Editing Jefferson County, Alabama (section)

==History==
{{See also|National Register of Historic Places listings in Birmingham, Alabama|National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Alabama|Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage by county (Jefferson–Macon)}}
[[File:TANNEHILL VALLEY COVERED BRIDGE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Tannehill Valley Covered Bridge near McCalla.]]

Jefferson County was established on December 13, 1819, by the [[Alabama Legislature]].<ref name=aces/> It was named in honor of former [[President of the United States|President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]].<ref name=aces/> The county is located in the north-central portion of the state, on the southernmost edge of the [[Appalachian Mountains]]. It is in the center of the (former) [[iron]], [[coal]], and [[limestone]] [[mining]] belt of the [[Southern United States]].

Most of the original settlers were migrants of English ancestry from the Carolinas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1370 |title=Jefferson County |access-date=November 28, 2021 |archive-date=November 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128151320/http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1370 |url-status=live }}</ref> Jefferson County has a land area of about {{convert|1119|sqmi|km2}}. Early county seats were established first at [[Carrollsville, Alabama|Carrollsville]] (1819 – 21), then Elyton (1821 – 73).

Founded around 1871, Birmingham was named for the industrial English city of the same name in [[Warwickshire]]. That city had long been a center of iron and steel production in [[Great Britain]]. Birmingham was formed by the merger of three towns, including Elyton. It has continued to grow by [[annexation|annexing]] neighboring [[town]]s and [[village]]s, including North Birmingham.

As Birmingham industrialized, its growth accelerated, particularly after 1890. It attracted numerous rural migrants, both black and white, for its new jobs. It also attracted European immigrants. Despite the city's rapid growth, for decades it was underrepresented in the legislature. Legislators from rural counties kept control of the legislature and, to avoid losing power, for decades refused to reapportion the seats or redistrict congressional districts. Birmingham could not get its urban needs addressed by the legislature.

Nearby [[Bessemer, Alabama]], located 16 miles by car to the southwest, also grew based on industrialization. It also attracted many workers. By the early decades of the 20th century, it had a majority-black population, but whites dominated politically and economically.

===Civil rights===
Racial tensions increased in the cities and state in the late 19th century as whites worked to maintain [[white supremacy]]. The white-dominated legislature passed a new constitution in 1901 that [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised]] most blacks and many poor whites, excluding them totally from the political system. While they were nominally still eligible in the mid-20th century for jury duty, they were overwhelmingly excluded by white administrators from juries into the 1950s. Economic competition among the new workers in the city also raised tensions. It was a rough environment of mill and mine workers in Birmingham and Bessemer, and the Ku Klux Klan was active in the 20th century, often with many police being members into the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name=bass>S. Jonathan Bass, ''He Calls Me By Lightning: The Life of Caliph Washington and the Forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty'', Liveright Publishing, 2017</ref>

In a study of lynchings in the South from 1877 to 1950, Jefferson County is documented as having the highest number of [[lynchings]] of any county in Alabama. White mobs committed 29 lynchings in the county, most around the turn of the century at a time of widespread political suppression of blacks in the state.<ref name="supp">[http://www.eji.org/files/Lynching_in_America_Supplement_by_County_2nd_Edition.pdf "Supplement: Lynchings by County/ Alabama: Jefferson County, 2nd edition] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410175503/http://www.eji.org/files/Lynching_in_America_Supplement_by_County_2nd_Edition.pdf |date=April 10, 2016 }}, from ''Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror'', 2015, Equal Justice Institute, Montgomery, Alabama</ref> Notable incidents include 1889's [[lynching of George Meadows]].

