Boutwell Auditorium Photos

Four photographs of Boutwell Auditorium were recently added to the Digital Collections database.

Schools, Airport, First National Bank and The Club

Click on the links below to see the most recently added photographs to BPL's Digital Collections.

Birmingham Airport Terminal
Birmingham Airport Terminal Front View
Bush School
The Club dance floor
Council School
Elyton Elementary School
Ensley High School
Fairview School
First National Bank of Birmingham Board of Directors
Gibson Elementary School
Lee Elementary School
Lewis School
North Birmingham School
Norwood School
Washington School
West End High School construction
West End High School exterior
Wylam Elementary School

227 Photographs Of Birmingham From 1923

Over 200 photographs covering a wide-range of topics were published in 1923 as photographic plates in a nine-part portfolio titled Art Work of Birmingham, Ala. This entire work has been digitized and added to Birmingham Public Library's Digital Collections database. Photographs included in the portfolio depict parks, homes, businesses, hospitals, schools and churches. To see all nine parts click here.

Eleanor Roosevelt Program 1938, Birmingham, AL.

The sixteen page program of Eleanor Roosevelt's lecture visit to Birmingham, Alabama is available online. Almost all of the content is made up of advertisements. Roosevelt's presentation was held in Birmingham's Auditorium and the title of her lecture was "The Individual's Relationship to the Community".

Click here to view the program.

Birmingham Public Library Reports Online

Several years of reports by the Birmingham Public Library (Alabama) are available online.

1934-1937
1937-1947
1947-1953
50th Anniversary (1960)
1977-1987

George Ward For Sheriff In 1910

The 48 page pamphlet published in 1910 by Birmingham Mayor George Ward titled George Ward Made A Business Mayor, George Ward Will Make A Business Sheriff, Help Him Win has been digitized and is available online. There is much statistical and historical information about Birmingham featured in this work. As George Ward states on the back cover of his pamphlet:

"The primary object in sending out this little book is, of course, to present to the people of Jefferson County whatever claims and qualifications I may have for the office of Sheriff. By way of atonement, however, for inflicting so much matter, purely personal, on their attention, there is also set forth much interesting data concerning the County Government, its voting strength, duties of Sheriff, Etc., Etc. It is hoped this information will prove of enough permanent value, and in form sufficiently attractive, to justify its being preserved for future use."

Click here to view this pamphlet.

Ensley High School Yearbooks

The 1917, 1923, and 1924 Ensley High School yearbooks are available online and are full-text searchable. Click here to browse through the three annuals.

Phillips High School Pen and Brush Club

Two Phillips High School calendars featuring the beautiful artwork of the Pen and Brush Club are now available online for viewing.

1937 Calendar & 1938 Calendar

Birmingham Magazine October 1915

The Birmingham Magazine published by the Chamber of Commerce for October 1915 is now available online. Click here to view the entire issue.

Table of Contents

• "Economy and Efficiency in Business" by Franklin H. Tonsineire


• "Legendary Shades Mountain" by C. Bryant Schaefer


• "Bessemer End of the Canal" by W. P. Gunn


• "Buildings and Business by F. W. Fitzpatrick


• "The Leeds Highway" by Geo. H. Clark


• "Purposes of the Weather Bureau" by F. C. Horton


• "Woman Suffrage and the Legislature" by Mrs. O. R. Hundley


• "The Present Business Outlook" by W. T. Gentry


• "Accumulative Value of Advertising" by F. J. Holberg


• "The Rotary Club" by May Teressa Holder

Early 20th Century Movie Theaters in Birmingham

In the early twentieth century, Birmingham was home to numerous movie theaters. O. V. Hunt, Birmingham's well known photographer, captured the exteriors of many of these buildings. 26 of his photographs were recently added to our Digital Collections Database and the descriptions are below.

