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A series of images from the UAB Archives

1960s

  • The Eye Foundation Hospital opened for patients, 1963

    Birmingham's new Eye Foundation Hospital opened adjacent to the university medical center
    December 2023 Image of the Month

    The Eye Foundation Hospital in Birmingham was dedicated on December 8, 1963, and was opened to patients later that month.  The private, independent hospital was constructed at the edge of the university medical center campus.  Dr. Alston Callahan, founder of the hospital, was on the original faculty of the medical school and had served as the inaugural chair of the Department of Ophthalmology from 1945 until 1954.  The Eye Foundation Hospital was acquired by UAB in 1997 and was later renamed in honor of its founder.  The brick building on the left of this image was the dormitory for students enrolled in the University Hospital nursing school.  This later named Hixson Hall was demolished by UAB in 2007.

    Image ID: M2001-01

     
  • Health Sciences Research Building, circa 1960

    Health Sciences Research Building, circa 1960
    May 2022 Image of the Month

    The Health Sciences Research Building, which spans Seventh Avenue South, was dedicated on December 9, 1960.  In 1966 an addition was completed on the southern edge of the building, and on November 6, 1966, the newly expanded building was rededicated as the Lyons-Harrison Research Building.  It was named in honor of Dr. Champ Lyons (former chair of the Department of Surgery) and Dr. Tinsley R. Harrison (former chair of the Department of Medicine).  On April 11, 2022, UAB held a groundbreaking for a project that will result in a complete renovation of the building and its renaming as the Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building.  The $78 million project is planned for completion in 2024.

    Image ID: P7.2.7, #0356

  • Dedication of Children's Hospital, 1961

    Dedication of Children's Hospital, 1961
    April 2021 Image of the Month
    On April 30, 1961, a dedication ceremony was held for the new Children's Hospital in the university medical center.  U.S. Senator Lister Hill (Ala.) was the featured speaker at the dedication.  Located on Sixth Avenue South, the $2.9 million hospital was a "new concept" in that it was built as a "complete hospital" for children from birth to the age of 18 years.  It was the only such institution in the state of Alabama and replaced an older facility located on 30th Street South.  Faculty, residents, staff, and students from the medical center have been connected to the hospital since it was first opened.

    Image ID: P7.2..7, #1433

  • University Hospital decorated for the holiday season, 1965

    University Hospital decorated for the holiday season, 1965
    December 2020 Image of the Month
    In ceremonies held December 26-30, 1940, Jefferson County officials dedicated the county's new private-pay hospital, and Jefferson Hospital was opened for patients the following February.  In 1944 Jefferson Hospital and the adjacent Hillman Hospital were deeded to the University of Alabama for use as part of the university's new medical center in Birmingham.  Renamed as Jefferson Tower in 1979, the building remains a major component of UAB's multi-block hospital complex.

    Image ID: P16.1.1, #0509

  • University Hospital's Isolation Unit, 1960

    University Hospital's Isolation Unit, 1960
    April 2020 Image of the Month
    The Isolation Unit was located on the twelfth floor of Jefferson Tower.  During a time when hospitals had few antibiotics and undiagnosed infections were more prevalent, it was not uncommon for incoming patients to first be admitted to the Isolation Unit before being transferred to another ward within the hospital.

    Image ID: P16.1.12, #4433

  • Students in front of Tidwell Hall, 1969

    Students in front of Tidwell Hall, 1969
    November 2019 Image of the Month
    During the first term of the new university, there were 5,381 students enrolled at UAB in the fall of 1969.  Tidwell was the campus home to all non-health science classes offered by UAB as part of the College of General Studies.  The old apartments in the background, which housed various university administrative and academic offices, were located at the corner of 20th Street and 8th Avenue South -- the site of today's Hilton Birmingham at UAB.

