If you’ve ever wondered about the history of your house, mark your calendar for Saturday, April 18th!
Tag Archives: Research
Does Birmingham Historical Society archive historic photos and memorabilia?
Birmingham Historical Society is often asked if we’d like old family photos, artifacts, or local memorabilia. As much as we would like to archive and even permanently exhibit these historic collections, we do not currently have the space or resources to adequately catalog and preserve them. While we appreciate their importance, we are primarily a research and educational organization. Rather, we encourage individuals to consider donating their items to larger institutions that have the capability to properly care for and display such collections.
There are two places that we recommend: The Southern History Department at the Birmingham Public Library focuses on items regarding Birmingham and Jefferson County. Open to the public by appointment only, the downtown location also maintains a digital library available on demand.
City directories, local newspapers on microfilm, and state and local histories are the Southern History Department’s most used items. Research class projects, books and articles, and the histories of local houses and buildings are also popular searches.
The Alabama Department of Archives and History In Montgomery is about all things Alabama. “Founded in 1901, the Alabama Department of Archives & History is the state’s government-records repository, a special-collections library and research facility, and home to the self-guided Museum of Alabama, the state history museum.” Their vast digital collection features genealogy and family histories, maps & architectural drawings, photos, video, posters and much more.
The Alabama State Museum, as part of the Department of Archives and History, was first housed in the State Capitol. Thanks to the efforts of Thomas & Marie Owen, the current Archives and History building was opened in 1940 and the final wing was completed in 2005. Visit the beautiful building virtually HERE or plan a visit to Montgomery. To donate a personal collection to the state archives, please submit a donation form HERE, or if you have a very specific item, consider one of these history museums.
And thank you for your interest in donating historic materials!
September Events at
Alabama Department of Archives & History
Bye Bye Birgit!
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.
These historic sites include Warren Manning’s plan for Mountain Brook, Ross Bridge, Altamont Park, the George Ward Preserve, Brock’s Gap, Bluff Park and the Shades Creek watershed.
Birgit initiated the Brock’s Gap research project after discovering plans for a road that could potentially harm the significant historic site. It ultimately led to the inclusion of historic sites in Hoover’s 2023 Parks & Public Spaces Plan (pgs 44-47).
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!
Genealogy Research – Ask a Librarian!
Birmingham Historical Society frequently receives requests for information on family histories, photograph archives, or specific Southern history items.
The Birmingham Historical Society researches specific subjects and are not the best resource for genealogy. However, we are fortunate to have the excellent Department of Southern History at the Birmingham Public Library. Not only do they offer classes in computer research for genealogy, but for specific requests, you can ’ask a librarian’ in writing to research individual questions.
They offer databases of building photographs, browsing by subject and/or name, and digitized obituaries, newspapers, and magazines. Cemeteries, stories, census records, church histories, military & civil rights histories, marriage records, and maps are just a fraction of the information to which you have access.
The digital collection contains more than 30,000,000 documents and 500,000 photographs.
So next time you want to discover more about your Southern history, ask a librarian!
Research, Publishing, & Education – Address Change
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.
PLEASE NOTE OUR CHANGE OF MAILING ADDRESS:
P.O. Box 321474 BIRMINGHAM, AL 35232
SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 1977-2021
- 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
This Old House Research
The research volunteers at Birmingham Historical Society are committed to providing education not only about Birmingham’s history, but generic information that’s useful to everyone. So BHS was delighted to hear from a youth services librarian and educator at G.A.T.E. DENVER CHILDREN’S COALITION who was able to use our online resources and educational programs for a virtual beginner research class over the past several months.
In return, she provided us with a helpful link her students had also been using entitled GUIDE TO RESEARCHING THE HISTORY OF A HOUSE which is helpful to anyone who has an interest in learning about family history or their home. Thank you to the students of G.A.T.E. for providing us with this link that has now been added to our list of resources!
And thank you for sharing your mission statement, “Learning doesn’t begin and end at the classroom door. The world is a classroom.” You are on your way to becoming lifelong researchers!