1952

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

Events

The Magic City sign, demolished in 1952

• 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.
• Edgar Arendall, pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, began a weekly television program on WBRC-TV.
• W. C. Patton founded the Alabama State Coordinating Association for Registration and Voting.
• The Patton Chapel Mission was established in Hoover.
• 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.

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.

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

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 F. Sulzby, Jr, editor (1952) The Story of Continental Gin Company 1900-1952. Birmingham: Continental Gin Company.

Buildings

• First Congregational Christian Church
• Glenn Middle School
• Hill Elementary School
• Homewood Public Library (former location at Oxmoor Road and Roxbury Road)
• Indian Springs School
• P. D. Jackson-Olin High School
• Tuggle Elementary School
• Clayton Park in the Acipco-Finley neighborhood
• additions to Bush Middle School
• Hillman Building (UAB)

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.
• 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.
• 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 22: Teddy Gentry, bassist for Alabama (band)
• Feburary 16: Baseball player Jerry Hairston
• March 12: Calera fire chief Tommy Moon
• 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
• July 15: Basketball player Allen Murphy
• August 16: Musician Topper Price in Mobile County
• August 25: Composer Peter Wolf in Vienna, Austria
• September 5: Minister Scott Webb
• September 11: Writer Steven Ford Brown
• 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
• Ron Ingram, sports reporter
• Ronald Jenkins, biologist
• Johnny Johns, CEO of Protective Life Corporation
• Robert R. McCammon, author
• Ned Mudd, activist and musician
• David Nathan, assistant fire chief
• Jim Noel, television executive
• Richard Scrushy, entrepreneur
• Wallace Sears, television executive and publisher
• Carole Smitherman, attorney and politician
• Philip Williams, university president
• Earl Williams, guitarist and hair stylist
• John W. Stewart III, president of the University of Montevallo

Marriages

• 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
• Scholar Roland Frye earned his Ph.D. at Princeton.
• Autherine Lucy earned her B.A. at Miles College
• Joe Farley completed an LL.B. at Harvard Law School
• Ezra Sims completed a Bachelor of Music at Yale University

Deaths

• July 23: Sterling Foster, former pastor of South Highland Presbyterian Church
• Chester Laster, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church
• Mary Pratt DeBardeleben Percy

See also: List of Birmingham homicides in 1952

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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