Two Alabama Baptists, whose contributions to Samford University (SU) took place in different centuries, were recently honored as the 34th and 35th inductees of the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame.
The ceremony, which recognized one of the first presidents of Howard College (now Samford University) — Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry — and a former SU professor — George Vernon Irons Sr. — was sponsored by the Women’s Committee of 100 for Birmingham.
Curry served as president of what was then Howard College, from 1865 till 1868, and George Vernon Irons Sr. was a history and political science professor at Samford for 43 years.
Both men served Alabama and the nation with distinction throughout their lives.
Curry’s contributions
Curry, born in 1825, was elected to the Alabama Legislature in 1847 and served several terms before being elected to the United States Congress in 1857. During the Civil War he was a member of the Confederate Congress and served as a lieutenant colonel in the Alabama 5th regiment of the Confederate army.
Following the war’s conclusion Curry was elected president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 1865. A month later he was appointed president of Howard College, serving for three years. His next career move took him to Richmond College in Virginia where he accepted a position as professor of English.
Curry was an ardent promoter of public education for everyone, regardless of their race or sex.
His zeal for public education rights led to his being chosen to supervise the George Peabody Fund for public education in the South, as well as being selected as an agent for the Slater Fund for Negro Schools.
The same year Curry died — 1903 — he was chosen as the first Alabamian to be honored in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C., where his statue still stands.
Samford’s other inductee, longtime history and political science professor George Vernon Irons Sr., had a distinguished career at the Alabama Baptist university for almost half a century, from 1933 till 1976.
As an undergraduate student at the University of Alabama, Irons was recognized as a long-distance track star. In 1978 he was honored for his athletic prowess by being inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. He is the only Samford
faculty member to have ever been inducted.
While at Samford, Irons was the school’s first distinguished professor emeritus.
His tenure was interrupted by military service as an Army colonel during World War II. Upon his return he was an adviser to campus veterans and remained in the Army Reserves 33 years.
Irons also served as chairman of Samford’s department of history and political science for 22 years as well as the chairman of the division of social sciences for six years.
Numerous honors
Irons was honored on numerous occasions by the community, students, peers and the administration for his selfless contributions. He directed Samford’s Freedoms Foundation, helped found the Alabama Historical Association, served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher at Birmingham’s Southside Baptist Church and earned the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge.
The Hall of Fame is located in the Davis Library at SU and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nominations for the honor are accepted from the public, and nominees must be deceased for a minimum of two years. They do not have to be natives of Alabama. “Any man with an Alabama connection that has impacted the state or nation or had an international impact in his field of endeavor is eligible,” said Evelyn Stough, executive secretary of the Hall of Fame.
The deadline for nominations is March 15, and nominations can be sent to Stough at Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame, Samford University, Box 292307, Birmingham, AL 35229. For more information, call Stough at 205-726-2362.
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