Robert Lindbergh

Robert Edward Lindbergh (born April 12, 1905; died May 10, 1986) was a one-time Birmingham City Commissioner, elected to succeed Bull Connor following an adultery scandal in 1953. He served one term on the Commission before Connor was re-elected in 1957.

Lindbergh, a graduate of the Birmingham School of Law, made some moves to clean up rampant corruption in the Birmingham Police Department. He replaced many top-ranking officers, removed a gag-order preventing lower-level officers from speaking to the media, and re-instituted FBI Academy training for local law enforcement.

His efforts made only a marginal dent in the department's dependence on bribes from bootleggers and racketeers, and did not change the policemen's reputation for brutal beatings to intimidate the public, as well as criminal suspects.

During Lindbergh's term as Commissioner of Public Safety, the segregation ordinance that barred Major League teams from playing exhibition games in Birmingham went unenforced, allowing Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron to take the field with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves in April 1954.

Lindbergh was defeated narrowly by Connor in 1957. He died in 1986 and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery.

References

• Nunnelly, William A. (1991) Bull Connor. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 0817304959

External links

• Robert Lindbergh at Findagrave.com