• 3rd Avenue North and 18th Street
• Alcazar Theatre advertising Peggy Hyland in Persuasive Peggy
• Alcazar Theatre's While New York Sleeps movie display
• Birmingham Theatre
• Boy Scouts at the Odeon Theatre
• Construction of the Alabama Theatre
• Erlanger Theatre
• Galax Theatre's The Kentuckians movie display
• Heliotrope at the Galax Theatre
• Law of the Yukon at the Galax Theatre
• Lyric Theatre
• Lyric Theatre advertising The Iron Horse
• North Birmingham Theatre and Waters Theatre Co.
• Odeon Theatre and The Riddle Rider
• Pantage Theatre
• Ritz Theatre
• Royal Theatre
• Silk Hosiery at the Galax Theatre
• Strand Theatre advertising Alarm Clock Andy
• Strand Theatre and Fatty Arbuckle
• Strand Theatre's Black Is White movie display
• Strand Theatre's The Round Up movie display
• Streetcar employees going to the Lyric Theatre
• Trianon Theatre advertising Anne of Green Gables
• Trianon Theatre's Charlie Chaplin in The Kid movie display
• Watts Building and Empire Theatre

Click here to see the recently added photographs.

Birmingham Chamber of Commerce

Three issues of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce's publication Birmingham are now available online.

October 1, 1919

November 1919

January 1920

Birmingham architecture and church directory

Two books that may be of interest to local architects, historians and genealogists are now available online.

Architectural work, Wheelock, Joy & Wheelock, Birmingham, Ala. Published in 1905, this book consists mostly of engraved images of homes and businesses within the city.

Birmingham Church Directory of Birmingham, Alabama containing a full and accurate history of each church represented, together with a complete list of the societies of each church, their officers and objects. This directory contains the membership of nine of the leading churches in the city of Birmingham. This directory was compiled by Fred W. Green in 1896.

Tuxedo Junction and three local parks

Newspaper articles covering Tuxedo Junction, Tuxedo Heights neighborhood and three parks (Inglenook, Jemison and Jordan) are available online.

Cruikshank's History of Birmingham, volume 2

The second volume of A History of Birmingham and its environs: a narrative account of their historical progress, their people, and their principal interests published in 1920 by George M. Cruikshank is available online.

Comprised of short biographies, this volume provides a glimpse into the lives of prominent Birmingham citizens. A sampling of some of the more well-known names include Yielding, Ward, Tutwiler, Ruffner, Rushton, Ramsay, Pratt, Pizitz, O'Neal, Mudd, Messer, Loveman, Jemison, Ingalls, Henley, Hanson, Estes, Edwards, Drennen, Carraway, and Caldwell. To view an index of all of the names included in volume 2 click here.

A special thanks goes to our volunteer librarian, Carole Castine who made this online version possible.

New photographs online

Twenty-five photographs have been added to the Birmingham Public Library's Digital Collections database.

Subjects include:

A. G. Gaston
Alabama Boys Industrial School
Alabama Theatre
Blach's
Cascade Plunge
David Vann
Downtown Leeds
Eleventh Avenue Methodist Church
Emory O. Jackson
Empire Theatre
Ensley High School
Erskine Ramsay
Etheridge Brothers Barber Shop
Fair Park Swimming Pool
Highland Court Apartments
Homewood Theatre
Hunter Street Baptist Church
Messer Field
Nina Miglionico
Parisian
Powell Elementary School
Roberts Field Whisky Stills
Take a look.

1911 History of the Jews of Birmingham, Alabama

In 1911, The Reform Advocate published a lengthy article titled "The History of the Jews of Birmingham". The entire article is available and searchable in Birmingham Public Library's online digital collections database.

Contents include:
Temple Emanuel history by Rabbi Morris Newfield
The Ladies Benevolent Society
The Ladies Aid Society
The Temple Chapter
The Council of Jewish Women
Temple Kindergarden
Young People's Study Club of Temple Emanuel
Phoenix Club
Birmingham B'Nai B'rith Lodge
The Young Men's Hebrew Association
Birmingham the Pittsburgh of the South by Benjamin S. Gross


