1947
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1947 was the 76th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.
Events
- January 2: The USS Birmingham (CL-62) was decomissioned.
- June 26: The 1947 Dairy Month Parade was held in downtown Birmingham.
- August 18: The home of Samuel Mathews in North Smithfield was targeted by a racially-motivated bombing.
- November 11: Birmingham put on the nation's first Veterans Day celebration.
- The North American Numbering Plan went into effect, giving Alabama the 205 area code.
- The Birmingham Children's Theatre was founded.
- The Federated Women's Club purchased the former W. S. Brown residence on Highland Avenue.
- James Sulzby Jr founded the Alabama Historical Association.
Business
- January 2: "The Club" was incorporated.
- The Alhambra Restaurant opened on 5th Avenue North.
- The Birmingham Electric Company began using "streamlined" PCC-type streetcars.
- Busch's Jewelers purchased Brackin's.
- Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company began manufacturing slag wool at its North Birmingham Furnaces.
- Citizens Trust Bank joined the Federal Reserve.
Establishments
- Belcher Evans Millwork was founded.
- Cobb Theatres was founded.
- The College Theatre opened in East Lake.
- Newman Waters opened the Downtown Club.
- Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood was founded.
- Gus's Hot Dogs opened on 4th Avenue North.
- Induron Protective Coatings was founded.
- Raymond's Five Points Market opened.
- Roy Lumber opened in Bessemer.
- Spivey Hobby, Toys & Gifts opened on Tuscaloosa Avenue
Government
- January 20: Jim Folsom Sr succeeded Chauncey Sparks as Governor of Alabama.
- Laurie C. Battle succeeded Luther Patrick as Representative of the 9th Congressional District of Alabama.
- December: The Homewood City Council rezoned the site of the future Valley View Apartments.
- Fultondale was incorporated.
- Mulga was incorporated.
- Trussville was incorporated.
- The Alabama State Fair Authority was established by the Alabama Legislature as a successor to the Alabama State Fair & Exhibit Association.
- Homewood deeded land on Shades Creek Parkway to the Armory Commission of Alabama for a Homewood National Guard Armory.
Education
- John Carroll Catholic High School opened.
- Wenonah Elementary School opened.
Media
Religion
- June 21: Joseph Adams was appointed pastor of Holy Infant of Prague Catholic Church.
- Garywood Assembly of God was founded as El Bethel Assembly of God.
- Trinity United Methodist Church began holding services in an army chapel building bought as surplus from Camp Sibert near Gadsden.
- Edward Gardner became pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church, Kingston.
- Al Mathes became pastor of South Highland Presbyterian Church.
- William Vines succeeded J. Ivey Edwards as pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church.
Sports
- January 1: Tennessee State defeated Louisville Municipal College 32-0 in the 1947 Vulcan Bowl.
- The Birmingham Skyhawks began play in the Professional Basketball League of America
- The Birmingham Vulcans began play in the Southern Professional Basketball League
- The Bessemer Whiz Kids began play in the Southern Professional Basketball League
Individuals
- October 2: Stanleigh Malotte returned to the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ at the Alabama Theatre.
- Orville Schanbacher was named president of Loveman's.
- Roy Downs became president of Central State Bank of Calera.
- Dorothy Love left the Gospel Harmonettes.
Awards
- Erskine Hawkins was given an honorary doctorate by Alabama State University.
- John Rhoden was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship for sculpture at Columbia University.
- Miss Alabama: Peggy Elder
Births
- January 4: Tim Rooney actor / voice actor
- February 1: Ira Chaffin, sculptor and hotel keeper
- February 2: Henry Lovoy, vocalist
- February 4: Wallace Potts, film director / screenwriter / archivist.
