St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is located on Birmingham’s Southside near the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Begun in 1902 as a mission of Church of the Advent, St. Andrew’s current building was began operation in 1915 and was consecrated in 1920. The women of the parish established a tea room downtown to raise funds for the parish. Through its first decades St. Andrew’s was a church of white middle class families. In more recent years the parish has embraced the evolving community on Southside and offers services for the homeless and students of UAB. This collection includes minutes of the vestry, parochial reports, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, records of the Women’s Auxiliary and other material.

Industrial development in the Ensley and Fairfield areas of Jefferson County led to the development of residential areas nearby. With the new residential developments came the need for a church for the Episcopalians living in the area, and St. John's was first recognized and given a Vicar in 1893. St. John’s acquired the land on which the church still stands in 1898. The first church building was established within the same year and St. John’s was admitted as a parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. A new church building was constructed in 1951 on Ensley Avenue, and this structure remained in use until the parish closed. This collection includes vestry minutes, registers of church services, church bulletins, minutes and agendas from the annual parish meetings, and miscellaneous files concerning different groups within the church (especially women’s groups), and general correspondence.

At the request of members of Birmingham’s African American community, Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church was established with an 1891 meetings of eleven congregants in a downtown Birmingham office building. In 1892 and 1893 a mission was established and the present name adopted. A brick church was constructed in 1897 and a brick school building in 1897. Saint Mark’s School was considered one of the best schools for African Americans in the Birmingham area. Today the parish is located on Dennison Avenue in the southwest section of Birmingham. The collection includes parish registers, vestry minutes, financial ledgers, photographs relating primarily to St. Mark’s School and funeral programs.

Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church was established in 1973 with twenty-one original congregants. As the parish grew and prospered, Saint Stephens played an active role in the establishment and growth of other parishes, including Saint Francis of Assisi in Shelby County, Church of the Epiphany in Leeds, and helped to raise funds to relocate Saint John’s for the Deaf to a site near Saint Stephens. Rev. Douglas Carpenter, Saint Stephen’s first rector, served until his retirement in May 2005. At that time the parish had grown to more than 1,500 baptized members. The records of Saint Stephen’s include vestry minutes beginning in 1973; parochial reports; office files containing correspondence and subject files on various parish activities; a set of church history files compiled by Rev. Douglas Carpenter; and records of affiliated groups, Episcopal Church Women and the Boy Scouts.

Ruth Seadler, a native of Ohio, worked for many years for Avis car rental in Birmingham and with the Jefferson County Red Cross Motor Service. Upon retirement Seadler worked as volunteer archivist at South Highlands Presbyterian Church. This collection contains some of Ruth Seadler's personal Red Cross service records, newspaper clipping files and Red Cross newsletters for the years 1955, 1956, and 1958 through 1962. Reports consist of general news, blood collection status, awards, member listings, meetings and successes. Other clippings, photos and programs cover a wide range of local issues and events including the Woman's Civic Club of Birmingham, Avis Rent-a-Car, Mothers of Twins, Birmingham Beautification Board, and local soapbox racing.

Newspaper clippings compiled by the staff of the Birmingham Public Library’s Southern History Department covering the period January to May 1963.

George G. Seibels, Jr., the first Republican Mayor of Birmingham, was born in 1912 in Coronado, California. He grew up in Virginia and graduated the University of Virginia with a degree in history in 1937. Seibels moved to Birmingham in 1938 to work in the insurance business. He was elected to the Birmingham City Council in 1963, served as Mayor of Birmingham from 1967 to 1975, and represented Jefferson County in the Alabama legislature from 1978 to 1990. George Seibels died in Birmingham in March 2000. The papers contain correspondence, memoranda, reports, newspaper clippings, and photographs relating to Seibels’ four years as a member of the Birmingham City Council and his two terms as Mayor of Birmingham. A major emphasis within the City Council Correspondence is a study of African American police officers from other Southern states. A major emphasis within the Mayoral Correspondence is the Police Department files. Topics include the department’s shooting policy, police-community relations, and a wide range of intelligence files.

Newspaper clippings relating to the first two year’s of Seibels’ term as mayor of Birmingham.

This history was compiled by W. B. Allen using company minutes, annual reports and other documents.

Located in the western section of Birmingham, Shadow Lawn Cemetery was established in the late 1930s as a burial place for African Americans, and is one of the largest African American cemeteries in the Birmingham area. This collection includes records of internments, records of plot purchases, maps and other material.

These records contain material relating to the union’s Joint Apprenticeship Committee, Health and Welfare/Pension Fund, miscellaneous documents and photographs. The bulk of the material covers the period 1950 to 1980.

This collection contains correspondence, financial reports and newspaper clippings relating to this Birmingham area company.