Photo is of a man and two children in a very early car,the top is like the cover on a buggy and the sides are open. Next to photo is statement Mr. W.M. Yarbrough shown with B'ham's first taxi service which was traveled from No. Bham to what is now Fultondale in the early 1900's North B'ham My father died in 1914 and we moved to B'ham in 1917,and settled in Collegeville. Collegeville was all black and economically poor,but it was just as good as any other place to live. You see times were hard after WWI and leading up to the Depression. People used to say times were so hard that the Alabama River wasn't running but once a week. But in Collegeville there were more black people that had contracts from different industries than anywhere else in B'ham. When I was ten years old I worked for Bham Stove and Range on 27th and Huntsville Rd,under a contract from John Catlin. During the day I went to Hudson School and from either 3 to 8 or whenever I finished,my job was shaking out and cutting sand. I started out earning 30 cents a night. I remember I was in the fourth grade. Buster Abernathy had a contract unloading all the pig iron,coke and rock. Rev. Oliver had a contract with U.S.Pipe. The Depression kept most people travelling like hobos. The railroad L&N or Southern were very lenient about people riding in boxcars. They'd let you get coal as long as you didn't get greedy and bring a wagon. During the Depression one thing was very prevalent in Collegeville. People would take old auto tires,split it,then cut it to shape for the sole of their shoes. Nobody could afford to go to the shoe shop L.D Stevens,Henry Arnet were black businessmen. As black merchantmen died out the Italians took over. They could buy in gross and sell cheaper. A good Italian would sprinkle salt and pepper on your meat for you. There was a strong communist element in Collegeville during the Depression that was offset by Rev Sears and other ministers,Rev Sears really spearheaded the downfall of the communist. One night they came to his church with picks. They came intending to get him. He held out his arms and said,"Brethen! Brethen! let's sit and talk." Meanwhile his daughter went thru the basement and got a shotgun. She came back,threw him the gun in the pulpit and he aimed and cocked it. They fled Robert N. Washington August 9th 1942 A school to train a bomb crew for the local Civil Defense Unit opens at B'ham Southern College August 11th 1921 A Klansman kills Father James Coyle apparently because the St Paul's priest married the Klansman's daughter to a young Catholic man August13th 1936 The North Birmingham Herald reports that coal miming and other industrial activity has increased recently,raising hopes that economic conditions are improving August 15th 1920 Both coal operators and striking coal miners ask Gov. Kilby to send the state militia to the Strike area in B'ham. August 17th 1883 Woodward Iron Co.'s first furnace goes into blast