Memories of Irondale, 1925 to 1942, Part II

by H. Bishop Holliman

We continue the memories of my father, Bishop Holliman, of his boyhood home in Irondale, Alabama. The suburb of Birmingham was a rail road center, and it was the Seaborne Rail Line that took Bishop Holliman to the U.S. Navy in 1941.  On December 7, 1941, only three weeks into the Navy, he heard the news at the Norfolk Navy Base that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.  Almost four years would pass before he could return as a civilian to his Irondale family. - Glenn N. Holliman

"As we got older, one of our fondest dreams was to get on one of those fast passenger trains and ride off to some enchanted places we had heard about.  Alas, it did not happen for most of us until World War II.  I left Birmingham on Friday, November 13, 1941, on the Seaboard’s Cotton State Special for Norfolk, Virginia to spend nearly four years in the Navy." 

Below, Bishop Holliman, left, and his brother, Melton Holliman sans his U. S. Army uniform, both home on leave at their parents, Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman at 2300 3rd Avenue N., Irondale, Alabama.  It was February 1945, a time when many Irondale men were in service.

 "Incidentally, gates were installed in Irondale after the war to protect against on-coming trains, and thanks to efforts by my Mother, Pearl Caine Holliman, home delivery of mail was begun before the war ended, thus eliminating a daily rail crossing to the post office for all the folks on the north side of town."

Bishop Holliman’s mother, Pearl Caine Holliman of Irondale, wrote this letter to Alabama Congressman Luther Patrick in 1943, describing her efforts to mobilize public opinion.  In January 1945, home delivery mail service began Irondale and residents on the hill above the center of town were no longer required to cross the rail road tracks to collect daily mail at the post office.                 

Below, in 1945, to recognize the beginnings of home delivery of the Irondale mail, the Woodlawn, Alabama newspaper ran this photograph of a postman with Pearl Caine Holliman (1887-1955) and her grandson, Robert W. Daly, Jr., son of Robert W. Daly, Sr. and Vena Holliman Daly.  The Dalys lived next door to the Hollimans in the 2300 block of 3rd Avenue North.

The little boy holding his grandmother's hand would earn a Ph.D. in biology, teach for decades at the University of North Alabama, Florence and become a well-known Alabama naturalist.  Dr. Robert W. Daly, Jr. grew up in Irondale and graduated from Shades Valley High School.

Next post, more memories of Irondale, Alabama....

Memories of Irondale, 1925 to 1942, Part I

by H. Bishop Holliman

In November 2010, also 91 years of age, H. Bishop Holliman (pictured below in the red sweater) who lived his childhood and youth at 2300 3^rd Avenue North, Irondale, Alabama, returned to look once more at his home town where he grew up in the 1920s and 1930s.  These are his memories and photographs. - Glenn N. Holliman, his son

"Trains, trains, trains…Among my earliest memories of Irondale are the trains that went through the center of town.  Four main lines that used five tracks – two for the Alabama Great Southern that ran from Birmingham to Chattanooga on to Washington, DC.  One for the Southern that ran from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans and one for the Central of Georgia that connected with the other line that ran from Chicago to Miami.  Finally, one for the Seaboard that came from Washington, D.C, through to Birmingham."

Above the Norfolk Southern freight pulls through Irondale with Bishop Holliman walking beside it in 2010.

"Long before ‘rock and roll’, music came on the scene, Irondale already knew how to shake.  It seems that a train was barreling through every few minutes – sometimes four at a time.  On summer evenings we would try to sit on the front porch to listen on the radio to Major Bowes or Bob Hope.  But about 8 o’clock, the Pelican on its way to New Orleans or the Robert E. Lee from Washington and Atlanta, plus a couple of freights, would create so much noise, we had to go inside.

Each day to and from school, to church on Sunday, to the post office and to the baseball diamond, we had to cross those tracks.  There were no warning lights and no guard rails to stop us – we crossed the tracks at our peril.  You can imagine the anxiety our parents felt every day that we went to school or to other placers, hoping and praying we would get there and back safety.  

Some did not make it.  I remember three deaths that occurred.  Usually an older student would lead first graders from school across the tracks in the afternoon.  About two thirty each afternoon we would hear the toot of the Seaboard train on its way to Atlanta and we would know then school would soon let out."

More in the next post on Irondale, Alabama from 1920s to 1940s.....

Stewart Butten, Family Friend, Part III
by Glenn N. Holliman

The beloved mother of seven children, Pearl Caine Holliman, pictured below, died of heart failure on May 5, 1955.  This is one of the last photos taken of her, again, on the lawn between her home and the Robert W. Daly's.  Born in 1887 in Fayette, Alabama, she married Ulyss S. Holliman in 1906, and with him and their growing family moved in 1917 to Irondale, Alabama, a suburb of the then growing city of Birmingham.

 Stewart Butten wrote the following letter to Mary Daly Herrin, the oldest of Grand Mama Holliman's 19 grand children. Sadly, many grand chidlren are too young to have known of her warmth and caring.  Her memory lives today for those of us grandchildren who were fortunate enough to have sat around that long and large Holliman table at Christmas, which Mr. B. eludes to in  his letter. Click twice to enlarge the letter.

Two good friends, a picture taken in the middle 1930s of Robert W. Daly, Sr. and Stewart Butten, both had an infectious Irish humour.

Next, more memories of Irondale, Alabama....in the 1920s and 30s.