At the 82nd Annual Birmingham Historical Society meeting featuring a talk by Guest Speaker Dr. William Deutsch, President Wayne Hester reminded the audience of the importance of $50 gift memberships, particularly for interested young people. The non-profit society depends upon the generosity of donors and members to provide free events and support its mission and research. Its volunteer organization relies upon the time and talent of its members. We encourage you to join us or give a gift! Thank you to all those who attended for your continuing support.
Left to right: BHS President Wayne Hester, Guest Speaker Dr. William Deutsch, BHS Director Marjorie White. Photo by Louise McPhillips
Heritage Society members, thank you for your support! Don’t forget that this Sunday, May 7th at 5:00 PM is the annual gathering. You should have received an invitation via USPS and this is an RSVP event. Any last minute responses should be directed to BHS Director Marjorie White.
Drawing for invitation by BHS Heritage Society member, Louise McPhillips
Missed this event but want to join for next year? More information is available HERE. See you Sunday!
One of the society’s most anticipated events is the annual spring gathering at one of Birmingham’s beautiful historic homes. This year we will be hosted May 7th, Sunday evening, at 5PM at the Northington-Murray House. You must be a Heritage Society member to attend. But we’d love for you to join us! Here’s how…
It’s that time of year again! As a non-profit operating entirely with volunteers, we depend upon the support of our donors and the service of our Trustees. We ask that you renew your membership and join us in the important work of documenting Birmingham’s history. Currently celebrating our 81st year, we appreciate the generous gifts of members and patrons that enables us to provide annual seminars, tours, book signings, publications, and newsletters.
Birmingham has a very rich heritage and learning from its past, shapes its future. Please refer to the long list of publications below!
If you are a Trustee, please complete this form and submit it prior to February 14th, 2023, according to the requirements of our by-laws.
If you would like to join or renew your membership, please complete this form. Thank you for your support! We appreciate your interest!
BIRMINGHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 1977-2022
2022. Birmingham’s Dynamite Hill
2021. Birmingham: The City Beautiful, Compliments of G. Ward
2020. The Birmingham District: An Industrial History and Guide (reprint of 1981 edition)
2019. Pretty Posies, Powerful Healing: An Herbal Primer
2019. Shades Creek: Flowing Through Time
2018. Warren H. Manning’s City Plan for Birmingham, reprint of 1919 plan
2016. Birmingham, 1915, reprint
2016. For Science and Humanity: Building Southern Research
2015. Bob Moody’s Birmingham: A City in Watercolor
2014. Mountain Brook-A Historic American Landscape
2013. MINUTES-Central Committee of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
2012. The Jemison Magazine: Birmingham and Mountain Brook, 1926-1930, reprint of the magazines
2011. The Jemison Magazine and The Selling of Birmingham, 1910-1914, reprint of the magazines
2010. Digging Out of the Great Depression: Federal Programs At Work In and About the Birmingham Area
2009. Mountain Brook Village: Then & Now
2008. D.O. Whilldin: Alabama Architect
2007. Hand Down Unharmed: Olmsted Files on Birmingham Parks: 1910-1925
2006. The Olmsted Vision: Parks for Birmingham
2005. A Park System for Birmingham, Olmsted Brothers, 1925, Reprint.
2004. Art of the New South: Women Artists of Birmingham, 1890-1950
2003. A Guide to Architectural Styles Featuring Birmingham Homes
2001. Aspiration: Birmingham’s Historic Houses of Worship
2001. A Pizella Affair: Portraits of the Comer Family
1999. Walking Tours of Birmingham Churches Conducted from 1990-1999
1999. Vive Vulcan! Activities for Schools
1998. In Celebration of the Restoration of Alabama Power Company’s 1925 Tower
1998. Low Virtues: The Value of Human Scale Architecture to Birmingham Urbanism
1998. A Walk to Freedom-The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, 1956-1964
1997. Birmingham Bound-An Atlas of the South’s Premier Industrial Region
1996. Birmingham View: Through the Years in Photographs
1995. Birmingham’s Vulcan, reprint 1938 booklet
1995. Vulcan & His Times-A Tell all about Birmingham’s Most Famous Landmark
1994. The Birmingham Industrial Heritage District Map
1992. True Tales of Birmingham
1991. Mountain Brook Estates, reprint of a 1926 publication
1991. Judge Clarence Allgood: His Brother’s Keeper
1990. Cinderella Stories, Transformations of Historic Birmingham Buildings
1989. Designs on Birmingham: A Landscape History of a Southern City and its Suburbs
1989. Buildings Against Cities: The Struggle to Make Places
1988. House Detective: A Guide to Researching Birmingham Buildings
1986. Image of the City, by Grady Clay
1985. Go To Town, Birmingham: A Public Forum on a Vital City Center
1984. Old Birmingham-New Architecture: Student Projects for a Historic Downtown Context
1983. Five Points Heritage Hike and Patch
1982. Town Within A City: The Five Points South Neighborhood, 1880-1930
1981. The Birmingham District: An Industrial History and Guide
1980. Birmingham Heritage Hike Guide and Patch
1978. The Ghost in the Sloss Furnaces
1978. Downtown Discovery Tour
1978. Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide
1977-1987. The Journal of the Birmingham Historical Society, 14 issues
Don’t forget the final Trustee Meeting next Tuesday, December 13th, at noon for lunch, at our new offices at 2827 Highland Avenue. Note that according to the by-laws, you must attend at least two Trustee meetings annually.
As a reminder, in order to maintain your Trustee status, you must first be a member and current on membership fees, submit an annual conflict of interest statement, and contribute to the society in a significant way. Trustee Service Forms are submitted annually and are available online HERE. There are a limited number of Trustees, and all applications must be approved by the nominating committee.
Note that two of our trustees, Sam Frazier and Henry Ray have been greatly challenged by recent devastating fires. Sam’s beloved “Woodside” in Belle Mina, his 1860 residence visited by the Heritage Society several years ago, burned to the ground, and Henry Ray’s office building in Mountain Brook was gutted by fire. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to them both.
One of the most anticipated Birmingham Historical Society events each year is the annual Heritage Society party. It often features one of Birmingham’s most magnificent historic mansions and this year was no exception, with the Bush-Hill-Cooley residence.
Bush-Hill-Cooley Heritage Society Party 2022. Photo: Louise McPhillips
Local architectural firm, Warren, Knight, & Davis, was hired by Morris Bush soon after his marriage in 1920 to design a proper English manor house on top of the mountain on a large lot in a subdivision developed by Jemison & Co. The widely-respected firm designed a Tudor Revival style residence of smooth-face, random-laid Indiana limestone with steep roofs, gables, large chimneys, and surrounded by substantial gardens in keeping with the examples established by King Henry VIII (Henry Tudor) after the reformation.
Morris Bush (age 48) moved his bride Margaret Gage Bush (age 33) to the magnificent residence in 1928. Following subsequent funerals for both of her parents, his mother, and their next door neighbor, finally good news! Their beloved daughter, Gage, was born in 1931, but sadly, the following year, Morris Bush died of a massive heart attack. Margaret couldn’t bear to stay in the house after all that unhappiness and moved in 1934.
James Hill, president of the local Hill Grocery Co., his wife Rena McMurray Hill, with their son Delmar, purchased the estate in 1934 from Margaret Bush and they would live there for the next 30 years, followed by Rena and her sister, for the next decade. The Hill family thrived despite the Depression due to their ’shop local’ philosophy, positioning a neighborhood grocery store within walking distance of many households as well as their support of ‘cash and carry’ (including script issued by local industrial firms).
After Ed Craig, and then Lanny & Brenda Vines lived there, Tammie & Jim Dandy Cooley purchased the estate in 2015. They’ve enjoyed working with architect Hank Long of Henry Sprott Long & Associates to renovate the home and restore the features and plantings of the surrounding gardens.
”Three years on the inside and then three years on the outside” as Tammie Cooley describes the couple’s ongoing love affair with the residence and its gardens. As Jim Dandy adds, ”we see ourselves as the current stewards of this timeless place.”
Bush-Hill-Cooley Heritage Society Party 2022. Photos: Louise McPhillips
Much appreciation to the Cooley family for sharing the rich history and their labor of love with the Heritage Society this year!
Birmingham has a very rich heritage and Birmingham Historical Society has been researching and publishing educational articles about Birmingham for 80 years. Established in 1942, the Society has published an impressive list of books about its neighborhoods, its origins, its industrial history, and its civil rights history among others.
Birmingham Historical Society 