Archives & Manuscripts: Guide to the Collections

The collections of the Birmingham Public Library Archives contain more than 400,000 photographs and 30,000,000 documents, including government records, business records, maps, letters, diaries, scrapbooks and architectural drawings.

The Collections

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Hamilton, Elbert

Papers, 1942-1947

ID: AR651

This collection contains letters written to Hamilton, a young Army paratrooper stationed in the United States, including one letter from Normandy written shortly after the D-Day invasion.

Size: ¼ linear foot (1 box)

Collection Guide Available: Yes

Hamilton, Frank

Correspondence, 1938-1943

ID: AR375

The letters in this collection were written by two servicemen named Frank Hamilton, one the uncle of the other. Both served in the Army during World War II, and the younger Hamilton was shot down and killed over occupied France in 1944.

Size: ¼ linear foot (1 box)

Collection Guide Available: Yes

Hamilton, Virginia Van Der Veer

Papers

ID: AR816

Virginia Van der Veer Hamilton worked as a reporter for the Birmingham News in the 1940s and later taught history at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the author of several books, including Hugo Black: The Alabama Years, Lister Hill: Statesman from the South and Seeing Historic Alabama. This collection contains correspondence, photographs, interview notes and other material relating to Hamilton’s research on Black, Hill, Selma and Alabama history.

Size: 3 linear feet (4 flat boxes)

Collection Guide Available: Partial

Hamilton, William C.

Papers, 1963-1966

ID: AR265

William Hamilton served as Administrative Assistant to Birmingham mayor Albert Boutwell. The collection includes correspondence, reports, memoranda and other material on the operation of the city government. The collection includes extensive documentation on civil rights activities in Birmingham.

Size: 4 boxes

Collection Guide Available: Yes

Hammond Iron Company

“Report on Examination of Accounts of Hammond Iron Company,” 1926-1939

ID: AR1572

Size: 1 box

Collection Guide Available: No

Hanes, Arthur J.

Papers, 1961-1963

ID: AR269

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Arthur J. Hanes was a graduate of Woodlawn High School and Birmingham-Southern College. After graduating law school in 1948 Hanes became an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving at offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C. He resigned from the FBI after three years and returned to Birmingham to work for Hayes Aircraft Corporation, eventually assuming the post of plant security manager. Hanes was appointed to the Birmingham Board of Education in 1958 and elected mayor of Birmingham in 1962. His brief tenure as mayor included the period of Birmingham’s 1963 civil rights demonstrations. Hanes left office in May of 1963 after a referendum to change Birmingham’s form of government eliminated his office. After leaving office Hanes worked as an attorney in Birmingham and briefly represented James Earl Ray, the man convicted of murdering Martin Luther King, Jr. The papers contain correspondence, memoranda, reports, and other material relating to Hanes’ term as mayor.

Size: 8 boxes

Collection Guide Available: Yes (online)

Hanes, Arthur J.

Scrapbooks, 1961-1962

ID: AR465

Newspaper clippings relating to city government during Hanes’ term as mayor.

Size: 2 reels microfilm

Collection Guide Available: No

Hannas, Ruth

Papers

ID: AR3

Ruth Hannas served as Professor of Music and Head of the Department of Music Theory at the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina. The papers include correspondence with musicians, composer and teachers; published and unpublished articles written by Hannas; recital and lecture programs; and other documents.

Size: ½ linear foot (1 box)

Collection Guide Available: Yes

Hanson, Bette Lee

Oral History Tapes and Photographic Slides

ID: AR929

The interviews in this collection were conducted by Bette Hanson. The interview subjects are Vera Foster, whose husband Dr. Luther Foster served as President of Tuskegee Institute beginning in 1941; Ida Kohlmeyer, a prominent New Orleans painter; and Dorah Sterne,a Birmingham resident and social activist.

Size: 1 box

Collection Guide Available: Yes

Hanson, Roger and Bette Lee

Papers, 1955-1981

ID: AR1619

This collection includes material relating to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, radio and film, and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

Size: 2¼ linear feet (3 boxes)

Collection Guide Available: No

Harman, Kate

Recipe Book, 1873

ID: AR678

This book contains handwritten recipes and recipes clipped from newspapers.

Size: 1 flat box

Collection Guide Available: No

Harper Family

Papers, 1856-1863

ID: AR118

Papers of Robert Withers Harper and his wife, Laura Worthington Harper, residents of Arkansas. Robert Harper served in the Confederate Army and was commissioned a major. In 1862, he was made a colonel of the Churchill Brigade, First Mounted Rifles, Arkansas. During the War he participated in at least six battles: Oak Hill, Missouri; Elk Horn, Arkansas; Farmington, Mississippi; Richmond, Kentucky; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and Chicamauga, Tennessee. Robert hoped he would be transferred to Stonewall Jackson's unit, but on September 20, 1863, he was killed during the battle of Chicamauga. This collection contains letters written by Robert and Laura Harper to Dr. Levin and Anna (Harper) Wailes of Natchez, Mississippi. The letters date from 1856-1863 and tell of family matters, business affairs, and survival during the Civil War.

Size: 2 reels microfilm

Collection Guide Available: Yes (online)

Harper, James Albert

Papers and Scrapbooks, 1926-1947

ID: AR1694

James Albert Harper worked as a teacher at Brighton School (now a part of Bessemer, Alabama) and later served as principal of Sandusky School. He was also active in the Jefferson County Teachers Association. This collection contains one scrapbook of photographs (primarily photos of students), clippings, and other material relating to Brighton School for the period 1926 to 1937 and two similar scrapbooks relating to Sandusky school for the period 1937 to 1947. The collection also includes loose photographs, a typed history of Brighton School and a handwritten (apparently a student’s project) history of the Brighton community.

Size: 2 linear feet (3 boxes)

Collection Guide Available: No

Hart, Frazer

"A Commentary on Social Evolution in Birmingham, Alabama" circa 1983

ID: AR1303

In this 311 page personal memoir, Hart recalls growing up in Birmingham in the 1910s and 1920s and discusses the development of race relations in Birmingham after World War II.

Size: 1 flat box (1 volune)

Collection Guide Available: No

Hayes Aircraft Corporation

Scrapbook, 1952-1959

ID: AR1500

This scrapbook includes newspaper clippings describing labor unrest at Hayes, a Birmingham aircraft modification facility.

Size: 1 volume

Collection Guide Available: No

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