition
• Duke Brothers building on 3rd Avenue North
• Edgewood Town Hall
• Gorgas Hospital Hotel on Highland Avenue
• Hudson K-8 School in Collegeville
• Hugh Martin residence on 15th Avenue South
• Independent Presbyterian Church education wing
• Masonic Temple on 19th Street North
• Minor High School
• Pinson School (Old Rock School) and Triangle Park on Pinson Boulevard
• Retail Block on 5th Avenue North
• Roberts Field in Thomas
• Shades Cahaba High School lunchroom and wood shop
• Silver's Building on 2nd Avenue North
• Thomas School addition
• Woodlawn High School
• Woodlawn Infirmary
• Wylam K-8 School

Demolitions

• The Majestic Theatre was torn down.

Individuals

• J. L. Akin succeeded Sidney Middleton as chief of the Birmingham Fire Department.
• Sid Lee was elected president of the National Bottlers Association.
• William McDowell succeeded Charles Beckwith as Episcopal Bishop of Alabama.
• Artist Carrie Hill toured Europe with George Elmer Brown.
• W. Paul Pim began teaching commercial art at Birmingham-Southern College.
• Clarence Going succeeded Charles A. Brown as principal of Birmingham High School.
• Hiram Wesley Evans succeeded William Simmons as Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
• John Henry Adams was elected president of the O'Neals Lime Works at Eureka.
• J. R. Slaughter succeeded Jesse Richardson as principal of Thompson High School.
• Daniel Crissinger succeeded William Harding as Chair of the Federal Reserve.
• Nat Wilford began a long tenure as caretaker of Underwood Park.
• Henry Norton Sr succeeded T. D. Moor as principal of Robinson Elementary School.

Births

Fred Shuttlesworth, born March 18, 1922

Joseph Volker, born March 9, 1922

• January 2: Robert Guillot, Mayor of Vestavia Hills and college president
• January 3: Houston Blount, Vulcan Materials executive
• February 4: James C. Lewis real estate developer and investor
• February 15: Freddie Rogers, Mayor of Roosevelt City
• February 17: Ed Chandler, professional baseball pitcher
• March 9: Joseph Volker, first president of UAB
• March 18: Fred Shuttlesworth, Baptist minister and civil rights leader
• April 29: Hugo Black Jr, attorney and scholar
• June 1: Charles Todel, monk and social activist
• June 25: Johnny Smith, jazz guitarist
• July 15: Sister Mary Joseph, co-founder of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery
• August 2: Red Cochran, football player and coach
• September 14: Frances Bergen, actor and model
• October 14: Anna Catharine Grace, educator and philanthropist
• December 1: C. Orian Truss, physician
• December 10: Freeman Andress, florist and co-founder of Birmingham Landmarks
• Camille Baird, aviator
• Ralph Butler, FBI agent
• Frances Carter, war worker and educator
• Wendell Givens, sportswriter
• Jack Granata, sculptor and art instructor
• Louis LeVaughn, school administrator
• Brooksie Lovvorn, clothes cleaner
• John L. Martin, postal worker
• Ben McKinnon, radio executive
• Archie Millican, welder
• John Nixon, dentist and civil rights activist
• Walter Palmer, Tuskegee airman
• Madelyn Poole, pianist and music director
• Ildefonso Ramirez, restaurateur
• James Travis, Tuskegee airman

Graduations

• Arthur Shores graduated from Industrial High School.
• Epp Sykes graduated from Birmingham High School.
• Peahead Walker graduated from Howard College.
• Dorsey Whittington graduated from the Institute of Musical Art in New York City.

Marriages

• June: Luther Hollums married the former Farris McCray.
• November: Robert Meyer married Lewis Barrett.
• James Dovel married the former Marie Katherine McLoughlin.

Awards

• Elise Sparrow was crowned Miss Birmingham.
• Erskine Ramsay was presented with the Birmingham News Loving Cup.

Deaths

Emmet O'Neal, died September 7, 1922

• February 2: 9 workers were killed in the 1922 Belle Ellen No. 2 Mine explosion.
• February 23: C. I. Taylor, baseball player, manager and owner
• February 26: Flemming Saltsman, carpenter, gunsmith and grocer
• March 25 & May 25: 22 workers were killed in the 1922 Acmar No. 3 Mine explosions.
• June: Andrew Gatsis, owner of the Little Gem Cafe
• June 24: William Rushton Sr, ice manufacturer
• July 9: Edward Barrett,Birmingham Age-Herald publisher
• July 22: Edwin Taliaferro, attorney
• July 23: B. A. Thompson, Mayor of Birmingham
• August 1: Frank White, U.S. Senator
• August 10: Mattie Sloss, wife of James Sloss
• September 7: Emmet O'Neal, Governor of Alabama
• November 22: 90 workers were killed in the 1922 Dolomite No. 3 Mine explosion.
• December: Hallie Menefee, wife of George Menefee
• Samuel Jones, electrician and boat builder
• Florida Graves, wife of William Graves
• Damon Lee, grocer
  • See also: List of homicides in 1922 and List of Birmingham homicides in 1922

Context

In 1922, the first successful insulin treatment of diabetes was made, by Frederick Banting in Toronto. The first issue of Reader's Digest was published. Pope Pius XI (Achille Ratti) succeeded Pope Benedict XV, to become the 259th pope. The United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt; Fuad I became King of Egypt. Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, premiered in the U.S. The Hollywood Bowl opened. The British Broadcasting Company was formed. Benito Mussolini became dictator of Italy. Rose Bowl stadium opened in Pasadena, California. Rebecca Felton of Georgia became the first woman United States Senator. Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Republic (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) came together to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.).

Books published in 1922 included Ulysses by James Joyce, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting, and The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.

The top films of 1922 were Robin Hood, When Knighthood Was in Flower, Blood and Sand, Grandma's Boy, and Smilin' Through.

Notable births in 1922 included actors Bea Arthur, Sid Caesar, Doris Day, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Christopher Lee, Telly Savalas, and Paul Scofield; actor and comedian Redd Foxx; actor and director Carl Reiner; author Kurt Vonnegut; baseball player and broadcaster Ralph Kliner; cartoonist Charles M. Schulz; comedian Dick Martin; comic book writer Stan Lee; film director Blake Edwards; inventor Ralph H. Baer; poet Philip Larkin; politician George McGovern; television writer and producer Norman Lear; and treasure hunter Mel Fisher.

Notable deaths in 1922 included artist Leslie Ward, actor and singer Lillian Russell, baseball player Tommy McCarthy, Emperor Charles I of Austria, entertainer Bert Williams, inventor Alexander Graham Bell, journalist Nellie Bly, and Pope Benedict XV.

1920s

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Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works