Arrington Elected Mayor; AIDB Founded: October In Alabama History

BIRMINGHAM, AL — October in Alabama history includes a bevy of political milestones for the state. The City of Birmingham elected its first black mayor, Alabama's lone representative on the United States Supreme Court took his seat for the first time and African-American voters voted in a statewide election for the first time.

Here are some of the significant dates in October throughout Alabama history:

October 1, 1867

African Americans vote in a statewide election for the first time in Alabama history. About 70,000 black men, the majority of voters in the election, called for a constitutional convention and elected a set of convention delegates.

October 4, 1858

Dr. Joseph Henry Johnson founds the Alabama School for the Deaf in Talladega, enrolling his younger brother as the first student. The school eventually became the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind.

October 4, 1937

Alabamian Hugo Black takes his seat as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Black studied law at the University of Alabama, served in World War I, and represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate from 1927 until 1937, when he was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Franklin Roosevelt. Black served on the court until his death in 1971.

October 8, 1890

Reuben Houston Burrow, better known as Rube Burrow, is killed after escaping from jail in Linden, Alabama. A native of Lamar County, Burrow robbed his first train in 1886 and by 1890 was the most wanted outlaw in the South.

October 9, 1908

Two-term Alabama governor James “Big Jim” Folsom is born in Coffee County. Folsom served as governor from 1947-1951 and 1955-1959.

October 12, 1896

The Alabama Girls’ Industrial School opens its doors as the first state-supported industrial and technical school devoted to training girls to make a living. The school later became known as Alabama College, and is now the University of Montevallo.

October 16, 1917

Serving aboard the USS Cassin, Alabamian Kelley Ingram becomes the first American serviceman killed in action during World War I. In 1918 the Navy named a destroyer after Ingram, marking the first time an enlisted man had a ship named in his honor. Congress later awarded Ingram the Medal of Honor and the city of Birmingham named Ingram Park after the Pratt City native.

October 18, 1916

A strong earthquake occurs around 4 p.m. in an unnamed fault east of Birmingham, with the epicenter near Easonville in St. Clair County. The earthquake caused buildings to sway in downtown Birmingham and tied up all phone lines in the city with 25,000 calls recorded at the main exchange in the hour following the quake. Two additional weaker tremors were reported that evening.

October 30, 1979

Richard Arrington narrowly defeats Frank Parsons to become Birmingham's first African-American mayor. Arrington served in that post for nearly twenty years, until his resignation in July 1999.

October 31, 1954

Martin Luther King Jr. of Atlanta is installed as minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. A little more than a year later, on the first day of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he was named president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, a role which made him a national civil rights figure.