Alabama History in May
Excerpted from Alabama Department of Archives and History
May 1, 1780:John McKinley,Alabama's first Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, is born inVirginia. McKinley moved to Alabama in 1819 and was elected to theAlabama legislature from Madison County in 1820. During the nextfifteen years he served in both the Alabama state legislature and U.S.Congress. He was chosen by President Martin Van Buren to serve on theSupreme Court in 1837; he held that position until his death in 1852.
May 1, 1961:Harper Lee of Monroeville wins the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill A Mockingbird,her first, and only, novel. The gripping tale set in 1930s Alabamabecame an international bestseller and was made into a major Hollywood motion picture starring Gregory Peck.
May 3, 1963: Peaceful African American demonstrators, many ofthem teenagers, are beaten back in downtown Birmingham by fire hosesand police dogs. The extreme tactics, ordered by police commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor because his jails were already full of protestors, brought international attention to Project C, the name given to civil rights demonstrations in the city led by Martin Luther King Jr. and Fred Shuttlesworth.
May 4, 1865: At Citronelle, Alabama, three and a half weeksafter Lee's surrender at Appomattox, the last major Confederate forceeast of the Mississippi surrenders.Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor surrendered the 12,000 troops of the Departmentof East Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to Maj. Gen. E. R. S. Canbyof the U.S. Army.
May 5, 1799:U.S. Army Lieutenant John McClary takes possessionof Fort St. Stephens from the Spanish and the United States flag israised for the first time on soil that would eventually belong toAlabama.
May 5, 1910: An explosion at Palos Coal Mine No. 3 in Jefferson County kills 84 miners. At the time it was the second-worst mine disasterin Alabama history, and it followed on the heels of a mine explosion atnearby Mulga that killed 40 miners. The Palos tragedy also marked thefirst time that the Red Cross led a disaster relief effort in Alabama.
May 8, 1820:The Alabama Supreme Court convenes for the first time. The court, meeting in the capital of Cahaba, was composed of Alabama's circuit court judges. Clement C. Clay, who later served in Congress and as governor, was appointed Chief Justice.
May 11, 1811:The first newspaper in Alabama, The Mobile Centinel, is published at Fort Stoddert.
May 13, 1914:Joe Louis,"The Brown Bomber," is born near LaFayette. In 1926 the family moved toDetroit and Louis began boxing. Louis held the world heavyweight boxingtitle from 1937 to 1948 and made a division record 25 successful titledefenses. His matches in 1936 and 1938 against Max Schmeling of Germanywere seen by many as heroic fights between the democratic free worldand the Nazi forces. Louis died in 1981.
May 15, 1972:Gov. George C. Wallaceis shot in Maryland while campaigning for the Democratic nomination forpresident. The assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer left the Governorparalyzed from the waist down and effectively ended his chances at thenomination. He campaigned again for president in 1976, marking hisfourth consecutive run for that office.
May 17, 1934: The Ave Maria Grottopark is dedicated at the St. Bernard Benedictine Abbey in Cullman.Known by visitors from around the world as "Jerusalem in Miniature,"the park is filled with miniature re-creations of historic buildings bymonk Joseph Zoettl.
May 18, 1933: Congress establishes the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The New Dealprogram would have a lasting impact on Alabama, especially the northernthird of the state. As its focus, TVA constructed hydroelectric dams onthe Tennessee River, which, among other benefits, brought electricityto rural areas and attracted industry.
May 19, 1963: Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail"is issued to the public in a press release. Begun April 16 from theBirmingham City Jail, where King was under arrest for participation incivil rights demonstrations, the letter was addressed to eight local clergymenwho had recently urged civil rights leaders to use the courts and localnegotiations instead of mass demonstrations to promote their cause inBirmingham. King's letter, which soon became a classic text of thecivil rights movement, rejected the clergymen's plea.
May 20, 1894:The first bloodshed of the 1894 miners' strike occurs when a strikebreaker is killed by striking miners near Birmingham. In their firstshow of industrial strength and discontent, 8,000 Alabama miners leftthe job in April 1894. The strike was over by August, as the powerfulcoal companies prevailed with the help of the State Militia and leasedconvicts.
May 20, 1961:The Freedom Riders arrive at the Greyhound busterminal in Montgomery where they are attacked by an angry mob. TheFreedom Ride, an integrated bus trip from Washington D.C., through theDeep South, was formed to test the 1960 Supreme Court decisionprohibiting segregation in bus and train terminal facilities. Beforereaching Montgomery, they had already suffered violent reprisals inAnniston and Birmingham. The Freedom Ride eventually resulted in acampaign that caused the Interstate Commerce Commission to rule againstsegregated facilities in interstate travel.
May 21, 1861:The Confederate Congress meets for the last time inMontgomery. Montgomery served as capital for just three months, fromFebruary to May 1861. After Virginia joined the Confederacy in April1861, leaders urged the move to the larger city of Richmond, which wascloser to the military action.
May 21, 1901: The Constitutional Convention of 1901assembles in Montgomery to write Alabama's sixth constitution.Convention president John B. Knox of Anniston, pointing to ongoing"race conflict" in state politics, explained that the foremostobjective of the convention was "to establish white supremacy in thisState." The delegates accomplished that by producing a document thateffectively disfranchised blacks, along with poor whites. Votersratified the Constitution of 1901 in November of that year.
May 25, 1865:During the early weeks of Federal occupation of Mobile, the citysuffers one of its worst disasters as twenty tons of capturedConfederate gunpowder explodes in a warehouse being used as an arsenal.Property loss was put at $5,000,000 and the number of casualties wasnever determined, although it has been estimated at possibly 300. Theentire northern part of the city was laid in ruins by the explosion.
May 25, 1910: The first-ever nighttime airplane flightis made at Orville Wright's flying school near Montgomery. WalterBrookins and Archibald Hoxsey piloted the plane, which the Montgomery Advertiserdescribed as "glinting now and then in the moonlight" during flight.The flying school closed shortly after the historic event, but the siteeventually became home to Maxwell Air Force Base.
May 25, 1971:President Richard Nixon visits Mobile to mark the start of construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.The waterway, when completed in 1985, ran from Pickwick Lake toDemopolis, Alabama, to connect the Tennessee River to the TombigbeeRiver. A link between the two rivers had long been desired, having beenfirst proposed by the French in the eighteenth century.
May 28, 1828:A United States arsenal is established at Mt.Vernon, near the juncture of the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers. It hadpreviously been the headquarters for General Claiborne in the Creek Warof 1813-1814. In 1873 the Arsenal was converted into a barracks, which from 1887 to 1894 housed Apache Indian prisoners, including Geronimo. In 1895 the land was conveyed to the State of Alabama and became the site of the Mt. Vernon Hospital.
May 28, 1951: Batting for the New York Giants against the Boston Braves, Alabama native Willie Maysgets his first hit in the Major Leagues--a home run. Born nearBirmingham, the "Say Hey Kid" went on to be named National LeagueRookie of the Year and hit 660 homers in a legendary Hall of Famecareer.
May 29, 1901:Seven days into the Constitutional Convention of 1901 a petition submitted by Booker T. Washingtonand twenty-three other African-American leaders is read to conventiondelegates, all of whom are white. The petition asked that the blackAlabamian be given "some humble share in choosing those who shall ruleover him." Nevertheless, with the ratification of the Constitution of 1901 in November, blacks--along with poor whites--were effectively disfranchised.