Welcome to the Birmingham (Alabama) Genealogical Society's Website!

Take a look at our newsletters !

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Birmingham African-American Genealogical Group

On Sale

Birmingham Genealogical Society is offering for sale a CD of the 1870 census for Jefferson County.

The Jefferson County Historical Commission now has a web page.  Take a look, you might see something you like.

The Birmingham Genealogical Society now has a "BLOG" !! 
Visit our BLOG at http://birminghamgenealogy.wordpress.com/

The Birmingham Genealogical Society (BGS) has a long history of providing help to researchers.  This web page is a continuation of that tradition by

providing Links to other genealogical resources
providing the ability to request information or make information available to the public via posting queries to this website
providing guest speakers at each monthly meeting
providing research materials of the Birmingham area to the general public

Membership dues are $15.00 per calendar year, payable before January 1st of each year and may include an additional member of the family. As part of your membership you will receive one copy per family of the Society's quarterly magazine, PIONEER TRAILS, and a monthly newsletter. Are you interested in joining our society?  To get a membership form, click here.  Or contact one of our society offiers listed below.

The Society meets in the 3rd floor auditorium of the Linn-Henley Research Library (part of the Birmingham Public Library) in downtown Birmingham.  The meetings are held on the 4th Saturday of the month, except for November and December (see GUEST SPEAKERS below for details), from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM.

We welcome your comments and suggestions about our web site and/or society.   You can contact us at :

Officers:    
President..........................................Scott Martin
1st Vice President (Program).............Mary Taylor
2nd Vice President (Membership)......Yvonne Brakefield
Treasurer..........................................Ann Gilbert
Recording Secretary.........................Melissa Paulk
Corresponding Secretary..................Betty Ward
Chaplain..........................................Earl Massey
Historian..........................................Melissa Hogan
Curator............................................Dr. Tom Caldwell
Parliamentarian.................................David Crider
Publicity..........................................A.C. Burtramm
Webmaster......................................Patrick Henry
Hospitality.......................................Barbara Smith
Pioneer Trails (Quarterly Magazine)..Mary Taylor
BGS Newsletter...............................Scott Martin
Board of Directors:
2008    Josephine Martin
2008    Pat Coleman
2009    Patricia Crim Dietlein
2009    Gary Gerlach
2010    Barbara Tillery
2010    William Clement

To view or post a query to our website, click here.

BIRMINGHAM AFRICAN-AMERICAN GENEALOGY STUDY GROUP (AAG)
Assisting African-Americans in Family Research.  

Founder:
Josephine Martin (205) 901-6387
Instructor:
Donald Debrow (205) 925-6353
President:
Barbara King (205) 424- 5461
Vice-President/Publications:
James Ephraim, Jr. (205) 788-5825
Secretary:
Eloise Wormely
Assistant Secretary:
Charlotte Burton (205) 520-9826

Guest Speakers for 2008

January 26th - Past President Jason Kirby discussed "Internet & Genealogy", including various websites and library resources.

February 23rd - Past President and current program chairman, Mary Taylor, presented "The Importance of Family Letters in Genealogical Research".

March 22nd - .Please join us as Catherine Browne, a resident of Avondale for almost 50 years, discusses her recently published book, "A History of Avondale." Avondale, once a city of its own, is now broken up into at least three Birmingham city neighborhoods - South Avondale, East Avondale and North Avondale. Mrs. Browne has been compiling data about the area along with that of the Forest Park neighborhood since the early 1970s while leading a committee to research listing Forest Park on the National Register of Historic Places. She has also written a history book about Forest Park in the early 1990s, but by then she also had substantial information on Avondale. The research yielded stories about mounds built by American Indians in what was then a rural area they referred to as King's Spring and Big Spring - the area is near Sloss Furnace. Browne's research unearthed stories about Avondale Mills, a school called Avondale School that served the black community of Taylor Hill, and Avondale Park, the site of the city's zoo.

April 26th - Marvin Clemons and Lyle Key recently published a book entitled Birmingham Rails.” It consists of 280 pages of historical narratives, entertaining personal essays, detailed maps, and richly detailed color and black & white photos, many published for the first time. Separate chapters cover each of Birmingham’s major rail lines, including Atlantic Coast Line, Central of Georgia, Frisco, Gulf, Mobile & Ohio, Illinois Central, Louisville & Nashville, Seaboard Air Line and Southern Railway. Birmingham’s numerous industrial railroads, such as U.S. Steel, Tennessee Coal & Iron, U.S. Pipe and Foundry, Woodward Iron and shortline Birmingham Southern, are extensively reviewed by subject matter experts Tom Lawson and Rone Mele. Of course, no book on Birmingham railroads would be complete without an account of Birmingham’s magnificent Terminal Station. A full chapter is devoted to the station’s history, from its glorious beginning in 1909 to its sad demise in 1970. The station’s grand interior and exterior features are covered in pages of rare photos, along with many colorful images of the passenger trains that called at the Terminal Station. Please join us as co-author Marvin Clemons discusses the history of Birmingham Railroads.  He will have many slides to show and his wonderful presentation will entertain everyone. Please join us!

May 24th -

June 28th -

July 26th - 

August 23rd -

September 27th -

October 25th - No guest speaker. Annual Genealogical Fair.

November - The society does not meet in November.

December 13th - No guest speaker. Annual Tea, Come and join us for a relaxing and enjoyable social event.

Previous Guest Speakers