Photographs Added March 28

Photographs featuring President Roosevelt visiting Fairfield, street scenes, streetcars, libraries and more. Click here to view all the new photographs.

Photographs Added February 21

Photographs of Consolidated Dairies, East Lake Atheneum, Florence Hotel, Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk Factory, Capitol Theatre, Galax Theatre, and Strand Theatre were recently added. To view the photographs click here.

Margaret Allen School 1915

The 1915 yearbook for the Margaret Allen School was recently added to the online database.

"'A day in June' is an almost every-day affair in Birmingham, there is nothing at all rare about it. What about a day in February when it snows? Ah, that is rare indeed! So rare is it, that last year none of us who were ten, or twelve, or maybe fourteen, had ever seen snow that "stayed on the ground." And one of us, older than that, whose home was in Florida, had never even seen a snow fall! Is it any wonder that we ran eagerly to school to know what the others thought of it? So hurriedly did we come, and so unused were we to this experience, that we came in oxfords and without sign of overshoes, causing many wise and disapproving looks from the teachers, and much following up, by parents, with things that go with snows.

The "grown-ups," realizing at once that there was much fun in store for us out of doors; because they had seen one or two real snows in Alabama, gave us a half-holiday. They knew that we would be too old and too big to play in the next one. This is a picture of a crowd of the happiest of us, taken on the roof garden. The roof garden has been the scene of many good times in the sunshine, but only once have we stood on it with our feet deep buried in snow." ~ page 45

Photographs Added

Photographs depicting the Birmingham Gun Club, Redmont Tire Company, women's suffrage, Henley School, Tutwiler Hotel, Fairfield Theatre, Royal Theatre, and the 1893 Avondale Croquet Club were recently added. Click here to view the images.

Barker School newspaper stories online

Newspaper articles about Barker School are now available online. Most of the articles cover the 1941 fire that destroyed the school.

Powell School Items Added

Newspaper articles and a typewritten letter about Powell School have been added to the Digital Collections database. Click here to view.

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.