Avondale Mills Newspaper

The Avondale Sun, a newspaper published by Avondale Mills for its employees, ran from 1924-2006. Over its 82-year history, it published community and employee news, company information, and photographs.

G. Stephen Felker, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avondale Mills, Inc., donated the Avondale Sun newspaper collection to the B. B. Comer Memorial Library in 2006. The B. B. Comer Memorial Library digitized all available issues covering the period from 1924-2004, and in the summer of 2010 the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) and the B. B. Comer Memorial Library reached an agreement for BPL to catalog and host the digitized images.

This newspaper is a valuable resource for all of Alabama. Enjoy!

Norwood Neighborhood Articles Added

Newspaper articles about the Norwood neighborhood have been added to the Digital Collections database.

Elyton Newspaper Articles

Newspaper articles about Elyton, former seat of Jefferson County (AL), are now available online.

Mayor Richard Arrington

Newspaper articles about Mayor Richard Arrington have been added to the Digital Collection.

Beautiful Homes and Buildings of Alabama

George P. Turner and J. T. McPherson's architectural book Beautiful Homes & Buildings of Alabama is available online. The book includes drawings, plans, photographs, and advertisements.

Birmingham School Survery 1923

The Birmingham School Survey published in 1923 is now available online. Information included in the survey: the condition of school buildings, the need for additional buildings, construction cost estimates, comparisons with other cities, statistical tables, maps, and photographs of school buildings.

Alabama Civil Rights, 1950-1969

Over the years Birmingham Public librarians collected newspaper articles about the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama and arranged them in scrapbooks. The articles were clipped from several newspapers including The Birmingham News, Birmingham Post-Herald, and the Montgomery Advertiser. Covering the years 1950-1969, these scrapbooks are now available online.

Volume 1 (1950-1951, 1956-1959 )
Topics covered: Civil rights violations; bus segregation ordered halted by Interstate Commerce Commission; Montgomery bus boycott; attempts at school desegregation; Supreme Court rules bus segregation is unconstitutional; buses fired upon in Montgomery and Birmingham; Birmingham demonstrations; Montgomery bombings.

Volume 2 (1958-1960)
Topics covered: Shuttlesworth sues Birmingham for integration of schools and parks; Civil Rights Commission demands voting records of several counties; George Wallace defiance; President Eisenhower's "message" to Alabama; Registrars ordered to testify to Civil Rights Commission; Montgomery closes public parks.

Volume 3 (1960-1961)
Topics covered: Supreme Court upholds Civil Rights Commission hearings; Montgomery County ordered to release voting records; Mobile ordered to integrate municipal golf course; Macon County ordered to open voting registration to all; Bullock County voting registration declared unconstitutional; Jefferson County denies access to voter registration records; "Freedom Riders" violence in Birmingham and Montgomery.

Volume 4 (1961-1962)
Topics covered: Abernathy and Shuttlesworth arrested in Montgomery; Greyhound Bus Terminal court case; federal court orders halt to Freedom Riders.

Volume 5 (1962-1963)
Topics covered: Sit-in at Talladega; integration of Birmingham airport restaurant ordered; Montgomery Public Library desegregated; military reserve units to integrate; Birmingham voters registration; school desegregation suits filed by Justice Department; Birmingham sit-ins.

Volume 6 (1963-1965)
Topics covered: Rioting and lootin in Birmingham; President Kennedy and Governor Wallace confer; Gadsden marches; State Police sent to Birmingham; white mob attacks black ministers at Anniston.

Volume 7 (1965)
Topics covered: Mob violence at Marion; Wallace bans nighttime racial demonstrations in Dallas and Perry Counties; civil rights compliance forms signed by several state officials; violence in Montgomery; voter registration; Wallace requests U. S. Marshals; bombs are discovered in Birmingham.

Mississippi Civil Rights, 1948-1968

Over the years Birmingham Public librarians collected newspaper articles about the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi and arranged them in scrapbooks. The articles were clipped from several newspapers including The Birmingham News, Birmingham Post-Herald, and the Montgomery Advertiser. Covering the years 1948-1968, these scrapbooks are now available online.

Volume 1 (1948, 1956-1957, 1960-1962)
Topics covered: Segregation "watchdog" committee; Parker lynching; "Freedom Riders"; Philadelphia black church burned; voting registration disputes; James H. Meredith; contempt of court charges sought against University of Mississippi officials; Governor Ross Barnett bars Meredith from "Ole Miss".