    Image ID: Annual Report yearbook

  • Vietnam Moratorium Protest at UAB, October 15, 1969

    Vietnam Moratorium Protest, 1969
    October 2019 Image of the Month
    One month after becoming its own independent university, a protest was held on the UAB campus to support a moratorium on the Vietnam War, part of protests and demonstrations held nationwide on that same day.  The UAB protest was held in front of Tidwell Hall, the home of the College of General Studies.  Tidwell was located on South 20th Street where the Hugh Kaul Human Genetics Building is currently located.

    Image ID: P7.2.2, #2073

  • President Joseph F. Volker speaks at dinner held in his honor, September 5, 1969

    Volker speaks at testimonial dinner, September 5, 1969
    September 2019 Image of the Month
    On September 5, 1969, Dr. Volker officially became the first president of UAB, a new university within the three-campus University of Alabama System.  Volker had been named president-elect of the new university the previous June.  On his first day in office, the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Action Committee, and Operation New Birmingham hosted a testimonial dinner to honor and celebrate the new university and its inaugural president.  Several hundred civic, business, academic, and political leaders attended the black-tie dinner at the Municipal Auditorium [today's Boutwell Auditorium].

    Image ID: A90-01

  • Clinical instruction in the dental clinic, 1969

    Clinical instruction in the dental clinic, 1969
    August 2019 Image of the Month
    Students enrolled in the dental school and in the dental assistant and hygienist programs receive clinical training experiences in the school's clinic.

    Image ID: P7.2.7, #0271a

  • Joseph and Juanita Volker chat with David and Mary Mathews, June 16, 1969

    Joseph and Juanita Volker chat with David and Mary Mathews, June 16, 1969
    June 2019 Image of the Month

    At a press conference in Montgomery, Governor Albert P. Brewer and members of the Board of Trustees announced a new three-campus University of Alabama System with separate universities located in Tuscaloosa (UA), Huntsville (UAH), and Birmingham (UAB).  The Board named F. David Mathews as the new president of the University of Alabama and Joseph F. Volker as president-elect of the new UAB; a search would later be held for the first president of UAH.  Dr. Volker officially assumed office as the first president of UAB on September 5, 1969.  Dr. and Mrs. Volker (left) and Dr. and Mrs. Mathews (right) chat across the table at the announcement press conference.


    Image ID: P1, #0380

  • Hospital Staff with Santa Claus, 1967

    Hospital Staff with Santa Claus, 1967
    December 2018 Image of the Month

    Santa Claus shares the cheer with staff at work in University Hospital during the holiday season.


    Image ID: P16.1.3, #2740

  • Expansion Groundbreaking Ceremony, July 30, 1968

    Expansion Groundbreaking Ceremony, July 30, 1968
    July 2018 Image of the Month

    The groundbreaking ceremony for a major expansion of the university's medical center was held on July 30, 1968.  This ceremony heralded the groundbreaking for three new facilities at the growing campus in Birmingham: a new health sciences library (Lister Hill Library), a new basic sciences building (Volker Hall), and a new home for the School of Nursing.  Those seated on the platform included the president of the university, the executive vice president, and the deans of dentistry, medicine, and nursing.  Looking east from along Seventh Avenue South are, in the background, Jefferson Tower (right) and the construction of the Sparks Center (left).

    Image ID: P1, #0283

  • Hillman Hospital Cornerstone, 1963

    Hillman Hospital Cornerstone
    July 2017 Image of the Month

    On July 12, 1902, cornerstones were laid for two new buildings, one for the Hillman Hospital and one for the adjacent Birmingham Medical College. The Hillman Hospital was originally founded as a charity hospital in 1888 by a group of Birmingham women. In 1897 the hospital's governing entity was incorporated by the State of Alabama; the names of these incorporators, the "Board of Lady Managers," appeared on the cornerstone of the new building. Hillman Hospital was opened in July 1903; it remains today on the UAB campus and is known as the "Old Hillman Building."