Short biographies (many include photographs):
Rabbi Morris Newfield
M. V. Joseph
Gustave Rotholz
Adolph Bernard Loveman
Simon Klotz
Burghard Steiner
Samuel Ullman
Issac R. Hochstadter
Jacob Fies
Morris Adler
Benjamin Moses Jacobs
Elias Gusfield
Samuel Adler
Bertram Jacobs
Emil Lesser
Mrs. Morris Adler
Mrs. Ben Weil
Mrs. Maurice Lenk
Benjamin Samuel Gross
Leo K. Steiner
Chester G. Bandman
Benjamin Franklin Ezekiel
Joseph Beitman
Isadore Shapiro
Samuel Marx
B. Wellman
Emanuel Rubel
Samuel Stern
Aaron Stern

Woman's suffrage in Alabama

On Febrary 3, 1912, William H. Sims presented a paper before Birmingham, Alabama's Quid pro Quo Club titled Why Not Woman's Suffrage In Alabama? His entire paper is now available online. To read his stance on female voting, click here.

Cruikshank's History of Birmingham

The first volume of A History of Birmingham and its environs: a narrative account of their historical progress, their people, and their principal interests published in 1920 by George M. Cruikshank is available online. The entire text (441 pages) may be read and searched electronically. Chapters in volume one include:

Chapter I Meaning of the Birmingham
Chapter II The story of coal
Chapter III Corporate development of iron fields
Chapter IV Alabama iron, Confederate backbone
Chapter V Consolidated iron interests
Chapter VI Planning and building of Birmingham
Chapter VII Newspapers and editors
Chapter VIII Corporate history of Birmingham
Chapter IX Birmingham as it is
Chapter X Jefferson County matters
Chapter XI Professional things and people
Chapter XII The City beautiful
Chapter XIII Cultural agencies
Chapter XIV Religious and charitable institutions
Chapter XV Secret, benevolent and social bodies
Chapter XVI Banks and financiers
Chapter XVII Military and war record
Chapter XVIII Bessemer etchings
Chapter XIX Historical background

A special thanks goes to our volunteer librarian, Carole Castine who made this online version possible.

New photographs available

Twenty-seven photographs covering subjects such as grocery stores, dental clinics, bicycles, downtown buildings, Barons baseball, funeral homes and Coca-Cola are now available online. Take a look.

Ramsay High School photographs

Six photographs of Ramsay High School have been added to the collection. Take a look at the athletic field, an outdoor assembly, and the groundbreaking ceremony for Ramsay's auditorium here.

Birmingham magazine 1925-1927

June 1925, December 1925, September 1926 and December 1927 issues of the magazine Birmingham are now available online in BPL's Digital Collections database.

Some of the subjects discussed in these four issues include the history of Jemison & Company, Hercules Powder Company, Augusta Friedman Shop and Liberty Life Assurance Society. Industrial activities, civic events, state income tax and the city's growth are also highlighted.

Social interpretation of Birmingham in 1912

The weekly publication The Survey published a report about conditions in Birmingham, Alabama in January 1912. Topics included in the report cover the city's civic front, water and waste, health, childhood, labor, and religion. Numerous photographs documenting conditions in Birmingham are included in this report and make this social survey an interesting and sometimes shocking read. Local responses to the January 1912 publication were published in February 1912 and are located at the end of this document. The complete report is here.

Birmingham Magazine 1919

March and September issues of the magazine Birmingham published in 1919 were recently added to the Digital Collections' database.

1913 social directory

The names of citizens who participated "in the social and prominent life" of Birmingham in 1913 are found in the directory titled Blue Book Birmingham 1913. This book has been digitized and is available for viewing and searching. Names, addresses and phone numbers make up the majority of this book but there are also a few photographs of buildings and local advertisements included as well.

Birmingham Magazine 1915

We recently added the v.1, no. 1 edition of Birmingham Magazine to BPL's Digital Collections Database.

Table of Contents

• A Letter of Appreciation From E. H. GARY.



• The Industrial Situation By E. H. GARY.



• Social Service Work of City Commission By GEORGE B. WARD, President City Commission.



• The Diversified Farming Association, What it is Doing By MARIE BANKHEAD OWEN, Secretary Central Association.



• Education in Birmingham By DR. J. H. PHILLIPS, Superintendent of Education.



• Woman Suffrage in Alabama By MRS. BOSSIE O'BRIEN HUNDLEY.