Volume 2 (1962-1966)
Topics covered: University of Mississippi rioting; mob threatens Meredith during second week of classes; federal injunction bars state from halting desegregation; Civil Rights Commission investigator arrested in Greenwood; second black enrolled at the University of Mississippi; Meredith graduates; Medgar Evers slaying.

Volume 3 (1966-1968)
Topics covered: Memphis to Jackson march; Philadelphia slayings reopened by Justice Department; eighteen charged with slayings; seven found guilty.

United States Civil Rights, 1947-1969

Over the years Birmingham Public librarians collected newspaper articles about the Civil Rights Movement and arranged them in scrapbooks. The articles were clipped from several newspapers including The Birmingham News, Birmingham Post-Herald, Montgomery Advertiser, and The Tuscaloosa News. Covering the years 1945-1969, these scrapbooks are now available online.

Volume 1 (1945-1957)
Topics covered: Georgia "White Supremacy" Bill; Truman Civil Rights proposals; Southern reaction to Truman proposals; Shuttlesworth leads fight in Birmingham, Alabama; MacArthur speech to Congress; Eisenhower State of the Union Address.

Volume 2 (1956-1957)
Topics covered: racial violence in Tennessee; Kentucky racial problems; W. Wilson White named assistant attorney general for civil rights; bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama ends; Texas defies integration plans; Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas vow to continue segregation; Senator Lyndon B. Johnson supports civil rights.

Volume 3 (1957-1959)
Topics covered: jury trials voted into rights bill; civil rights bill approved; Georgia defies federal integration policy; Little Rock, Arkansas asks halt to integration; W. Wilson White to head Civil Rights Commission; Virginia and Arkansas to defy integration.

Volume 4 (1959-1960)
Topics covered: Governor John Patterson of Alabama warns Congress on civil rights; Atlanta, Georgia ordered to form integration plan; racial violence in Little Rock, Arkansas; peaceful integration in North Carolina and Virginia; Civil Rights Commission asks for federal voting registrars; new voting discrimination probe to begin in Alabama.

Volume 5 (1960-1961)
Topics covered: sit-ins, demonstrations continue throughout the South; Supreme Court defeats injunctions against Civil Rights Commission; New Orleans, Louisiana defies integration; racial violence in Greenville, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida racial violence; Atlanta, Georgia sit-ins; racial violence in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Volume 6 (1961-1962)
Topics covered: Freedom Riders assailed by MacDonald Gallion; U.S. Marshals ordered into Alabama; Freedom Riders linked to Communist Cuba; Civil Rights Commission extended for two year period; ICC orders interstate bus, terminal integration.

Volume 7 (1962-1963)
Topics covered: "Reverse Freedom Riders"; Albany, Georgia racial violence; school desegregation continues throughout the South; Albany Prayer Vigil; federal judge orders University of Mississippi to admit James H. Meredith.

Volume 8 (1963-1964)
Topics covered: Civil Rights Bill of 1963; Chicago Freedom March; Baltimore, Maryland rally at Gwynn Oak; Jefferson County Board of Registrars suit filed by Justice Department; Washington March.

Volume 9 (1964)
Topics covered: Senator Lister Hill's speech; NAACP boycott of Jacksonville, Florida stores; mother of Massachusetts governor jailed in Florida; Nashville, Tennessee demonstration; civil rights bill text.

Volume 10 (1964-1966)
Topics covered: Justice Department files suits against Tennessee and Louisiana; civil rights murder case in Mississippi; Lester Maddox cafeteria goes out of business; President's Council on Equal Opportunity created; Birmingham, Alabama bombings.

Volume 11 (1966-1968)
Topics covered: creation of Adult Education Program; new civil rights proposal; threats of national violence; Atlanta, Georgia violence; Grenada, Mississippi violence.

Volume 12 (1968-1969)
Topics covered: arrival of Poor People's Mule Train in Washington, D.C.; Supreme Court upholds 1866 civil rights law; "Resurrection City" leaders are jailed; violence in Washington, D.C.

Birmingham City Council Scrapbooks Online

Sixteen scrapbooks created by the Birmingham City Council are now available online. The scrapbooks consist of newspaper articles about government related issues and cover the years November 1962 through December 1964.

v.1.1 November 1, 1962 - February 21, 1963
Topics covered: controversy between Commission or Mayor-Council form of city government; campaigns of candidates for Mayor and City Council positions.

v.1.2 February 21, 1963 - April 12, 1963
Topics covered: election controversy; campaigns of candidates; Boutwell-Connor run-off election for Mayor; platforms of mayoral candidates; election of Albert Boutwell; new era for Birmingham.

