1952

1952 was the 81st year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

The Magic City sign, demolished in 1952

• March 20: The world premiere of the feature film "Steel Town" was held at the Alabama Theatre.
• May 29: An early morning fire at the Armour Company's stockyards sent hundreds of injured cattle and hogs rampaging through the streets of North Birmingham and downtown.
• October 6: Mountain Brook's Jemison Park alongside Shades Creek and Mountain Brook Parkway was dedicated.
• The cities of Alabaster, Steele and Sumiton were incorporated.
• The Birmingham Museum of Art received 29 important Italian Renaissance paintings from the Kress Foundation.
• The 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was organized at the Birmingham Municipal Airport.
• The 1885 Elyton Land Company on the corner of Morris Avenue and 20th Street was demolished.
• The Magic City sign at the Birmingham Terminal Station was dismantled and scrapped.
• Green Springs Park was renamed to honor former mayor George Ward.
• A study of Birmingham City Schools recommended construction of several new buildings.
• WAPI AM 1070 boosted its transmission to 10,000 Watts.
• Tuscaloosa recorded its highest-ever temperature of 107.0° on July 29.
• The Stockham Male Chorus reunited at 6th Avenue Baptist Church.
• Alabama State Highway 149 was signed as "Alternate U.S. Highway 31".
• Southeastern Bible School became "Southeastern Bible College"
• Several streetcar lines were discontinued.
• St Louis & San Francisco Railway's Engine No. 4018 made its final run and was put on display at the Alabama State Fairgrounds.
• W. C. Patton founded the Alabama State Coordinating Association for Registration and Voting.
• The Birmingham VA Medical Center was established in the University of Alabama Medical Center in Southside.
• Alex and Ruby Montgomery put the Arlington estate up for sale.
• The Jefferson County Department of Health recorded 2,751 new cases of syphilis, sharply down from 19,272 in 1942.
• Birmingham's Alley School reopened.
• Top Hat Barbecue opened in Blount Springs.

Business

• U.S. Pipe purchased the Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company.
• Dixie Supply Company became Hibbett & Sons and focussed on supplying sports teams.
• Jim Burke added Buick automobiles to his Nash dealership.
• U. S. Steel sold its properties in Bayview, Docena and Edgewater to John W. Galbreath Real Estate.
• Robert I. Ingalls Jr took over as chairman of Ingalls Iron Works following a legal battle.
• Alabama Power acquired the Powell Avenue Steam Plant.
• The First Bank of Alabaster was founded by George Scott Jr.
• Office furniture dealer Bodine, Bryson & Rolling was founded.
• William Spencer III became president of the Owen-Richards Company.
• George Mattison purchased the Pilot Broadcasting Company and its WTNB-AM radio station.
• W. O. Giles opened his first restaurant, which would become Chester's.
• A second Lou-Jac Drive-In opened on Bessemer Road.
• George Mattison Jr purchased Pilot Broadcasting and its defunct WTNB-AM from Thomas Beech.
• The firm of Huie, Fernambucq & Stewart was founded.
• U.S. Steel merged its Virginia Bridge Co. and American Bridge divisions.

Religion

• May 11: The original St Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church building in Montevallo was dedicated.
• Edgar Arendall, pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, began a weekly television program on WBRC-TV.
• The Patton Chapel Mission was established in Hoover.

Sports

Virgil Trucks pitched two no-hitters in 1952

• Pitcher Virgil Trucks recorded two no-hitters during a 5-19 season.
• Luke Sewell was succeeded by Rogers Hornsby as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
• Jimmy Piersall was demoted to the Birmingham Barons after brawling with his Red Sox teammates.
• Bubba Church was traded from the Phillies to the Reds.
• Evelyn Lawler competed in the 80 meter hurdles at the Helsinki Olympics.
• Vaughn Mancha was hired as an assistant football coach at Florida State University.
• The 1952 Birmingham Barons won the Southern Association championship.
• The 1952 Auburn Tigers went 2-8 in Shug Jordan's 2nd year.
• Alabama defeated Auburn 21-0 in the 1952 Iron Bowl.
• See also: 1952 Legion Field schedule

