1938: Alabama

Area and Population.

Known as a typical state of 'the deep South,' Alabama's statehood dates back to Dec. 14, 1819. With an area of 51,998 sq. mi. (including inland and land locked waters) it ranks 28th in size among the states. In population it ranks 15th, numbering 2,640,248 according to the census of 1930; 2,895,000 on July 1st, 1937, according to the latest Federal estimate. Of the 1930 population, whites numbered 64.3 per cent of the total; Negroes slightly more than 35.6 per cent; members of other races a small, scattered minority. The rural population constituted 71.9 per cent of the whole. Only .6 per cent of the whites are foreign-born.

The largest city is Birmingham, 250,678 (1930 census), and third largest city in the South, and a center of thriving industry. The region around it is the only place in the world where iron, coal, and limestone — the essentials for steel making — are found together in large deposits. The city is also a strategically located distributing center for nation-wide shipping. Next in size is Mobile, 68,202, Alabama's only seaport. It is one of the two ports in the United States designated by the government as a Foreign Trade Zone. This means that foreign goods may be unloaded at special piers, stored, and then reshipped to another foreign port without incurring a United States custom duty. Montgomery, near the geographical center of Alabama, is the state capital. Long an important agricultural and livestock market, the trend of the city now is toward industrialization. Gadsden, 32,586, is noted for steel, rubber goods, and textiles.

Agriculture.

In spite of a state-wide drought during 1938 which checked production of many crops, increased yields of many agricultural products were a feature of the year. Better than average results marked production of sweet potatoes, corn, peanuts, satsuma oranges, and oats.

The total yield of cotton was below the ten-year average (1927-30), a condition due, among other factors, to reduced acreage, but the pounds-per-acre result was far better than the average.

During the year farmers living in remote sections had electricity brought to them. The Rural Electrification Authority was instrumental in helping thousands of them toward modernization of their homes.

Mineral Products.

The state's leading product, bituminous coal, retained its predominating position in 1937 with production at 12,400,000 tons, a slight increase over the figures for 1936. Iron ore, second in rank, increased by 51 per cent over the previous year, with 6,350,316 tons, valued at $10,747,967, for 1937, compared with 4,259,804 tons in 1936, valued at $6,838,016. Shipments of pig iron showed a proportionate advance: 2,528,785 tons for 1937, as against 2,061,534 tons in 1936. The production of coke rose from 3,089,622 tons in 1936, to 4,252,704 tons in 1937.

Manufacturing.

Although Alabama is an essentially agricultural state, it is rapidly becoming industrialized because of the countless numbers of finished products that may be made from Alabama's rich store of raw materials. Another factor contributing toward industrial progress in the state is its comparative freedom from capital-labor conflict.

Business Recovery.

Beginning in June, 1938, business and industrial recovery in Alabama swung up at a much sharper pace than in the United States as a whole. This increase was indicated forcibly in the production of pig iron, steel, coal, and coke, as well as in insurance sales, contracts for floor space, and totals of bank debits.

Phenomenal stepping up of blast furnace operations, significant gains in ingot production, and large scale orders for manufactured goods started thousands to work again in the Birmingham district during the year. Most mines in the same section began full-time operation. Shipping through the state docks at Mobile increased to the extent that they began to show a profit for the first time since they were built.

In October 1938 consumption of electricity increased by 4.4 per cent over October 1937. Using the same period for comparison, we find an increase of 3.3 per cent in cotton consumption and an increase of 4.2 per cent in steel ingot production.

Heavy increases in building contracts occurred in every month from May to September, 1938. The value of the contracts awarded in September 1938 surpassed the same month of the preceding year by 322.1 per cent.

The year 1938 was also a record year for road and bridge building in the state. Upwards of 1,714 miles of highways were paved or placed in contract for pavement. Three major bridge projects were begun.

Education.

Education benefited in 1938 in Alabama by the inauguration of a school-building program involving the expenditure of $4,500,000. The local school boards pay 55 per cent of the sum, and the Public Works Administration supplies the remainder.

Standards were raised in the matter of teaching personnel. In the continuation of a movement started in 1939, a greater per cent of public-school teachers each year are college graduates. The number of teachers holding degrees increased in 1938 to 9 per cent more than the 1937 number.

Institutes of higher learning started building programs, as well as the public schools. New dormitories, buildings, and one library were begun or planned for the various institutions.

Legislature.

State laws are made by a bicameral legislature, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Legislature meets every four years, the next session occurring early in 1939.

Current Events.

Important events of the year included Alabama leadership in a fight against unequal freight rates between the different sections of the country. A representative from the Interstate Commerce Commission was in Birmingham for a discussion of the problem.

Election of state officers took place in 1938. After the Democratic primary in May the gubernatorial runner-up, Chauncey Sparks, withdrew from the campaign, leaving a clear field to Major Dixon of Birmingham who had received a strong plurality vote. Alabama, of course, is one of the 'Solid South' Democratic States, and Major Dixon won easily over his Republican opponent.

State Officers.

During the year 1938 the chief officers of the state were as follows: Governor, Bibb Graves; Secretary of State, Howell Turner; Treasurer, John Brandon; Auditor, Charles F. McCall; Superintendent of Education, Dr. A. H. Collins.

In November Frank M. Dixon was elected Governor.

United States Senators.

John Hollis Bankhead, Lister Hill (reelected in November).