Several members of the audience recalled when President Franklin Roosevelt came to Jasper, Alabama to attend the funeral of William Bankhead. The thousands (estimated 40,000) who attended can attest to the importance of the Bankhead family’s political influence in Alabama for several generations,
Here’s a synopsis of the Bankhead family from the newsletter. And you can buy the book, Deep South Dynasty by Dr. Kari Frederickson HERE
Did you think that the Bankhead Highway was local (like I did)? Far from it! Come hear more about it Monday night at the BHS annual meeting and learn about the remarkable Bankhead family of Alabama.
Drop off cakes prior to Birmingham Historical Society annual meeting on February 27th. Taste testing will follow meeting! Be sure to include a card with your name and description. More information here.
Everyone is welcome at the Annual Meeting of the Birmingham Historical Society on February 27th at 7:00PM at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Copies of the book, “Deep South Dynasty” published by University of Alabama Press will be available for sale and signed by Professor of History, Kari Frederickson. A popular annual cake walk follows the meeting.
The Birmingham Historical Society’s newest book has 13 first-hand accounts of what it was like to grow up on Dynamite Hill, the neighborhood that was repeatedly bombed in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Barbara Shores, the daughter of civil rights activist and attorney Arthur Shores, along with Marjorie White, director of BHS, bring those stories to life with childhood memories, photos, and historical background.
Ryan Michaels with The Birmingham Times, interviews Shores and White prior to the event on Sunday in this article. Shores notes that many young people who have grown up in Birmingham are unaware of the significance of Dynamite Hill in breaking the racial barriers that existed in housing and schools. It’s a story that needs to be told and retold! Please mark your calendars for Sunday’s event:
Birmingham’s Dynamite Hill” will be unveiled on Sunday, Dec. 11 at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 600 Center St. North in Birmingham’s Graymont neighborhood, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Please note that this and other BHS publications will also be available locally at SHOPPE in Forest Park, via USPS and online HERE
Birmingham Historical Society 