Birmingham’s First Black Achievers

Honorable Richard Arrington, Jr., first Black Mayor of Birmingham 

  

Arthur D. Shores, first Black Birmingham City Councilor

 

Bessie Sears Estelle, first Black woman Birmingham City Councilor 

  

Honorable J. Richmond Pearson, first Black Circuit Judge in Jefferson County courts 

  

Honorable Chris McNair, first Black Jefferson County Commissioner 

  

U. S. Rep. Earl F. Hilliard, first Black Congressman from Birmingham since Reconstruction 

  

Honorable Sundra Escott-Russell, first Black woman in the Alabama State Senate 

  

Honorable U. W. Clemon, first Black U.S. District Judge in Alabama federal courts 

  

Clyde S. Kirby, first Black to serve on the Birmingham Board of Education 

  

Dr. Walter Harris, first Black superintendent of the Birmingham City School System 

  

Carl L. Johnson, first Black Captain of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department 

  

Johnnie Johnson, Jr., first Black Birmingham Police Chief 

  

Oscar Brennan, first Black Birmingham Fire Chief 

  

Oscar W. Adams, Jr. first Black Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court