    Image ID: P16.1.1, #0293

  • Students in Birmingham, circa 1966

    Two students talk outside the College of General Studies building
    September 2016 Image of the Month

    On September 15, 1966, the extension program in Birmingham was officially renamed as the College of General Studies. There were 4,600 students enrolled in courses in business, education, engineering, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Dr. George W. Campbell was named as first dean of the new college.

    Image ID: P7.3.3, #0088

  • North Wing, August 1966

    Exterior of the North Wing
    August 2016 Image of the Month

    The first major addition to University Hospital in decades, the North Wing was dedicated during ceremonies held August 20-21, 1966. The seven story addition provided space for the emergency department, new operating suites, diagnostic radiology, and 100 beds for psychiatric patients. This western side of North Wing is no longer visible as the Quarterback Tower currently stands where the parking lot existed at the time of the dedication.

    Image ID: P16.1.3, #3208

  • Touring University Hospital, 1966

    A shriner stands between two physicians examining equipment
    July 2016 Image of the Month

    Dr. Alan R. Dimick (left) and Dr. John W. Kirklin (right) provide a hospital tour for a member of the Shriner organization. Kirklin, a renowned surgeon at the Mayo Clinic, was recruited to Birmingham in July of 1966. At UAB he served as chair of the surgery department, as director of the cardiothoracic surgery division, as hospital chief-of-staff, and as founder and president of the Health Services Foundation. He retired from UAB in 1997.

    Image ID: P7.2.8, #0359

  • Nurses with a special visitor to University Hospital, 1967

    Two female nurses pose with Santa Claus
    December 2015 Image of the Month

    Primitiva Isar (left) and Leonides Bulawin (right), who were working in the hospital as Exchange Visitor Nurses, enjoy a visit with Santa Claus.

    Image ID: P16.1.2, #2368

  • Kracke Building, circa 1965

    Exterior of the Kracke Building
    July 2015 Image of the Month

    The Kracke Clinical Services Building on Seventh Avenue South was dedicated on July 18, 1965, and was named in honor of the late Dr. Roy R. Kracke, the first dean of the four-year medical school in Birmingham. The building had opened in 1929 as a dormitory for students of the nursing school at Hillman Hospital and it remained a nursing student residence until 1963.

    Image ID: P8.1.1, #0025

  • At work in University Hospital, 1960s

    An African American hospital worker pulls a gurney into a room
    April 2015 Image of the Month

    By state law and local regulation, the hospital complex at UAB was segregated by race; a sign noting a white waiting room is visible in this image. This situation began to change in 1963 and effective on April 25, 1965, the hospital and the medical center were integrated. A few weeks later, Federal officials toured the UAB Medical Center and concluded that all policies and procedures of racial segregation had been eliminated and the university was in full compliance with federal law.

    Image ID: P16.1.2, #0577

  • Frederick W. Kraus at his desk, circa 1965

    Frederick W. Kraus sits at his desk
    March 2015 Image of the Month

    Dr. Kraus was a member of the dental school faculty and was chief of dental service at the Veterans Administration Hospital.  One of the founders of the Concerned White Citizens of Alabama, Kraus joined those marching in Selma, Alabama, in March of 1965. He later said he hoped the group's participation would give more Alabamians "the courage to stand up for equality."

    Image ID: P7.2.1, #0223

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Mervyn H. Sterne Library

917 13th St S
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-6364

Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences

1700 University Blvd
Birmingham, AL

(205) 975-4821

Reynolds-Finley Historical Library

1700 University Blvd - 3rd Floor
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-4475

Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences

1700 University Blvd - 3rd Floor
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-4475

Lister Hill Library at University Hospital

615 18th Street S - P235 West Pavilion
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-2275

801 Building

801 5th Ave South
Room 1111
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-5432

J. Ellis Sparks Medical Library

301 Governors Drive SE - 3rd Floor
Huntsville, AL 35801

(256) 551-4405

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