Editing History of Alabama (section)

==New South era beginnings (1914–1945)==
Despite Birmingham's powerful industrial growth and its contributions to the state economy, its citizens, and those of other newly developing areas, were underrepresented in the state legislature for years. The rural-dominated legislature refused to redistrict state House and Senate seats from 1901 to the 1960s. In addition, the state legislature had a senate based on one for each county. The state legislative delegations controlled counties. This led to a stranglehold on the state by a white rural minority. The contemporary interests of urbanizing, industrial cities and tens of thousands of citizens were not adequately represented in the government.<ref name="autogenerated2">[http://elections.gmu.edu/Redistricting/AL.htm George Mason University, United States Election Project: Alabama Redistricting Summary, accessed 10 Mar 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017192719/http://elections.gmu.edu/Redistricting/AL.htm |date=October 17, 2007 }}</ref> One result was that Jefferson County, home of Birmingham's industrial and economic powerhouse, contributed more than one-third of all tax revenue to the state. It received back only 1/67th of the tax money, as the state legislature ensured taxes were distributed equally to each county regardless of population.

From 1910 to 1940, tens of thousands of African Americans migrated out of Alabama in the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] to seek jobs, education for their children, and freedom from [[lynching]] in northern and midwestern cities, such as [[St. Louis]], Chicago, Detroit, and [[Cleveland]]. These cities had many industrial jobs, but the migrants also had to compete with new waves of European immigrants. The rate of population growth in Alabama dropped from 20.8% in 1900 and 16.9% in 1910, to 9.8% in 1920, reflecting the impact of the outmigration. Formal disenfranchisement was ended only after the mid-1960s after African Americans led the Civil Rights Movement and gaining Federal legislation to protect their voting and civil rights. But the state devised new ways to reduce their political power. By that time, African Americans comprised a smaller minority than at the turn of the century, and a majority in certain rural counties.

A rapid pace of change across the country, especially in growing cities, combined with new waves of immigration and migration of rural whites and blacks to cities, all contributed to a volatile social environment and the rise of a second [[Ku Klux Klan]] (KKK) in the South and Midwest after 1915. In many areas it represented itself as a fraternal group to give aid to a community. Feldman (1999) has shown that the second KKK was not a mere hate group; it showed a genuine desire for political and social reform on behalf of poor whites. For example, Alabama Klansmen such as [[Hugo Black]] were among the foremost advocates of better public schools, effective Prohibition enforcement, expanded road construction, and other "progressive" measures to benefit poor whites. By 1925, the Klan was a powerful political force in the state, as urban politicians such as [[J. Thomas Heflin]], [[David Bibb Graves]], and Hugo Black manipulated the KKK membership against the power of the "Big Mule" industrialists and especially the Black Belt planters who had long dominated the state.<ref>Feldman (1999)</ref>

In 1926, Democrat [[Bibb Graves]], a former chapter head, won the governor's office with KKK members' support. He led one of the most progressive administrations in the state's history, pushing for increased education funding, better public health, new highway construction, and pro-labor legislation. At the same time, KKK vigilantes—thinking they enjoyed governmental protection—launched a wave of physical terror across Alabama in 1927, targeting both blacks and whites. The Republicans responded: The major newspapers kept up a steady, loud attack on the Klan as violent and un-American. Sheriffs cracked down on Klan violence, and a national scandal among Klan leaders in the 1920s turned many members away. The state voted for Democrat [[Al Smith]] in 1928, although he was Roman Catholic (a target of the KKK). The Klan's official membership plunged to under six thousand by 1930.

===World War II===
{{see also|Alabama World War II Army Airfields}} 
Alabama was an important player in the [[United States home front during World War II]]. The state  provided thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen to the military. It provided large amounts of food, ammunition, and other supplies. Alabama was also the site of numerous military bases and factories that produced military supplies and equipment and warships. In addition, the state was home to several prisoner of war camps and Army and Navy hospitals.  The iron and steel industries in Birmingham smoothly transitioned to wartime production, with furnaces that had closed during the Great Depression reopening to meet the demands of [[War Production Board]] contracts. Alabama's Ingalls Iron Works became a leader in the construction of [[Liberty ships]], launching the first fully welded ship in October 1940, helping revolutionize the ship building industry.<ref>[https://visitvulcan.com/articles/birminghams-impact-on-the-homefront/#.YfDgphPMI1I Birmingham's Impact on the Homefront]. ''Vulcan Park & Museum''. Retrieved January 26, 2022.</ref><ref>Allen Cronenberg, ''Forth to the Mighty Conflict: Alabama and World War II'' (University of Alabama Press, 2003).</ref>

On February 12, 1945, [[Tornado outbreak of February 12, 1945|a devastating tornado outbreak]] occurred across the [[Southeastern United States]], which killed 45 people and injured 427 others.<ref name="Grazulis Book">{{cite book |last1=Grazulis |first1=Thomas P. |title=Significant tornadoes, 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events |date=1993 |publisher=Environmental Films |location=St. Johnsbury, Vermont |isbn=1-879362-03-1 |pages=922–925}}</ref><ref name="BAMS">{{cite journal |author1=F. C. Pate (United States Weather Bureau) |title=The Tornado at Montgomery, Alabama, February 12, 1945 |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |date=October 1946 |volume=27 |issue=8 |pages=462–464 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26257954 |access-date=27 May 2023 |publisher=American Meteorological Society|jstor=26257954 }}</ref> This outbreak included [[Tornado outbreak of February 12, 1945#Montgomery–Chisholm, Alabama|a devastating tornado]] that struck [[Montgomery, Alabama]], which killed 26 people.<ref name="BAMS"/> The [[United States Weather Bureau]] described this tornado as "the most officially observed one in history" as it reached within {{convert|0.5|mi|km}} from the U.S. Weather Bureau's office.<ref name="BAMS"/> Tornado expert [[Thomas P. Grazulis]] estimated the intensity of the Montgomery tornado to be F3 on the [[Fujita scale]].<ref name="Grazulis Book"/>