Welcome to the Birmingham History Center
Who we are

In 2004, a group of preservation-minded volunteers from the Birmingham-Jefferson Historical Society formed the museum to collect treasures of local history they feared were being discarded or forgotten in trunks and attics across Birmingham.

In 2008, Birmingham investor Thomas E. Jernigan, Jr. pledged $750,000 to the museum over 10 years to honor his late father, Birmingham entrepreneur and banker Thomas E. Jernigan, Sr.

The museum, renamed the Birmingham History Center in 2010, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that opened in April inside the historic Young & Vann Supply building on the corner of First Avenue North and 18th Street downtown. In six years, the group has collected more than 4,000 objects, historic papers and photographs to tell the story of Birmingham and its people.

The organization today is governed by a 21-member board of directors and headed by Executive Director Jerry Desmond, historian, author, and longstanding museum consultant on museum exhibits across the Southeast.

Young & Vann building side entry

Inside the museum

What we do 

The Birmingham History Center collects and preserves an array of historic objects, books, clothing, photographs, machinery, documents and other items of historic significance to Birmingham and Jefferson County communities.

About a quarter of the museum’s holdings are on display Monday-Friday in the renovated pre-1900's gallery, weaving together the different histories of modern Birmingham’s people and pastimes. Anyone interested in discussing the donation of historic material should call Executive Director Jerry Desmond at 205-202-4146.

Beside exhibits, the center supports and hosts events focusing on the area’s history and history-makers. It is sustained by donations of artifacts, cash contributions, memberships, and foundation grants supporting a $250,000 annual budget. To learn more about how you can help support the museum's activities, visit the Membership and Support page.  Museum staff also work with other history-related groups and associations. See links to those groups here.

Movers bring in the USS Birmingham ship model for the museum's spring opening.

People, not horses, had to pull this 1892 Brewster Brougham carriage into the museum's entry.

info@birminghamhistorycenter.org