List of mayors of Birmingham, Alabama

This is a list of mayors, or persons holding the equivalent office, of Birmingham, Alabama.

Elections in Alabama
Federal government
U.S. President
U.S. Senate
U.S. House
Government of Alabama
State-wide
Gubernatorial
Alabama House of Representatives
  • 1990
  • 1994
  • 1998
  • 2002
  • 2006
  • 2010
  • 2014
  • 2018
  • 2022
Alabama Senate
  • 1990
  • 1994
  • 1998
  • 2002
  • 2006
  • 2010
  • 2014
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Ballot measures
2006
Amendment 774
Birmingham
Mayor
Montgomery
Mayor
Government

The office of mayor was established with the incorporation of Birmingham in 1871. Robert Henley was appointed by Governor, Robert B. Lindsay to a two-year term. Until 1910, the Mayor presided over an ever-expanding Board of Aldermen who generally campaigned on the same ticket. Progressive reformers lobbied for a change in the form of government that year, resulting in the creation of a five-member Board of Commissioners (later reduced to three members). The President of the Commission, though not formally holding the title, was widely acknowledged as "Mayor" under that system.[1]

In 1963, as part of another progressive effort, this time to unseat Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor, the form of government was again changed by referendum. Reorganized under Alabama's Mayor Council Act of 1955, the city government consisted of a mayor and nine at-large City Council representatives. Changing demographics in the city's electorate led to the election of Birmingham's first African-American mayor, Richard Arrington Jr., in 1979.[2][3]

In 1989 a change was made to elect council members by district, with 4-year terms coming at the midpoint of the mayoral term (allowing sitting council members to campaign for the mayoral office without having to resign their seats).[4]

Mayors
Image Representative Years Electoral History
Robert Henley December 19, 1871 - July 1872 Appointed by Robert B. Lindsay
W. J. McDonald July 1872 Acting Mayor while Henley was absent
Thomas Tate July 1872 Interim Mayor
Robert Henley July 1872 - April 22, 1873 Died
James Robert Powell 1873 - 1875
[data unknown/missing]		 Succeeded after Robert Henley's death. [data unknown/missing]
William Harrington Morris 1875 - 1878
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Henry M. Caldwell 1878
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Thomas Jeffers 1878 - 1882
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
A. O. Lane 1882 - 1888
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
B. A. Thompson 1888 - 1890
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
A. O. Lane 1890 - 1892
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
David J. Fox 1892 - 1894
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
James A. Van Hoose 1894 - 1896
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Frank V. Evans 1896 - 1899
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Mel Drennen 1899 - 1905
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
George B. Ward 1905 - 1908
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Frank P. O'Brien 1908 - 1910
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Culpepper Exum 1910 - 1913
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
President of the Commission 1913-1963
Albert Boutwell 1963 - 1967
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
George G. Siebels, Jr. 1967 - 1975
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
David Vann 1975 - November 12, 1979
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Richard Arrington Jr. November 13, 1979 - 1999
 First African-American mayor
[data unknown/missing]
William A. Bell 1999
[data unknown/missing]		 Interim Mayor
Bernard Kincaid 1999 - November 12, 2007
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Larry Langford November 13, 2007 - October 28, 2009
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Carole Smitherman October 29, 2009 - November 2009
[data unknown/missing]		 Acting Mayor
First African-American female mayor
[data unknown/missing]
Roderick Royal November 2009 - January 25, 2010
[data unknown/missing]		 Acting Mayor
[data unknown/missing]
William A. Bell January 26, 2010 - November 27, 2017
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Randall Woodfin November 28, 2017 - Present
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]

President of the Commission
Representative Years Electoral History
Culpepper Exum 1913
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
George B. Ward November 1913 - 1917
[data unknown/missing]		 Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama from 1905-1908
Chose not to re-run
Nathaniel A. Barrett 1917 - 1921
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
David E. McClendon 1921 - 1925
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
James M. Jones, Jr. 1925 - 1940
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Cooper Green 1940 - 1953
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
James W. Morgan 1953 - 1961
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]
Art Hanes 1961 - 1963
[data unknown/missing]		 [data unknown/missing]

See also

References
  1. Harris, Carl V. (1977) Political Power in Birmingham, 1871-1921. Twentieth-Century America Series. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0-87049-211-X
  2. Casey, Ron (1979) "The Election of Birmingham's Black Mayor Archived 2010-07-15 at the Wayback Machine" Southern Changes: The Journal of the Southern Regional Council. Vol. 2, No. 3
  3. Franklin, Jimmie Lewis (1989) Back to Birmingham: Richard Arrington, Jr., and His Times. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0435-5
  4. Haeberle, Steven H. (1997) "Exploring the Effects of Single-Member Districts on an Urban Political System." Urban Affairs Review. Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 287-97
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