• Editorial Comment Business Men's League Item By SAM H. FOWLKES, Secretary.



• Roads and Highways By ALMA RITTENBERRY.



• Birmingham Permanent Manufacturers' Exhibit By J. H. EDMUNDSON. Secretary-Manager.



• Library Talk By CARL MILAM, Director Public Library.



• Proceedings of City Commishion By the Board of Commissioners.



• Building Up a City



• Invitation to Alabama Merchants

Loveman's 1934 fire

In 1934, Birmingham's Loveman, Joseph & Loeb department store caught fire and burned. First-hand accounts from firemen, policemen, medical personnel and radio broadcasters were compiled and issued for the benefit of the Birmingham Firemen's Relief Association. This compilation, Illustrated Souvenir : Birmingham's $3,000,000 fire, March 10, 1934 is now available online.

1893 Birmingham book

The Birmingham, Alabama, September, 1893 : plain statement for the homeseeker, the investor and the manufacturer book is now available for viewing. There are 33 pages of text, drawings and photographs highlighting the advantages of living and working in Birmingham.

1906 Views of Birmingham pamphlet online

The 1906 pamphlet Views of Birmingham: the Iron Center of the World is available online for viewing. There are 32 pages of photographs depicting businesses, schools, churches, industry, and hospitals in the Birmingham area.

Ensley newspaper articles available

Newspaper articles about Ensley, Alabama are available for viewing. These 27 articles include the full text and cover such topics as Ensley's Chamber of Commerce, Christmas, schools, shopping, and construction. Additional items covering Ensley will be available soon.

1887 Pocket Business Directory available

The 1887 Pocket Business Directory and Guide to Birmingham, Ala. is available online with full text searching capabilities. The suburbs of Avondale, Elyton, Pratt Mines, and Woodlawn are included as well as information about city and country government, schools, churches, newspapers, and labor organizations.

Archives Will Digitize Birmingham's Founding Documents with New Overhead Scanner

Birmingham Public Library
Press Release
December 19, 2006

Celebrating 30 years of service to the Birmingham community, the Birmingham Public Library’s Archives will embark on an ambitious project to make its extensive collection more accessible to teachers, students, researchers, and the general public. With a state-of-the-art overhead scanner—purchased with grants from the community—the Archives will scan Birmingham’s founding documents including the original survey for the city. The 133-year-old volume contains the original maps and field notes of the survey team that laid out Birmingham's streets in 1872. The Archives will also now be able to digitize atlases such as the Beers and Ellis Atlas of Birmingham—a rare 1887 atlas containing full color maps of downtown Birmingham; Baist's Property Atlas of Birmingham—a rare 1902 atlas of full-color maps of downtown Birmingham; and other historic maps and illustrations of early Birmingham.

“With this type of overhead scanner, the Archives can safely scan materials that are too fragile or too cumbersome for a standard scanner,” said Head Archivist Jim Baggett. He anticipates that a high-quality scanner will allow the Archives to digitize many one of a kind historic documents and make them available on the Internet.

The Archives will share the scanner with Oak Hill Cemetery, which holds an estimated 10,000 burials and associated interment records from the city’s founding to the present. The Cemetery, which is the burial place for many of the city’s founding families, will use the scanner to digitize interment records, providing the public with important information about Birmingham’s founders.

According to Library Director Barbara Sirmans, “this equipment will enable the Library to push forward with several of our key goals. It will provide adequate and appropriate technology for users to access the information they need. It will also greatly accelerate our effort to offer outstanding online content drawn from the Library’s own special collections.” Using current technology for the benefit of patrons is crucial to the Archives. The number of files Archives staff retrieve for researchers has gone up more than 60 percent in the last six years, and placing fragile items online is imperative for original documents to remain in-tact for generations to come.

The Birmingham Public Library Archives holds over 30,000,000 documents and over 400,000 photographs on subjects ranging from local to international significance. Subject areas of particular strength include local government, urban and economic development, industry and the labor movement, women's history, religious history, art, music, literature, sports, and the largest collection in existence relating to the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham.

