The Jefferson County Historical Association/JCHA’s featured speaker, Chervis Isom will be speaking about his memoir, “The Newspaper Boy: Coming of age in Birmingham, AL during the Civil Rights era.” Isom tells of his journey out of the Jim Crow racism of his youth in a book that documents the evolution of his life as it intersected with the historical and social events, such as the Korean War; the Cold War; McCarthyism; Jim Crow and the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement; the Civil Rights demonstrations in Birmingham culminating with the 16th Street Church bombing; and the assassination of President John Kennedy.

 Originally founded as the Birmingham Historical Society in 1942, the Society was reorganized in 1975 as the Birmingham-Jefferson County Historical Society and was later re-named the Jefferson County Historical Association in 2011. The Jefferson County Historical Association is dedicated to preserving and publicizing local history through regular meetings, publications and events, as well as promoting historical preservation efforts. Since 1992, the JCHA has erected over 20 historical markers throughout Jefferson county and sells over 10 publications written by local authors, including former Alabama Secretary of State Jim Bennett.

Holding quarterly member meetings each year at the Emmet O’Neal Library, the JCHA also publishes its quarterly newsletter, The Jefferson Journal.