List of people from Birmingham, Alabama

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of individuals who are natives of, or are notable in association with, the city of Birmingham, Alabama

Academia[]

  • , Samford University professor; member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1952 to 1960; died in Birmingham in 1988[1]
  • Frank Moore Cross, religious scholar
  • Angela Davis, social activist and author
  • Richard Nelson Frye, scholar of Iran and Central Asia
  • Roland Frye, scholar
  • Carol Garrison, ex-president of University of Alabama at Birmingham
  • Zenkei Blanche Hartman, first abbess of the San Francisco Zen Center
  • Freeman Hrabowski III, educator
  • Devon Logan, key to the city holder
  • Herman H. Long, president of Talladega College and United Negro College Fund
  • J. Gordon Melton, religious scholar
  • Emil Wolfgang Menzel, Jr. Emeritus Professor in psychology
  • Julia Tutwiler, educator and social reformer
  • Edward Taub, behavioral neuroscientist and professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Arts and literature[]

Business and economics[]

Entertainment[]


Music[]

  • Erra, progressive metalcore band
  • Inez Andrews, gospel singer
  • Barry Beckett, pianist and record producer
  • Adolphus Bell, an electric blues musician, best known as a one-man band.[4]
  • Benny Benjamin, drummer
  • Samm Bennett, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
  • Bo Bice, singer, American Idol runner-up (Helena, Alabama)
  • Helvetia Boswell, singer with The Boswell Sisters
  • Piney Brown, R&B and blues singer-songwriter[5]
  • Oteil Burbridge, bassist
  • Dorothy Love Coates, gospel singer
  • J.R. Cobb, songwriter and guitarist
  • Sam Dees, soul music singer
  • Diana DeGarmo, American Idol 3rd season runner-up
  • Big Joe Duskin, blues pianist
  • Dennis Edwards, soul music singer
  • Al Gallodoro, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist
  • Gucci Mane, rapper
  • Hardrock Gunter, rockabilly pioneer
  • Lionel Hampton, vibraphonist and bandleader
  • Emmylou Harris, singer
  • Erskine Hawkins, composer, trumpeter and bandleader
  • Haywood Henry, jazz saxophonist / clarinetist
  • Taylor Hicks, soul music singer, American Idol winner
  • Odetta Holmes, folk singer
  • Jo Jones, jazz drummer
  • Bill Justis, musician
  • Eddie Kendricks, soul music singer
  • William King, singer, founding member of The Commodores
  • Baker Knight, songwriter and bandleader
  • Sammy Lowe, jazz trumpeter and arranger
  • Rebecca Luker, Broadway singer, actress
  • Hugh Martin, songwriter and film composer
  • Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Southern rock/metalcore band
  • Johnny O'Neal, jazz pianist
  • Avery Parrish, composer and jazz pianist
  • Hank Penny, Western swing musician
  • Ray Reach, jazz vocalist and pianist
  • St. Paul and The Broken Bones, neo soul band
  • Dan Sartain, rock musician
  • Johnny Smith, jazz guitarist
  • Ruben Studdard, singer, American Idol winner
  • Sun Ra, jazz composer and bandleader
  • Maria Taylor, singer
  • Through the Sparks, indie rock band
  • Verbena, indie rock band
  • Wild Sweet Orange, indie rock band
  • Paul Williams, soul singer
  • Tammy Wynette, country singer
  • YBN Nahmir (Nick Simmons), rap/hip hop artist
  • Jerry Yester, singer

Government, law and politics[]

United States Senate[]

  • Hugo Black (1927–1937), also Supreme Court Justice (1937–1971)
  • B. B. Comer (1920), also Governor of Alabama (1907–1911)
  • Joseph Forney Johnston (1907–1913)
  • Doug Jones (2018–2021)
  • Richard Shelby (1987–present)
  • Luther Strange (2017–2018)
  • Oscar W. Underwood (1915–1927)
  • Francis S. White (1914–1915)

United States House of Representatives[]

Math, science, and technology[]

  • Mary Anderson, inventor of windshield wipers
  • Andrew Jackson Beard, inventor of automatic railcar coupling
  • Edward M. Burgess, chemist and inventor of the Burgess reagent
  • Lawrence J. DeLucas, biophysical engineer; Space Shuttle Columbia astronaut
  • Annie Easley, mathematician and rocket scientist
  • Clyde Foster, scientist and mathematician
  • E. O. Wilson, entomologist and author

Medicine[]

  • James Andrews, orthopedic specialist
  • Tinsley Harrison, editor of first five editions of Harrison's Principals of Internal Medicine, dean of UAB School of Medicine
  • Alan Heldman, interventional cardiologist and pioneer of the drug eluting stent
  • John W. Kirklin, heart surgeon
  • Albert Pacifico, heart surgeon
  • Michael Saag, AIDS researcher
  • Luther Leonidas Terry, Surgeon General of the United States
  • Larry Lemak, orthopedic surgeon, owner of The Lemak Group

Sports[]

Other[]

  • Mel Allen, radio and TV sports personality, primary play-by-play announcer for New York Yankees
  • Mother Angelica, nun and founder of global Catholic network EWTN
  • Robert Joseph Baker, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham
  • Donald Beatty, aviator, explorer and inventor
  • Angela Davis, activist
  • Deidre Downs, Miss America 2005
  • Samantha Francis, contestant on America's Next Top Model, Cycle 8
  • Victor Gold, journalist, formerly with The Birmingham News
  • Hank Green, YouTube blogger, musician and entrepreneur
  • Lola Hendricks, civil rights activist
  • Patti Ruffner Jacobs, suffragist and social reformer
  • James Meissner, World War I flying ace
  • Artemus Ogletree, victim of 1935 unsolved murder in Kansas City
  • Joseph Raya, archbishop and social activist
  • Wallace Rayfield, architect
  • Sonia Sanchez, poet, activist, and educator
  • Jay Sebring, hair stylist, Charles Manson victim, ex-boyfriend of Sharon Tate
  • Courtney Shropshire, founder of Civitan International
  • Fred Shuttlesworth, civil rights activist
  • Haleigh Stidham, Miss Alabama USA 2006
  • Heather Whitestone, Miss America 1995
  • Louise Wooster, famed madam

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "In Memoriam: Monnie T. Cheves". . August 17, 1988. p. D3. Archived from the original on September 10, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
  2. ^ "How the Stars Understand Us by Christopher Gilbert - Poems | Academy of American Poets".
  3. ^ Hevesi, Dennis. "Ann Waldron, Biographer of Southern Writers, Is Dead at 85", The New York Times, July 6, 2010. Accessed July 13, 2010.
  4. ^ Eagle, Bob L.; LeBlanc, Eric S. (1 May 2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. ABC-CLIO. p. 48. ISBN 9780313344244. Retrieved 8 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "Miracle Records". Campber.people.clemson.edu. Archived from the original on 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  6. ^ Reichler, Joseph L., ed. (1979) [1969]. The Baseball Encyclopedia (4th ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 0-02-578970-8.
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