The collection is open to the public and draws researchers from the U.S. and around the world. In 2005 the Archives served nearly 2,000 local, national, and international researchers with a record 95,000 files. In 2004, the work of one researcher won an Academy Award, adding to works researched in the Archives that have earned an Emmy, a Peabody, and three Pulitzer Prizes.

The scanner purchase was made possible with very generous support from the Birmingham Public Library Foundation, Vulcan Materials Company, Glenn Ireland, William Ireland, Energen, David Herring and the Oak Hill Memorial Association, the Birmingham Historical Society and the Friends of the Birmingham Public Library.

History of Parker High School

The full text of Arthur Harold Parker's autobiography A Dream That Came True is available online. Parker, who was principal of Industrial High School (later renamed Parker High School), details the history of African American education in Birmingham, Alabama from 1888 through 1920.

Trucks photographed by O. V. Hunt

15 of Oscar V. Hunt's delivery trucks photographs have been added to the BPL Digital Collections database. Drive on in and check it out.

McElwain School, Krystal in Woodlawn & many more photos

Twenty-six additional photographs from the Jefferson County (AL) Board of Equalization were recently added to our BPL Digital Collections database. Images include businesses, churches, and schools in Birmingham.

Birmingham Chamber of Commerce publication (May 1925)

The Birmingham Chamber of Commerce's Birmingham publication for May 1925 is now available. Contents include:

• A story of the Wofford Oil Company
• Industrial Birmingham, survey and outlook
• Junior Chamber of Commerce activities
• Birmingham's Safety Council functions
• Early history of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce

20 photographs of businesses, schools and theaters online

The Jefferson County (AL) Board of Equalization was responsible for photographing all structures within Jefferson County for the purpose of taxation. BPL's Archives Department is responsible for preserving 1500 boxes of the Board's files (including photographs) covering the years 1938-1977. Twenty of these photographs were recently added to our BPL Digital Collections database. Images include businesses, churches, and schools in Birmingham and Homewood.

Birmingham’s Victorian Bicycle Craze

Bicycles, known colloquially in the nineteenth century as “wheels,” offered a new kind of mobility that many women embraced. While some worried that having women riding about on bicycles would lead to moral decay, bicycle manufactures catered to the new clientele and Victorian era women found freedom on their bikes....(read more)

Newspaper Articles, Photograph and Postcard

(Part of Birmingham Magazine's monthly feature on Birmingham history highlighting items from the Archives’ collections)

Structures in Jefferson County (AL)

The Jefferson County (AL) Board of Equalization was responsible for photographing all structures within Jefferson County for the purpose of taxation. BPL's Archives Department is responsible for preserving 1500 boxes of the Board's files (including photographs) covering the years 1938-1977. Forty-nine of these photographs were recently added to our BPL Digital Collections database. Images include businesses, churches, and schools in downtown Birmingham, Center Point, and Ensley.

Birmingham's Vintage Service Stations

Birmingham's Vintage Service Stations
It seems unlikely that today’s American roadside architecture will ever inspire a sense of nostalgia. Big box discount stores and fast food restaurants are interchangeable from one location to the next. Gas stations, or to be precise, convenience stores, are distinguishable only by the color of the trim on the square, flat buildings. But the builders of gas stations, or to be precise, service stations, once used popular architectural styles and whimsy to catch the eye of passing motorists. More...

Five Points West newspaper articles added

An additional 39 Five Points West newspaper articles have been added to collection.

More Photographs by Charles Preston

36 images photographed by Charles Preston are now available for viewing. Some of the subjects depicted are from the 1940s and 50s and include: bellhops, Barons, businesses, Bob Hope, Booker T. Washington Insurance Co., Bingle, Betbeze, Burns, and beans.

Charles Preston's Photographs

24 images photographed by Charles Preston are now available for viewing. Some of the subjects depicted are from the 1950s and include: Dale's Cellar, Bankhead Hotel, Loveman's, Alabama Theatre, Jim Burke Buick, Krystal Hamburgers, Duke Rumore and WSGN.

