Events that shaped Birmingham in a year that altered the city forever.

Sixty years ago, Birmingham became ground zero in the struggle for human rights. Many events in Birmingham and Alabama made 1963 a transformative year that would change the city, and the world, forever. Throughout 2023 in “Bending Toward Justice,” Alabama News Center is featuring stories about the events of 1963 and their impact, including a month-by-month timeline listing many of the year’s milestones.

JULY 1963

Tuesday, July 2

Directors of the Bank for Savings and Trust and the Birmingham Trust National Bank approve a merger of the Bank for Savings into the Birmingham Trust National Bank.

The Birmingham Trust National Bank on 20th Street North, circa 1920s. (Bhamwiki)

Wednesday, July 10

Alabama Highway Director E.N. Rogers says the state is ready to start construction of the second section of the six-lane, $16 million Red Mountain Expressway.

Friday, July 12

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules in Armstrong v. Board of Education that Birmingham public schools must begin desegregating by fall.

Tuesday, July 16

More than 200 Birmingham residents answer a challenge from Mayor Albert Boutwell to serve as members of the new Community Affairs Committee. The committee is charged with supporting the newly formed City Council’s efforts to improve the city.

Birmingham Mayor Albert Boutwell. (Birmingham Public Library)

Friday, July 19

Boutwell presents the City Council a $15,050,270 budget for the 1963-1964 fiscal year.

Tuesday, July 23

The Birmingham City Council unanimously repeals all segregation ordinances in the city General Code and reopens city parks.

Sunday, July 28

The City Federal Savings and Loan Association moves into its new home, the renovated former Comer Building, now known as the City Federal Building, in downtown Birmingham. The 27-story building is the tallest in Alabama.

Wednesday, July 31

The U.S. Justice Department sues the Jefferson County Board of Registrars, following up on a threat to seek a federal court order that requires the board to instate more than 2,000 Blacks who had applied to vote but were rejected because they failed county qualification tests.

Sources: “1963, How the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement Changed America and the World,” by Barnett Wright; Pennsylvania State University, “The Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Movement” Birmingham Timeline; Bhamwiki 1963; “Parting the Waters, America in the King Years 1954-63,” by Taylor Branch; Alabama Department of Archives & History.