John L. Cantelow, Jr.

John L. Cantelow, Jr., now retired, was a beloved band teacher, principal, and acting superintendent in the Birmingham Public School System. Dr. Cantelow lived in the heart of Birmingham’s Titusville community, across the street from Washington School, then later bought a home in the Goldwire section of South Titusville and raised his family there. His memories of Titusville life in the 1940s include playing in three swimming holes: “the tank,” “the slag pit,” and “the munger.” He also recalls the early days of Memorial Park, when a community preacher named Rev. Cowan built a wooden swing and put it in the park. “Children would line up to swing on that one swing,” he says. Before long, whenever whites-only parks got new equipment, the city started bringing the old, used equipment to Memorial Park for children to play on.

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