Did you know that the aggregate mass–stone, slag, gravel, and sand–of our highway system (in 1961) was the ‘equivalent of constructing 23 great pyramids each calendar week?’ – B.A. Monaghan, President Vulcan Materials Company
Or that a woman was instrumental in organizing the American Cast Iron Pipe Company in 1905?
Or that Thomas Martin, as President of Alabama Power, was also responsible for building Southern Research Institute, and organizing the Alabama State Chamber of Commerce? And that the first electric plant in Birmingham was at Elyton Land Company in 1886?
Or that Birmingham’s greatest development began with the purchase of Birmingham’s Pratt Coal & Iron in December of 1886 by Tennessee Coal & Railroad Company? And that the sale included 76,000 acres of coal lands, and about 13,000 acres of land including 7 ½ miles on Red Mountain’s iron ore seam?
Explore the history of one of America’s most influential companies with Robert Gregg’s illuminating study of the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company. Gregg delves into the origins of the company, tracing its growth and development throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. With insightful analysis and detailed research, this book is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in American business history.
These fascinating stories and much more are from Birmingham Historical Society’s 2025 publication entitled Building Birmingham’s Industrial Base: Newcomen Monographs. It features the words of four Birmingham leaders of industry: Robert Gregg, William David Moore, Thomas W. Martin, and B.A. Monaghan as they tell the ‘back stories’ of Birmingham’s industrial giants.
With much thanks to Birmingham Historical Society Trustee, John C. (Jay) Draper IV, who shared his collection of the Newcomen Society of America’s (Alabama Chapter) annual volumes for reprint.
What is the Newcomen Society? It was founded in 1920 in England centering around the study and promotion of the history of engineering and technology. The American Society was founded in 1923 focusing on American business leadership and industrial progress. The American Society closed in 2007 after publishing over 1600 monographs now preserved in Philadelphia’s National Musueum of Industrial History.
October 19, 3-5 p.m., It’s Nice to Have You in Highland Park, at 2827 Highland Avenue
November 16, 2 p.m., A Traveler’s Tales: William Bartram’s 1775 Journey…through the Southern British Colonies and the future state of Alabama, as told by Brian Rushing, naturalist and Bartram admirer, at 2827 Highland Avenue AND:
Celebrating the release of Building Birmingham’s IndustrialBase, our 2025 Members Book, at 2827 Highland Avenue
January 18 or 25, 2 p.m., Tuxedo Junction documentary at the Virginia Samford Theater.
February 23, 5: 30 p.m., BHS Trustees Supper and Annual Meeting, celebrating the release of Birmingham By the Book
March 15 or 22, 2 p.m. 1776, at the Virginia Samford Theater.
The following is a heartfelt remembrance from Birmingham Historical Society Director, Marjorie White, about Dr. Linn’s numerous contributions during his career as well as his importance to the society ~ quietly serving while editing over 20 annual publications, over 100 newsletters, and numerous event invitations. Above is a picture of Dr. Linn with editor and BHS Trustee, Katie Tipton.
My acquaintance with Julius began in 2003. Ehney and Pat Camp and I called upon him in his home on Thornhill Road to discuss an idea for a book. (Julius lived in the home his parents built c.1927 surrounded by family furnishings, books, and art lovingly handed down over the generations. )
Over the next 22 years, I relished walking in Julius’s living archive and being wrapped in its–and his–warm embrace. Julius not only gave us the funds to publish our book but also introduced us to the legacy of his favorite aunt, Carrie Hill (1875-1957), who exhibited nationally and internationally in the 1920s and 1930s and worked tirelessly to support the arts in our city.
Julius had gone on plein air “painting picnics” with her as a child. Nearly all of Hill’s paintings were held by family members at this time; her oeuvre was all but forgotten. Publishing Art of theNew South: Women Artists of Birmingham in 2004 became the first step of many steps in Julius’ quest to memorialize Hill’s legacy.
When in 2006 Graham Boettcher came to Birmingham as the curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art, we invited him to lunch and shared stories of our “great” local painters. Boettcher’s initial skepticism receded as he learned more, and he too came to join Julius and champion Carrie Hill’s legacy.
In the early 2000s, Julius was a passionate patron and supporter of the Birmingham Museum of Art and of the Birmingham Opera, but soon his professional talent as Director of Medical Publications at UAB led him to serve as a wise and sensible editor of Birmingham Historical Society publications. He became a patron, trustee, and officer of the Society as a member of its Executive Committee. He refused to accept the presidency of the Society; he wanted to serve quietly.
