| Name | Slossfield Photograph Collection |
| Dates | 1934-1940 |
| Extent | 1 cubic foot |
| Historical Note | In August 1934 a baseball field was dedicated in an industrial area of north Birmingham. The construction of the field was made possible by the City of Birmingham Park and Recreation Board, the American Cast Iron and Pipe Co. (ACIPCO), and Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Co. Named Sloss Field in honor of the contributions of the Sloss-Sheffield Co., and its president Hugh Morrow, the ball field was constructed as a recreational site for African American employees of the steel industries. Over 50,000 of Birmingham’s African American citizens resided within a two-mile radius of the new field. Soon after the opening of the field, city officials and W. D. Moore, president of ACIPCO, secured federal funding through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to construct a new community center in the surrounding neighborhood. On November 11, 1937, a formal dedication ceremony was held for the opening of the first two buildings of the center, the Administration Building and the Youth Training Center. Soon, the center also hosted a branch of the Birmingham Public Library System and on February 4, 1938, the Slossfield Health Center was dedicated as the third building. In 1939 the Recreation Building would be completed as the final building at Slossfield. Prior to the opening of the Health Center, weekly afternoon health clinics had been held in the Slossfield Administration Building. Federal, state, and city funding had made possible the construction of the Health Center along with the Chicago-based Julian Rosenwald Foundation. In a contest sponsored by International Harvester Co., in conjunction with the American Negro Exposition held in Chicago in 1940, Birmingham’s Slossfield was selected as the “most outstanding” African American community center in the United States “from the point of view of service to its residents.” The Slossfield Health Center is important in the history of Birmingham as it was one of the first “modern” facilities constructed for African American patients and staffed by African American physicians and nurses. When opened in 1938, the center had one full time physician and six nurses; by 1944 the staff included thirteen physicians who served in a part-time basis and five physicians who were full-time. Operating under the auspices of the Jefferson County Health Department, the center also had the service of numerous local white physicians who served as consultants. Funding for the center proved problematic in the post-World War II period and the Slossfield Health Center was closed in 1948. |
| Scope and Contents | Contains 114 prints and numerous negatives that document the history of the Slossfield Community Center, including the Youth Training Center, adult vocational education activities, and the Slossfield Health Center |
| Arrangement | By prints and negatives |
| Accession Number | M95-05P |
| Provenance | Originally donated to the JCMS/UAB Health Sciences Archive and later transferred to UAB after that repository was disbanded. |
| Copyright | The UAB Archives maintains its proprietary rights to all material in this collection. |
| Fnding Aid | Printed descriptive guide by Tim L. Pennycuff available in repository. |
| Access Points | African Americans x Medical care z Alabama z Birmingham. Slossfield Community Center (Birmingham, Ala.). Health facilities. Urban poor z Alabama z Birmingham. |
| Document Types | Photographs. Negatives. |
| Location | Photograph Stacks |
| Related Series | n/a |
| Physical Condition | Acid free folder, acid free box |
This page created 2014
Copyright: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.