Individuals

• Ray Acton succeeded H. C. Crelly as Mayor of Homewood.
• Bill Battle, Jr became the athletic director for the Birmingham-Southern Panthers.
• Herman Blount legally changed his name to "Le Sony'r Ra"
• Bill Bolen joined the U. S. Air Force.
• Henrietta Boggs, first lady of Costa Rica, divorced President José Figueres Ferrer.
• John Claypool became pastor of Gilead Baptist Church in Madison County, Kentucky.
• Frank Clements became president of The Club.
• Bull Connor was convicted of joint occupancy of a hotel room with a member of the opposite sex (later overturned)
• Bill Edmonds got his start at Rust Engineering.
• Henry Edmonds retired from the pulpit of Pilgrim Congregational Church.
• Robert Guillot moved to Birmingham to take a position as senior vice president with the Vulcan Life & Accident Insurance Company.
• Gwen Harmon reigned as Miss Alabama.
• William Maddox joined the faculty of the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham.
• Hugh Martin resigned from Miller, Martin & Lewis Architects.
• Sam Mitchell began teaching at Howard College.
• C. L. Pierce succeeded Marcus Hancock as Birmingham Police Chief
• Joseph Raya was appointed pastor of St George Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
• Tom Self was hired as a staff photographer for the Birmingham News.
• Reese Smith succeeded Chester Laster as pastor of Bethel Baptist Church.
• Portrait artist Arthur Stewart moved to Birmingham.
• Hank Williams spent New Year's Eve at the Redmont Hotel before hitting the road for the last time.
• Louis Willie got his first job at Booker T. Washington Insurance.

Births

• January 21: Thom Gossom Jr, actor, writer, communications consultant and former football player
• January 22: Teddy Gentry, bassist for Alabama (band)
• February 8: Johnny Johns, CEO of Protective Life Corporation
• Feburary 16: Baseball player Jerry Hairston
• February 17: News anchor Mike Royer
• March 5: Musician Dennis "The Rock" Dumas
• March 7: Birmingham Americans kicker Earl Sark
• March 12: Calera fire chief Tommy Moon
• March 20: Planner David Hunke
• March 22: Minister, activist and Birmingham Water Works board member William Muhammad
• March 26: Artist, landlord and historian Gary Bostany
• March 28: Attorney Mike Graffeo
• April 15: Actor Glenn Shadix in Bessemer
• April 28: Musician Chuck Leavell
• May 12: Cabinetmaker Hilbun Adams in Sacramento, California
• May 18: Gas station owner Susil Rupasinghe in Sri Lanka
• June 9: Filmmaker Sandy Jaffe
• July 11: Novelist Robert McCammon
• July 15: Basketball player Allen Murphy
• July 23: Anti-government activist Mike Vanderboegh in St Joseph, Michigan
• August 3: Art and antique dealer Malcolm McRae
• August 16: Musician Topper Price in Mobile County
• August 25: Composer Peter Wolf in Vienna, Austria
• August 25: Fairfield Police Department officer Gary Lavender
• September 4: Auto mechanic and watchmaker Daniel Bailey
• September 5: Minister Scott Webb
• September 11: Writer Steven Ford Brown
• September 16: Banker Bob Dickerson
• September 27: Judge Alan King in Birmingham
• October 7: Actress Mary Badham in Birmingham
• October 29: Ron Sparks, Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture
• December 10: Optometrist Donna Matthews
• December 13: Basketball player Larry Kenon
• Steve Bowden, convicted securities trader
• Shirley Crumley, casting director
• Carol Duncan, Birmingham City Council
• Greg Gantt, punter
• Carol Garrison, UAB president
• Daryl Harms, energy entrepreneur
• Dolores Hydock, actor and storyteller
• Ron Ingram, sports reporter
• Ronald Jenkins, biologist
• Shirley Salloway Kahn, UAB administrator
• Ned Mudd, activist and musician
• David Nathan, assistant fire chief
• Jim Noel, television executive
• Tony Pardi, leather crafter
• Richard Scrushy, entrepreneur
• Wallace Sears, television executive and publisher
• Carole Smitherman, attorney and politician
• John W. Stewart III, president of the University of Montevallo
• Trygve Tollefsbol, biologist
• Phil Turkett, Birmingham zoning official
• Philip Williams, university president
• Davey Williams, guitarist and improvisational artist
• Earl Williams, guitarist and hair stylist