At the end of each year, following the publication of our annual book, he would say, “I guess I will stay tuned”… red pen in hand…for the more than 20 of our annual publications,100 newsletters, and many more invitations to events. Julius’ finely tuned sensibility to design issues and his eagle’s eye for things that needed fixing were invaluable. His comments, corrections, and suggestions were proffered in the most gentlemanly fashion.
Our favorite outing with Julius was a trip to Auburn to petition the head of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) to permit their fragile Depression-era murals on the History of Alabama Agriculture to travel to Birmingham for an exhibit. As always, Julius made us look credible. ACES not only loaned the murals, but later restored them, and transferred them to the Auburn museum for long term conservation. Julius had indeed made us look credible.
Julius helped Katie Tipton and me work out the concept and format for Birmingham by the Book: A Guide to the Magic City (coming Winter 2026). He told me how to organize the UAB chapter and thankfully approved of the resulting text and layout. He read and edited the first draft of the book and this summer was serving as a final reader. Ten days ago, he returned his page proofs of a major chapter with this hand-written note:
“Marjorie, Wonderful, descriptive book of Birmingham’s development, the central areas & more. It should become a classic for newcomers, for businesses, for recruitment of companies & workers. It is well organized with beautiful photography and more. Congratulations to everyone who worked on and organized this project. ” – Julius E. Linn
I hope Julius knew how much we valued his counsel and his friendship.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Opera Birmingham, the Birmingham Historical Society Publication Fund, the Birmingham Museum of Art, or First United Methodist Church of Birmingham.
President and longtime Trustee and Honorary Trustee of Birmingham Historical Society, among his many other leadership roles, Sam Frazier died May 12th and was honored May 31 with a service at Grace Episcopal Church and a reception at The Club.
President and longtime Trustee and Honorary Trustee of Birmingham Historical Society, among his many other leadership roles, Sam Frazier died May 12th and was honored May 31 with a service at Grace Episcopal Church and a reception at The Club.
Sam Frazier, then a young attorney with a specialty in tax law and a passion for preservation of country estates, came to Birmingham in the early 1970s. Over the next 50 years, his corporate practice and civic service would include municipal law, public finance, real estate, counsel to four mayors, and innovative strategies for financing and preserving Birmingham’s special places and neighborhoods. Sam played key roles in both private and City and state preservation as components of a broader urban planning strategy.
Upon buying a home in Forest Park, he led the charge for researching the neighborhood’s history and nominating it for federal recognition. In 1980, Forest Park became the first Birmingham neighborhood to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places (the nation’s list of properties worthy of preservation), thereby thwarting a planned US highway that would have obliterated the neighborhood. The next year, Birmingham Historical Society joined in dedicating an historical marker to commemorate this preservation victory. Continuing to lead neighborhood revitalization over several decades, Sam served as the South Avondale-Forest Park neighborhood president and chaired its design review committee to maintain the historic fabric of its early 20th century homes. Forest Park was the first neighborhood to become a Local Historic District and institute the design review process.
Closed in 1972, Sloss Furnaces reopened following initial preservation in 1983 with Sam Frazier as president of the City of Birmingham Board and a dynamic director whom Frazier had recruited to set the vision for the open-air museum (then the only industrial site under preservation in the world). Sam was also President of Birmingham Historical Society and in 1985 recruited the Society to move to the site and move and restore an historic house there. He drafted the many contracts between Sloss, the City, and the Society and located and supervised the craftsmen to make possible our home for the next 37 years.
Also in 1985, Frazier spearheaded the renovation of the pigeon-infested and deteriorated Peter Zinszer’s Mammoth Furniture Store. Recasting cast-iron columns and capitals, the heavily corroded and sign covered storefront was restored and its interior rebuilt. Frazier’s law firm, Spain Gillion, took up residence on Second Avenue North. Participants in Society’s Downtown Discovery Tour enjoyed a special welcome in the Zinszer Building atrium. Many Society committees met in the second floor conference room. The Society’s initial Endowment policy was drafted here.
In the 1980s, the City of Birmingham instituted new commercial revitalization programs, offering rebates for façade fix-ups. In 1987, The City instituted design review to ensure appropriate treatment and protect the character and historic significance of these and other designated areas. Sam Frazier drafted the ordinance creating the City’s Design Review program and for the next 40 years served as chairman of the Design Review Committee that oversaw work in downtown and Five Points South. Both historic renovations and new construction came before the committee. Frazier’s understanding of the urban fabric, memory, and command were legendary. And he had no qualms in eloquently expressing his opinion, even to the internationally admired architect I. M. Pei who appeared with early designs for the Kirklin Clinic before the committee.