- February 11: Roy Moore, Alabama Supreme Court chief justice
- February 22: Richard North Patterson, attorney / novelist
- February 23: George Curry, newspaper columnist
- March 1: Tom Hinson, accountant / embezzler
- March 11: Pat Morrow, high school band director
- March 22: Lamar Green, professional basketball player
- April 2: Emmylou Harris, singer / songwriter
- April 21: Barbara Park, children's author
- April 24: Ann Kelley, vocalist
- May 4: Dick Pigford, architect
- May 12: Patrick Cather, publisher and book collector
- May 18: Gail Strickland, actor
- June 7: Eric Wieschaus, Nobel prize-winning biologist
- June 13: Richmond Flowers Jr, professional football player
- June 18: Sandy Posey, vocalist
- July 3: Mickey Rooney Jr, actor / musician / television producer
- July 23: John Katopodis, Birmingham City Council member
- August 13: Dowd Ritter, CEO of Regions Bank
- October 26: Wade Black, director of the Birmingham Pledge Foundation
- November 18: Saleh "Sol" Bajalieh, restaurateur
- December 7: Garry Unger professional hockey player / coach
- December 28: Spencer Bachus, former U.S. Representative
- Leroy Bandy, Birmingham City Council member
- [[Bill Billits], Graysville City Council member
- Sandra Brown, Birmingham Board of Education member
- Tom Cosby, development director
- Edward Crenshaw, Ramsay High School band director
- John Dedrick, Homewood City Schools administrator
- Scott Douglas, director of Greater Birmingham Ministries
- Carolyn Featheringill, attorney and law professor
- Elias Hendricks, Birmingham City Council member
- Rob Henrikson, CEO of MetLife
- Janet King, nurse
- Robert Luckie III, advertising executive
- Jerry McIntosh, Irondale Police Department chief
- Diane McNaron, cabaret singer
- Joe Meadow, Birmingham Zoo Express conductor
- Mona, Birmingham Zoo elephant
- Larry Naves, judge
- Fred Plump, firefighter and youth sports promoter
- Garth Potts, artist, Levite Jewish Community Center director
- Mike Rasmussen, attorney
- Johnny Robinson, victim of racial violence
- Fred Shuttlesworth Jr
- Susie, Birmingham Zoo elephant
- Gwen Sykes, Birmingham City Council member
- Barry Taylor, vocalist / building inspector
- Jack Trawick, murderer
- Jairo Vargas, newspaper publisher
- Ted vonCannon, industrial recruiter
- Bill Waites, Pleasant Grove Police and Fire Department chief
- Mike Warren, business executive
- Sam Wehby, real estate executive
- Ron Yarbrough, concessionaire
Graduations
- Joseph Braswell graduated from Birmingham-Southern College.
- Frank Samford Jr graduated from the University of Alabama.
- Ezra Sims completed a bachelor of arts at Birmingham-Southern College.
Marriages
- October 12: Satchel Paige married Lahoma Brown in Hays, Kansas.
Awards
Deaths
- January 3: Lewis Barrett, newspaper publisher
- January 8: Dyer Talley, surgeon
- February 6: Oscar Spiegel, First Christian Church pastor
- April 17: Frank Hartley Anderson, architect / artist
- May 16: Robert Aland, founder of New Ideal department store
- July 15: Archibald Carmichael, U.S. Representative
- October 31: Robert Meyer, hotel owner
Works
- Annals of the Southside Baptist Church by James Sulzby Jr
- Colonial Stores introduced their "rooster" logo.
Buildings
- Ans-O-Phone building on 6th Avenue North
- John Carroll Catholic High School
- College Theatre in East Lake
- Crestline Heights Shopping Center in Crestline Village
- Edgewood Elementary School auditorium
- Exchange Bank Building on 20th Street South
- Home Baking Company renovations
- Legion Field south end zone grandstands
- Wenonah Elementary School
- WJLD building on Bessemer Super Highway
Music
Film, Radio and TV
- Walter Lantz Productions made a series of Reddy Kilowatt cartoon shorts.
Context
1940s |
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