Marriages

• February 16: Norm Zauchin to Janet Mooney
• August 2: Pete Clifford to Sophia Ann Mize
• Howell Heflin to Elizabeth Ann Carmichael

Awards

• Sculptor John Rhoden won the Prix de Rome
• Catcher Sam Hairston was named to the Western League All-Star Team
• Marine sergeant Harold Wilson was presented with the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman.

Graduations

• Warren Crow III from the University of Alabama.
• Scholar Roland Frye earned his PhD at Princeton.
• Autherine Lucy earned her BA at Miles College
• Joe Farley completed an LLB at Harvard Law School
• James Pittman graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School
• Ezra Sims completed a Bachelor of Music at Yale University

Deaths

• January 17: Sidney Norwood, entrepreneur, investor, and former Mayor of West End
• July 23: Sterling Foster, former pastor of South Highland Presbyterian Church
• October 24: Joseph Zinszer, retailer
• December: Simon Goldstein, president of Goldstein & Cohen department store
• Chester Laster, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church
• Mary Pratt DeBardeleben Percy

See also: List of Birmingham homicides in 1952

Works

• The "Hank Penny Show" hosted by bandleader Hank Penny
• The Kings of Harmony recorded with Phyllis Branch for Tuxedo Records.
• The Birmingham Bop became popular in local dance clubs.
• "My Bucket's Been Fixed" / "The Little Things That You Do." and "Maybe Baby You'll Be True" / "Rifle, Belt and Bayonet." singles by Hardrock Gunter released on Bullet Records.

Books

• Smith, Algernon L. with James Sulzby Jr, editor (1952) The Story of Continental Gin Company 1900-1952. Birmingham: Continental Gin Company.

Buildings

• Crestline Scout House
• Ensley Highlands Methodist Church
• First Congregational Christian Church
• Glenn Middle School
• Hill Elementary School
• Homewood Public Library (former location at Oxmoor Road and Roxbury Road)
• Indian Springs School
• Western High School
• Tuggle Elementary School
• Clayton Park in the Acipco-Finley neighborhood
• additions to Bush Middle School
• Hillman Building (UAB)
• Ranch House Motel at 2125 7th Avenue South
• Roy Bridges & Company, Willys auto showroom at 728 21st Street South

Context

1952, a leap year, saw the premiere of NBC's "The Today Show" and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The winter olympics were held in Oslo, Norway and the summer games in Helsinki, Finland. All U.S. steel mills were nationalized by President Truman in advance of a steelworkers strike. The first B-52 Stratofortress took to the skies. The Mau Mau uprising rocked Kenya. The U.S. detonated its first hydrogen bomb at the Marshall Islands. Eisenhower was elected President of the United States. The Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns for the NFL championship and the WWE was created by Vince McMahon.

Notable births in 1952 included Senator Bill Frist, author Douglas Adams, announcer Bob Costas, coach Bill Belichick, singers David Byrne and George Strait, actors Mr T, Christopher Reeve, John Goodman, Paul Reubens, Isabella Rossellini and Liam Neeson and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. Deaths in 1952 included King George VI of the United Kingdom, Eva Perón, and Franklin Roosevelt's Scottish terrier, Fala.

Top grossing films of 1952 included This is Cinerama, The Greatest Show on Earth, and Singin' in the Rain. Herman Wouk won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature for The Caine Mutiny. Other notable book releases included The Diary of Anne Frank and Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire. The top pop songs were "Delicado" by Percy Faith and his Orchestra, "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" by Vera Lynn, and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by Jimmy Boyd.

1950s

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