Perspectives: Sam’s Perspective – Happy Birthday to 911

February has passed and so too, note of a very special birthday. The latter with very little fanfare. I didn’t see a single story dealing with it, but I heard one. It was on NPR and it sort of reminded me of the popular 1955 novel “The Mouse That Roared”, by Irish American writer, Leonard Wibberley. That story was also a successful motion picture and Broadway play.
But just because I didn’t see a story dealing with the special birthday, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth noting. The birth occurred in a town with less than 10-thousand people, Haleyville, Alabama on February 16th., 1968. The year before, the Federal Communication Commission met with A. T. & T. to establish an emergency phone number. They wanted a short, easy to remember number. They also needed a unique number.
Since 911 had never been designated for an office code, area code or service code, that was the number they chose. Bob Gallager, then president of the Alabama Telephone co was little offended when he heard that no independent phone company had been invited to or involved in the 911 emergency decision so, he got with his inside plant manager Robert Fitzgerald and they evaluated the company’s 27 phone systems and chose Haleyville, Alabama, population much less than 10-thousand, as the site to launch the 911 system.
They worked day and night, designing the circuitry and installed the system in less than a week. At 2:00 p.m. on February 16th, 1968, 911 was born. Rankin Fite made the first 911 call in the United States from the Mayor’s office to Tom Bevill in the Haleyville Police station.
Beville answered the call on a bright red rotary phone which is now on display in the lobby of the Haleyville City Hall. That very first call proved the 911 system would work and the call impacted the entire world. It was, in fact, the birth of the 911 system as we know it. The people involved in the development in such a short time bested not only the biggest phone company in the United States but the Federal Government as well. Hense,… the mouse that ‘really’ did roar. It also proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that just because you’re small, doesn’t mean you can’t get the job done,… The American way, with inspiration and hard work.
The original phone is still on display in Haleyville. You can drop in anytime and see it. Folks in Haleyville are very proud of the fact that the system was designed and built and the very first 911 call was made in their town by local residents.
Every year, the Chamber of Commerce even sponsors a 911 festival, complete with plenty of music, a parade, a tractor pull, crafts for the kids, good food and of course you and yours are always invited to the yearly celebration.
Also, think about this,… how many lives have been saved because of that first 911 call? So with all that in mind, let me wish 911, the emergency call system we use in this country, a belated Happy Birthday and a salute to the good people in Haleyville, Alabama. Good job folks, you done proud.
I’m Sam Jones, and that’s my perspective.