Even after 1950, racial violence of whites against blacks continued. In the 1950s [[KKK]] chapters bombed black-owned houses in Birmingham to discourage residents moving into new middle-class areas. In that period, the city was referred to as "Bombingham".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.al.com/expo/news/erry-2018/07/f39190a3553390/bombingham.html |title=Bombingham: Decades of racist bombings captured in chilling photos |last=AM |first=2018 at 06:00 |website=AL.com |date=July 24, 2018 |language=en-US |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-date=July 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716061225/https://www.al.com/news/erry-2018/07/f39190a3553390/bombingham.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/16th-Street-Baptist-Church-bombing |title=16th Street Baptist Church bombing {{!}} terrorist attack, Birmingham, Alabama, United States [1963] |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-date=September 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921104622/https://www.britannica.com/event/16th-Street-Baptist-Church-bombing |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1963 African Americans led a movement in the city seeking civil rights, including integration of public facilities. The [[Birmingham campaign]] was known for the violence the city police used against non-violent protesters. In the late summer, city and business officials finally agreed in 1963 to integrate public facilities and hire more African Americans. This followed the civil rights campaign, which was based at the [[16th Street Baptist Church]], and an economic boycott of white stores that refused to hire blacks. Whites struck again: on a Sunday in September 1963, KKK members [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing|bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church]], killing four young black girls and injuring many persons. The African-American community quickly rebuilt the damaged church. They entered politics in the city, county and state after the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] was passed.

===Sewer construction and bond swap controversy===
In the 1990s, the county authorized and financed a massive overhaul of the county-owned sewer system, beginning in 1996. Sewerage and water rates had increased more than 300% in the 15 years before 2011, causing severe problems for the poor in Birmingham and the county.

Costs for the project increased due to problems in the financial area. In addition, county officials, encouraged by bribes by financial services companies, made a series of risky bond-swap agreements. Two extremely controversial undertakings by county officials in the 2000s <!-- What does this refer to? Why not tell what they were?-->resulted in the county having debt of $4 billion. The county eventually declared bankruptcy in 2011. It was the largest municipal bankruptcy in United States history at that time. Both the sewer project and its financing were scrutinized by federal prosecutors. By 2011, "six of Jefferson County's former commissioners had been found guilty of corruption for accepting the bribes, along with 15 other officials."<ref>[http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/07/hold_former_jefferson_county_c.html "Former Jefferson County Commissioner Gary White sentenced to 10 years in prison"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824012848/http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/07/hold_former_jefferson_county_c.html |date=August 24, 2011 }}, Al.com. Retrieved on August 12, 2011.</ref><ref name="BBC Scandal" />

The controversial interest rate swaps, initiated in 2002 and 2003 by former Commission President [[Larry Langford]] (removed in 2011 as the mayor of Birmingham after his conviction at trial<ref>[http://www.al.com/news/larry-langford/index.ssf/index_3.html Larry Langford Impact – Page 3 – - Larry Langford trial{{!}} Latest Larry Langford News] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022114123/http://www.al.com/news/larry-langford/index.ssf/index_3.html |date=October 22, 2009 }}. al.com. Retrieved on March 2, 2011.</ref>), were intended to lower interest payments. But they had the opposite effect, increasing the county's indebtedness to the point that it had to declare bankruptcy. The bond swaps were the focus of an investigation by the [[United States Securities and Exchange Commission]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wright |first=Barnett |date=December 18, 2007 |title=SEC wants to force Larry Langford, Bill Blount to testify in Jefferson County bond swap deals |newspaper=Birmingham News |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/12/sec_wants_to_force_larry_langf.html |access-date=December 13, 2017 |archive-date=December 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214071433/http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/12/sec_wants_to_force_larry_langf.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In late February 2008 [[Standard & Poor's]] lowered the rating of Jefferson County bonds to "junk" status. The likelihood of the county filing for [[Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 9]] bankruptcy protection was debated in the press.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hubbard |first=Russell |date=March 2, 2008 |title=Jefferson County finance options likely to be expensive |newspaper=Birmingham News}}</ref> In early March 2008, [[Moody's]] followed suit and indicated that it would also review the county's ability to meet other bond obligations.<ref>{{cite news |author=Hubbard, Russell |date=March 4, 2008 |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/03/update_jefferson_county_financ.html |title=Update: Jefferson County finances take another hit |newspaper=Birmingham News |access-date=March 4, 2008 |archive-date=November 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117013914/http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/03/update_jefferson_county_financ.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On March 7, 2008, Jefferson County failed to post $184 million collateral as required under its sewer bond agreements, thereby moving into technical default.<ref>Wright, Barnett (March 8, 2008) "[http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/12049677384610.xml&coll=2 Jefferson County, Alabama sewer debt swap agreement deadline passes"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309173330/http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews%2F12049677384610.xml&coll=2 |date=March 9, 2008 }}, ''Birmingham News''</ref>

