Leroy Stover

Stover was born May 26, 1933^[1] and raised in rural Alabama.^[2] He attended Shiloh High School where he edited the high school newspaper and was a valedictorian, graduating in 1952. He served in the airborne forces, firstly in the 82nd Airborne, and then in 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team during the last year of the Korean War, where he saw combat. After leaving the military Stover worked for a building supply company in the Ensley neighbourhood of the city, where he worked as a truck driver and as an office worker.^[3][4][1]

Hiring black police officers into the Birmingham Police Department was a demand of the 1963 Birmingham Campaign for civil rights, and also a key demand of the white business community in the city who were the target of boycotts over racial segregation. In the same year, Albert Boutwell, a civil rights moderate, defeated Bull Connor, a segregationist, to become mayor of the city. Boutwell assured civil rights movement leaders that he was actively pursuing the hiring of black officers. Despite numerous black candidates being put forward and passing the exam in the years immediately after 1963, none were hired due to their being perceived to be associated with the civil rights movement, either as having been members of it or having been sponsored by it. The perceived risk of being the first black officer on the force also dissuaded applicants, with one black community leader describing it as "suicide".^[5][6][7]

By 1966, frustration about the lack of progress in hiring black police officers led to further protests and boycotts in the city, causing business leaders to offer black workers the day off to take the test to become a police officer, and their old jobs back if they decided to resign from the force. Stover, who despite witnessing the civil rights protests had not taken part in them and was not affiliated with the civil rights movement, was seen as a potentially safe candidate and was encouraged to take the test by his boss. Stover had previously had negative experiences with the police force including being racially abused by them and had not considered applying until this point. Stover passed the test and on March 30, 1966, joined the Birmingham Police Department as their first black police officer, followed by Johnnie Johnson Jr. (who later went on to become the city's first black police chief) as their second a day later.^[6][5][8]