Sam continued to advocate for city and state tax incentives to equalize investment opportunities in historic properties with those that had long favored new construction. In the 1990s, he pioneered the use of façade easements (that preserve historic structures by restricting changes to the exteriors or facades of the buildings) to help provide favorable incentives to renovate large residential and commercial projects. The easements are legally binding and enforced by the agency holding the easement. Thanks to Sam, Birmingham Historical Society received 11 easements and gifts of funds to monitor the conservation of these properties in perpetuity. Funds received formed the initial corpus of the Society’s endowment.
Also in the 1990s, Sam led the five-year long Mayor’s Committee for the Preservation of Vulcan whose members were Society Trustees. With the 120,000 ton cast-iron statue disintegrating and the Mayor and business community reluctant to commit funds, the committee explored methods to fix and pay for the project. The committee brought the conservator of large statues for the National Park Service in Washington came to appraise the situation, worked with Robinson Iron (the firm that had recast the iron on the Zinszer Building who with the conservator would later lead the dismantling, conservation, and reassembly of the statute), created the framework for public-private management of the site (that became today’s Vulcan Park Foundation that operates the site for the City), and pioneered the highly successful offering of educational opportunities at the park and along the mineral railroad during the Olympic summer of 1996. When the committee disbanded, the Society continued the public relations campaign to save the City’s symbol.
Sam also provided leadership to St. Andrews Episcopal Church on Southside and to Grace Episcopal Church in Woodlawn.
While stationed with the army in England following his college years, this Southern gentleman from Decatur, Alabama, learned of the Irish Georgian Society, Ireland’s agency for promoting and protecting this nation’s heritage, historic gardens, and decorative arts. Carol McCroarty, his future wife, was working for the Society. These Irish associations nurtured his passion for preserving Birmingham heritage.
Sam loved to collect, preferably antiques of Georgian provenance. He also loved to entertain and was the consummate host at his homes in Forest Park and later at “Woodside,” his home in Belle Mina, Alabama. In his living rooms, a silver galley tray remained set with Irish crystal and Irish whiskeys, a ready welcome for family and friends. True leaders serve others, and Sam was ever ready to serve not only at home, but in his community. And he did.
~ Marjorie White, Director, Birmingham Historical Society
Just a Friendly Reminder that Trustee Service Forms are due by February 14, 2025 to indicate your willingness to serve as a 2025-2026 Trustee. Download the Trustee Form HERE.
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics… To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,… or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. — Author Unknown, Research shows inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dr. Cleve Kinney was an enthusiastic Trustee of Birmingham Historical Society for over 20 years despite his busy schedule as a much-lauded psychiatrist and professor at UAB. While he was often unable to attend Trustee meetings, he rarely missed an event, and supported BHS in numerous significant ways. He was our friend and advisor, an avid historian, and a cheerleader for Birmingham, its community, and the numerous students he mentored in addition to the hundreds of geriatric patients he treated over his career.
A Vietnam war veteran, his was a life of exemplary service during which he received many notable awards including the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Award. Read his full obituary here. Thank you Cleve, for your support of Birmingham Historical Society. We will miss you.
Sunday afternoon, the Birmingham Historical Society hosted a going away reception for a much appreciated member and BHS Trustee who is moving to Tampa, Florida; Birgit Kibelka. A gifted landscape architect, Birgit was responsible for a massive amount of work for BHS as well as for the community which was displayed throughout the BHS offices.
Birgit researched and documented historic sites with BHS during 14 years from 2010 until 2024. Together with BHS Director Marjorie White, they explored, mapped and documented early residential developments, parks, trails, culverts, railroad cuts and creeks.
During the reception, Marjorie White acknowledged Birgit’s dedication and highlighted her impressive contributions to the Society. Birgit then spoke, sharing her insights and passion for the historical value of traditional paper maps, and explaining their importance in today’s time of continually updated online maps. She explained that maps are important for historic documentation in that historic sites are otherwise not found. She later provided the example below of Brock’s Gap.
The history of the gap is well described in the 1992 book “A History of Hoover, Alabama and Its People” by Marilyn Davis Barefield. Nevertheless, the historic marker was located facing the second railroad cut and not the original one and no one – except for Sam Curren – knew where the site was. A map would have prevented such a general loss of knowledge.
Good luck, Birgit, in your new home. You will be greatly missed!
cookies by BHS President Wayne Hester’s daughter, Georgeann@baked.by.georgiePhotos by Louise McPhillips and Rebecca Moody