Birmingham's Tourist Courts

As automobiles became affordable and reliable in the early 20th century, many Americans ventured out on long vacation trips into areas of the country not served by rail. Finding few places to stay, early auto travelers often slept in their cars or camped in tents. Enterprising residents along highways rented camp spaces in their yards or rooms in their homes. Towns and cities opened green spaces for camping, and some provided amenities like toilets, showers, drinking water and fire wood. By the 1930s, tourist courts lined American highways. Offering the comfort and privacy of small one-room cabins, tourist courts were a significant step up from sleeping on the ground or in the back seat. More...

W. Cooper Green and H. M. Caldwell resources online

Learn more about the man behind the name Cooper Green through newspaper clippings and documents.



See a detailed engraving of H. M. Caldwell and read his pamphlet History of the Elyton Land Company and Birmingham, Ala.

Mountain Terrace pamphlet available

The pamphlet Mountain Terrace: the Residence Park of Birmingham (1907) is now available online. The entire text is included and is searchable.

History of Birmingham and the Elyton Land Company

H. M. Caldwell's book History of the Elyton Land Company and Birmingham, Ala. (1892) is now available online. The entire text is included and is searchable.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing

33 additional newspaper articles about the bombing, investigations, and trial of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing are available.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing Investigation

Newspaper articles about the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing investigation and trials are now available for viewing. To see all the photographs and newspaper articles about the bombing and the investigation click here.

Wild West comes to Birmingham

Founded during America’s westward migration, early Birmingham shared numerous traits with towns from the notorious Wild West. A nineteenth-century boomtown populated by many young, unattached men, Birmingham was once a place of dirt streets, wooden sidewalks, saloons and occasional gun fights. Read contemporary news stories here.

Birmingham's Turn-of-the-Century Lake Resorts

The streetcar brought tremendous changes to the everyday lives of Americans. Beginning in the late 1800s, the streetcar encouraged the growth of suburbs by allowing people to live miles from their work. The streetcar also opened new avenues for amusement that led to the development of Birmingham’s turn-of-the-century lake resorts. More...

Collection Included in Index

BPL's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing Collection was recently added to the
Librarians' Internet Index: Websites You Can Trust.

Five Points West

Thirty-two newspaper articles about the Five Points West neighborhood have been added to the database.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing

On September 15, 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and killed four little girls. These powerful images, newspaper clippings, and documents show the immediate and widespread destruction of the tragedy and heartbreak that inspired a movement.

Birmingham's Semi-Centennial

Newspaper articles and photographs depicting the 50th anniversary of Birmingham's founding are now available for viewing

Birmingham’s Ill-Fated Mardi Gras
Around 1900 Birmingham celebrated Mardi Gras with kings, queens, parades and balls. See contemporary accounts, photographs, and invitations to a short-lived part of Birmingham's history here.

Avondale photographs

14 photographs of the Avondale community were recently added. Check it out.

Photographs of Birmingham added

31 photographs from The Birmingham News Collection are now available online.

News release and flyer

Birmingham Public Library Launches New Digital Collections

Starting in January 2006 the Birmingham Public Library’s Digital Collections will be available over the Internet 24/7 without charge and will feature some of the great treasures of the library’s special collections and archives. Many of these collections offer rare or unique glimpses into the history of Birmingham. “By digitizing some of the library’s newspaper clippings, photographs, and other materials, we are able to offer these special resources to people all over the world. We also expect these digital documents and images to motivate people from Birmingham and beyond to come into the library to see more of the library’s historic collection,” said Library Director Barbara Sirmans. She added, “This project would not have been possible without the generosity of the Birmingham News and the Birmingham Post Herald that allowed us to reproduce many of the articles from their papers.”

The digital collections encompass a variety of topics from the familiar to the unusual and currently feature newspaper articles, photographs, local history, and full-text pamphlets. The digital resources will continue to grow as the library adds more materials from its special collections. The library is also using this project as a catalyst to ask the public for historical photographs, scrapbooks, high-school yearbooks, and other materials from private collections that document the city’s past, particularly from the 1930s forward.

Collections already online include a souvenir booklet on the tornado of 1901, memorabilia on the Alabama Theatre, and photos depicting the aftermath of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The digital collections are on the library’s Web site at http://www.bplonline.org.