v.1.3 January 22, 1963 - April 13, 1963
Topics covered: bond issue; annexation proposals; Red Mountain Expressway; problems of transit system; "City of Fear" article, 2/25/63; "Bad Birmingham Image" article, 3/5/63; segregation-integration controversy; "Outside Agitators" article, 4/4/63.


v.1.4 April 13, 1963 - June 1, 1963
Topics covered: change in the form of city government; swearing-in of Mayor Albert Boutwell and City Council members; ouster of the City Commission and subsequent controversy.


v.1.5 April 13, 1963 - July 4, 1963
Topics covered: racial issues; transit strike ends; opposition to amendments to Council (Dominick Bill); reopening of municipal golf courses; budget problems.

v.1.6 July 5, 1963 - August 6, 1963
Topics covered: annexation proposals; budget; public schools desegregation controversy; formation of Community Affairs Committee; repeal of city segreationg ordinances, 7/23/63; "breach of peace law" adopted, 7/24/63; problems with transit system.

v.1.7 August 6, 1963 - September 23, 1963
Topics covered: budget problems; Dominick Bill; transit system problems; Loveman's "bombing"; threats on the life of Mayor Boutwell; Arthur D. Shores' home bombed, 8/21/63; annexation; school desegregation problems; bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, 8/16/63; Royall-Blaik fact-finding team.

v.1.8 September 23, 1963 - November 16, 1963
Topics covered: representatives from Birmingham meet with President Kennedy; Royall-Blaik fact-finding team; black policemen controversy; transit system sale; overview of racial situation in Birmingham, 10/13/63; city seeking new sources of revenue.

v.2.1 November 17, 1963 - January 17, 1964
Topics covered: High school stadium issue; local reaction to assassination of President Kennedy; drive to return to city commission form of government; expressway problems; sales tax issue.

v.2.2 January 18, 1964 - March 4, 1964
Topics covered: tax plans; Legion Field; expressway problems; black policemen survey.

v.2.3 March 4, 1964 - April 28, 1964
Topics covered: airport expansion; "Birmingham Tomorrow" project; opening of community centers; "Sell Birmingham" program; city schools need improvements; April rainfall brings sewage problems.

v.2.4 April 28, 1964 - June 9, 1964
Topics covered: merger proposal; demand for the hiring of black policemen; visit by Governor George Wallace; Legion Field expansion; new postal facility; "Church Bombers in City", 5/30/64; budget requests.

v.2.5 June 9, 1964 - July 14, 1964
Topics covered: plan for a mayoral assistant; budget hearings; merger controversy; Legion Field expansion controversy; postal facility funding; new civil rights law in effect; proposed 20th Street mall.

v.2.6 July 14, 1964 - September 11, 1964
Topics covered: merger controversy; school integration plan; record budget sent to City Council; industrial site survey submitted; black protest of school integration plan.

v.2.7 September 11, 1964 - November 18, 1964
Topics covered: Connor vs New York Times trial; "Thrill Hill"; merger controversy in Homewood; sinkholes in Inglenook; cable television.

v.2.8 November 18, 1964 - December 20, 1964
Topics covered: merger controversy; fight to return to city commission government fails; plans for new civic center; medical center expansion.

Parker High School

Over 70 newspaper articles about Dr. Arthur Harold Parker and Parker High School have been added to the Digital Collections.

Central High School 1923 Annual

The 1922-1923 Mirror published by Central High School (Phillips High) is online.

1933-1934 Civil Works Administration Book Available

The 371 page manuscript titled Report on Civil Works Administration of Alabama, Jefferson County Division, Nov. 19, 1933 - Mar. 31, 1934 is now available online. It documents the work of the CWA in Jefferson County and includes photographs, maps, and charts. Below is a list of the projects covered.

Alabama Boys' Industrial School
Alabama Girls Training School
Aviation Advisor
Aviation Marking
Birmingham District
Birmingham Homesteads
Bessemer
Birmingham Rifle Range
Brighton
Brookside
Cardiff
County Resurvey
County Roads
County Schools
County School Grounds
Disposal Plants
Fairfield
First Aid Stations
Geodetic & Coast Survey
Historic Building Survey
Homewood
Irondale
Jefferson County
Leeds
Lipscomb
Malaria Control
Miscellaneous Women's Projects
Rifle Range
Sanitary Survey
Sealing Coal Mines
Sewage Plants
State Archives
Tarrant City
Technical Laboratory
Tuberculosis Sanitorium
Warrior

Newspaper Articles Added

Newspaper articles covering baseball, Birmingham Barons, Birmingham Black Barons, Rickwood Field, Phillips High School, Highland Avenue, and Shiloh Baptist Church have been added to the Digital Collection.