Birmingham Bar Association History

At left is an architectural rendering of the offices of the Birmingham Bar Association located at 2021 2nd Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 35203.

Beth Carmichael is Executive Director of the Association and may be reached at (205)251-8006

In 1825, four lawyers were practicing in Jefferson County. The first courthouse of Jefferson County was located in a log hut about one mile east of present downtown Birmingham. In 1821, the courthouse was relocated in Elyton. It remained there until 1873 when Birmingham became the county seat of Jefferson County.

Nineteen attorneys met at the courthouse on April 9, 1885, for the purpose of adopting a Constitution for the "government of the Birmingham Bar Association" and to "elect officers to fill the offices prescribed by said constitution." On that date, John P. Tillman was elected President, R.H. Pearson, Vice President and O.W. Underwood was elected Secretary- Treasurer. The first Executive Committee elected was W.A. Walker, Jr., E.J. Taliaferro, and R.T. Lowe. On April 15, 1885, they incorporated the Birmingham Bar Association.

The nineteen lawyers who adopted that Constitution in 1885 could not have anticipated the numerous social and legal changes which would affect the profession of the learned practice of law. While times have indeed changed in the 100 plus years since the adoption of this Constitution, its purposes have remained the same. As stated in Article II of the Declaration of 1885;

"The object and purposes of the said Society are the social and literary advancement of its members - especially their advancement in the profession to which they belong."

Today the Birmingham Bar Association has over 3000 members, typically publishes a forty page quarterly bulletin, a monthly newsletter, maintains an internet web site, provides for social activities for its members through an entertainment committee and has an established trust fund to aid its needy members, now totaling over $100,000 dollars.

Robert R. Kracke

Mr. Kracke has spoken extensively on the history of the bar in Birmingham and will shortly publish another major work on this subject. For a more detailed treatment of this subject, please read this recent article by Mr. Kracke. It is in PDF format and will require the Acrobat plugin for your browser.

Linked here are panoramic photographs of turn-of-the-century Birmingham. See if you can find the present location of your office in any of them.