Birmingham: The City Beautiful, Compliments of G. Ward

Birmingham’s City Beautiful movement of the early 20th century encouraged everyone to clean up, to paint, and to beautify their homes, their businesses, and their city and to protect the naturally beautiful, native environment in which Birmingham, Alabama is located. Championed by Mayor and City Commission President George Ward (1905-1917) and tutored by nationally prominent landscape designer Warren H. Manning, Birmingham’s civic and club leaders forged a long-term public/private partnership to improve sanitary conditions, acquire land for parks and recreation, and group governmental buildings about a central park as a civic center. This book is the story of the Birmingham’s City Beautiful campaigns to create a livable urban environment—“healthy and happy to live in”—and to its primary advocate and leader: George B. Ward.