In February 2011, Lesley Curwen of the [[BBC World Service]] interviewed David Carrington, the newly appointed president of the County Commission, about the risk of defaulting on bonds issued to finance "what could be the most expensive sewage system in history."<ref name="BBC Scandal"/> Carrington said there was "no doubt that people from Wall Street offered bribes" and "have to take a huge responsibility for what happened."<ref name="BBC Scandal" /> Wall Street investment banks, including [[J.P. Morgan & Co.|JP Morgan]] and others, arranged complex financial deals using [[swap (finance)|swaps]]. The fees and penalty charges increased the cost so the county in 2011 had $3.2 billion outstanding. Carrington said one of the problems was that elected officials had welcomed scheduling with very low early payments so long as peak payments occurred after they left office.

In 2011 the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission|SEC]] awarded the county $75 million in compensation in relation to a judgment of "unlawful payments" against JP Morgan; in addition the company was penalized by having to forfeit $647 million of future fees.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00dy3z5/Business_Daily_Alabamas_sewer_debts |publisher=BBC World Service |title=Business Daily: Alabama's sewer debt |date=February 28, 2011 |access-date=March 2, 2011 |archive-date=March 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303090116/http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00dy3z5/Business_Daily_Alabamas_sewer_debts |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===2011 bankruptcy filing===
Jefferson County filed for bankruptcy on November 9, 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jefferson County, Alabama Chapter 9 Voluntary Petition |url=https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/YJQAF6Y/Jefferson_County__alnbke-11-05736__0001.0.pdf |website=PacerMonitor |access-date=June 22, 2016 |archive-date=August 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810234504/https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/YJQAF6Y/Jefferson_County__alnbke-11-05736__0001.0.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> This action was valued at $4.2 billion, with debts of $3.14 billion relating to sewer work; it was then the most costly municipal bankruptcy ever in the United States. In 2013, it was surpassed by the [[Detroit bankruptcy]] in Michigan.<ref name="BBC Scandal">{{cite web |title=The scandal of the Alabama poor cut off from water |author=Brian Wheeler |work=[[BBC News]] |date=December 14, 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16037798 |access-date=December 15, 2011 |archive-date=December 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214234830/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16037798 |url-status=live }}</ref> The County requested [[Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 9]] relief under federal statute 11 U.S.C. §921. The case was filed in the Northern District of Alabama Bankruptcy Court as case number 11-05736.

{{as of|2012|05}}, Jefferson County had slashed expenses and reduced employment of county government workers by more than 700.<ref name=reuters20120512>{{cite news |title=Bankrupt Jefferson County, Alabama Lays Off 75 More Government Workers |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/bankrupt-jefferson-county-alabama-lays-off_n_1472652.html |access-date=May 14, 2012 |newspaper=Reuters |date=May 2, 2012 |archive-date=May 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506000457/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/bankrupt-jefferson-county-alabama-lays-off_n_1472652.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The county emerged from bankruptcy in December 2013, following the approval of a bankruptcy plan by the [[United States bankruptcy court]] for the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama|Northern District of Alabama]], writing off more than $1.4 billion of the debt.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110924060918/http://www.al.com/jeffco/ Jefferson County bankruptcy], articles from the ''Huntsville Times''.</ref><ref>Associated Press, [http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20131204/NEWS/131209934 "Jefferson County emerges from bankruptcy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508152410/http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20131204/NEWS/131209934 |date=May 8, 2016 }}, December 4, 2013.</ref><ref>Shelly Sigo, [http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/123_1/bankruptcy-over-but-jefferson-county-ala-will-remain-in-the-news-1058616-1.html "Bankruptcy Over, But Jefferson County, Ala., Will Remain in the News"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908232201/http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/123_1/bankruptcy-over-but-jefferson-county-ala-will-remain-in-the-news-1058616-1.html |date=September 8, 2016 }}, ''Bond Buyer'', December 31, 2013.</ref>