Aug. 4, 1887

On Oct. 15, 1917, Osmond Kelly Ingram was killed while trying to release the depth charges on the USS Cassin (DD-43) before an oncoming German torpedo struck it. He was recognized for his heroism posthumously with the Medal of Honor. Ingram was one of two native Alabamians to receive the Medal of Honor during World War I. Ingram was also the first enlisted sailor to have a U.S. Navy destroyer named in his honor. Additionally, West End Park in Birmingham was renamed Kelly Ingram Park in 1932. A memorial recognizing him stands inside the park grounds.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Jefferson County native Kelly Ingram (1887-1917) served aboard the USS Cassin in World War I. He was killed on Oct. 15, 1917, while attempting to release depth charges stored at the back of the ship after it was targeted by a German torpedo. The U.S. Navy awarded him a posthumous Medal of Honor and named a destroyer after him for his bravery. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives and History)

The USS Cassin (DD-43), painted in “dazzle” camouflage, moored in the harbor at Queenstown, Ireland, around 1918, after repairs to its damaged stern. The ship was commissioned in August 1913 and was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland on Oct. 15, 1917, sustaining severe damage. Jefferson County native Kelly Ingram was killed while attempting to release the depth charges prior to the torpedo strike and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama)

Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial is a military cemetery for Americans killed during World War I in Surrey, England. The chapel, shown in the picture, is home to the Wall of the Missing, a list of casualties whose remains were never recovered. Among them is Jefferson County native Kelly Ingram, who was killed in action aboard the USS Cassin on Oct. 15, 1917. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Anthony McCallum, WyrdLight.com; Wikipedia)

Aerial view of Kelly Ingram Park, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and the Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, 1993. (Photograph by Jet Lowe, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Kelly Ingram commemorative stone at Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, 2007. (André Natta, Flickr)

Statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.