Alabama Becomes A State: December In Alabama History

MONTGOMERY, AL — December marks the 200th anniversary of Alabama joining the union as a state, which is significant on its own, but the month is also full of other famous anniversaries in the state's history.

Completing the monthly Patch series celebrating Alabama's bicentennial year, here are some of the most significant dates in December in Alabama history:

December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give up here seat on a bus to a white passenger, an event that prompted the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott.

December 2, 1865: Adhering to President Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction plan, the Alabama legislature ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States.

December 5, 1992: The first-ever SEC Championship game is held at Legion Field in Birmingham. Alabama defeated Florida 28-21 in the first conference championship game in major college football history, prompting other conferences to follow suit.

December 9, 1873: The Colored Normal School at Huntsville is created by the state legislature. Founded by ex-slave William Hooper Councill, the school became a land-grant institution in 1891, eventually evolving into Alabama A&M University.

December 13, 1968: Madison County becomes the first county created in the state, the first of 38 counties that would be created in the month.

December 14, 1819: Alabama becomes a state. The Alabama Territory had been created in 1817, and by November 1818 the population had grown enough to apply for statehood. The Alabama constitutional convention met in July 1819 and William Wyatt Bibb was elected governor.

December 19, 1871: The city of Birmingham is incorporated by the state legislature.

December 22, 1916: Charlie Boswell, professional blind golfer, is born in Birmingham. After losing his vision fighting during World War II, Boswell went on to win 17 national and 11 international blind golf tournaments. He was voted into to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.

December 25, 1956: The home of Birmingham minister and civil rights leader Fred Shuttlesworth is bombed. Although the structure is severely damaged, Shuttlesworth was not injured in the incident, and would become one of the central figures in the Civil Rights Era.

December 29, 1835: The Cherokee Indian Treaty Party signs the Treaty of New Echota, ceding their lands east of the Mississippi River to the U.S. government.