At the start of the 20th century, Birmingham was one of the fastest growing cities in the South, sometimes referred to as the Magic City. It began as a town located at the intersection of two railroads and then quickly expanded and took in neighboring communities. Around this time, photographers traveled around the United States taking photographs of towns and cities and turning the photographs into postcards. The postcards collected here show historic Birmingham's downtown, hospitals, parks, communities, schools, hotels, and industries. These images serve as a record of everyday life in this bustling Southern city.
JD Weeks has lived in the Birmingham, Alabama area for over 74 years. He retired seventeen years ago from Public Health Administration. He has a BA in Urban Affairs and an MPA in Public Administration from UAB, and an ABD in the Public Administration Doctoral Program at the University of Alabama. He is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, Gamma Omicron Chapter at the University of Alabama.
He is Chief of the Shawano Band of the Appalachian Shawnee Tribe. The Shawano Band includes Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, and the southern part of Tennessee.
His love of history and genealogy has resulted in numerous publications. An avid postcard collector, he has over 60,000 in his personal collection. He also collects old books, maps, and any type of memorabillia that you can imagine. He belongs to many historical and genealogical societies, and numerous other organizations. He currently has over 35,000 names in his genealogy database.
He loves to spend time with his nine grandsons and one granddaughter, where he hopes to interest them in some of his activities so that perhaps some of them will continue his work.
