Inez B. and Salt

Photo Details

Annetta N. | 1960s

Annetta’s mom, Inez B., stressed that you used the B. when you addressed or talked about her. After Annetta’s baby sister was born, she returned to school and worked as a respiratory therapist at Holy Family Hospital.

The original Holy Family Hospital was founded around 1946 by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Ensley. The hospital was created as part of the Black Hospital Movement during segregation; it was the only hospital that black doctors and nurses could practice in Jim Crow Birmingham.

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Annetta’s dad was known by most as “Salt”. Salt worked in the coal mines.

Coal was an integral resource of Ensley’s growth, as it helped fuel the steel industry, and to a larger extent, the city of Ensley. The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (TCI) played a major role in the collection of coal, turning Ensley into an industrial checkpoint in the U.S.