It’s unquestionably the most important phone number in the country. The most recognizable, too.
911. The ubiquitous three digits that revolutionized emergency services in America. Experts call it the most “go to” number in the United States. Most citizens don’t care what you call it, so long as help is on the way.
Whether it’s reporting a crime in progress, reporting a fire, or requesting an ambulance, Americans use 911 in record numbers. More than 240 million calls are placed each year, according to the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). It is indeed the number America goes to when it needs help. That’s because the stakes could not be bigger.
And it all began 55 years ago in a 7.4-square-mile city tucked in the northwestern corner of Alabama: Haleyville, current population 4,100. The town’s place in the history books proves that great and gargantuan innovations can happen in small American places.
If a visitor wasn’t sure, a highway sign approaching the city announces its claim to fame: “Haleyville. Where 911 began.” There’s a bright red phone under glass at City Hall to prove it, too.
“We have a great deal of pride in the fact that we’ve influenced the entire world,” Mayor Ken Sunseri told American Essence, just a few days after the 55th anniversary of the very first 911 call placed in the country. “Millions of lives have been saved in the last 55 years, thanks to 911.”
There’s no doubting that pride if you visit Haleyville in early June, when the normally quiet hills really come alive. That’s when the Haleyville Area Chamber of Commerce and the town come together to host an annual, two-day festival celebrating the town’s role in making the first 911 call and to honor law enforcement and emergency personnel. Huge banners adorn the main street. There’s street dancing, a parade, arts and crafts, a classic car show, children’s activities, food, and more. Sister Hazel, a ’90s alt rock band from Gainesville, Florida, will headline this year’s party, the mayor said proudly. Nearly 5,000 people are expected to attend, all in honor of 911. “Our connection is personal, said Mayor Sunseri. “It’s something we treasure.”
But being so influential was no easy task.
How It Began
In the 1960s, Sunseri said, there was a lot of competition to the 911 throne. Already, several countries around the world were using a three-digit emergency phone line, but not so in America. It took the initiative and urgency of the president of a rural Alabama phone company to pull off the big American win. Things really heated up in 1967 when President Lyndon Johnson’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended that a “single number should be established” nationwide for reporting emergency situations, according to NENA.
Soon after, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) met with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) to discuss setting up a universal emergency number. In 1968, AT&T announced that it would establish the digits 9-1-1 (nine-one-one) as the emergency code throughout the United States. Congress quickly approved AT&T’s plan and passed a law that allowed 911 to be used as a single calling service for emergencies. There were murmurings that AT&T had an Indiana exchange in mind for the first system.
Sunseri said that in early February 1968, Bob Gallagher, president of the independent Alabama Telephone Co., learned of the decision and was none too happy that AT&T had not informed independent carriers like his about plans and preparations.
“He didn’t like being left out of the conversation,” Sunseri said. “So, he had the idea to try and beat AT&T to the punch.”
In an interview with NPR in 2008 before he died, Gallagher said he took his idea to his boss at the Alabama Telephone Co., and they approved. “I told him I think we can do a 911 system and beat AT&T out,” said Gallagher. “And he said, ‘Go get ’em.’ And off we went.” Gallagher said he knew he had to act fast to pull it off. He told NPR the company picked Haleyville because it was already working on an exchange there, so it was easy to install the system. Working around the clock, it took less than a week, just 35 days after AT&T’s announcement.
It was on Feb. 16 that the first call was made. It was a purely ceremonial call but historic nonetheless. U.S. Representative Tom Bevill, seated in the Haleyville police station, became the first person in the United States to answer a 911 emergency phone call. The call was from Alabama state legislator Rankin Fite, who sat in Haleyville Mayor James Whitt’s office in the very same building. Bevill answered with a simple, “Hello.” It was the phone call that changed America.
Six days later, Nome, Alaska, followed suit. In March 1973, the White House’s Office of Telecommunications issued a national policy statement encouraging nationwide adoption of 911, according to NENA.
“No one realized at the time the effect that it would have across the country,” Sunseri said. “More than 200 million calls are placed to 911 every year. It’s the first number someone calls when they are in desperate need, during some of the worst times in their lives. How can we not be proud of our place in that sort of history?”
“In the decades since the first 911 call, emergency communications services have improved and expanded to better respond to accidents, disasters, public safety threats, health emergencies, and other life-threatening situations,” read a White House proclamation on Feb. 16, 2018, the 50th anniversary. “Advances in technology have made this system more widespread, precise, and efficient—enabling dispatchers to provide rapid response and timely assistance when the difference between life and death can be only a matter of seconds.”
Hometown Pride
On that same day in Haleyville, a 50th anniversary celebration was also held. National, state, and local dignitaries traveled to Haleyville to honor the city and its citizens. A special town hall meeting was held, and dignitaries from all corners of the public safety community attended and gave remarks. “Haleyville is a small place, but it deserves a really big place in the history books,” FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the Alabama News Center.
Then, a special announcement was made concerning the bright red, rotary dialed phone used in the first call. For decades, the phone had sat under glass in a special section of City Hall, Sunseri said. Unfortunately, only six to eight visitors a week ever saw the artifact. That’s when officials decided to send the phone to the nation’s capital. Its new home is at the National Law Enforcement Museum, in Washington, D.C., where tens of thousands of school children and more than 100,000 people overall visit each year. It’s been on loan since the spring of 2018.
Thomas Canavan, the museum’s executive director, said the Haleyville phone is now a proud part of the museum’s expansive, high tech, and interactive 911 exhibit. “Our mission is to tell the story of law enforcement. Part of that is the role of the public safety professionals, like the 911 operators,” he said. “As a museum, it’s important for us to show the beginning of things.”
Canavan said the phone is not an idea or a concept, but a very real thing. “Being able to see that phone helps visitors understand that this began in a small American town and became the nation’s emergency number. It’s relied upon by millions,” he said.
For now, a replica red phone and other artifacts sit in an alcove in Haleyville’s City Hall in honor of the achievement. Townsfolk are humble but take great pride that their little Alabama city took on the big guys and won. At the 2018 celebration, the FCC’s Rosenworcel perhaps said it best. The Northwest Alabamian newspaper captured her remarks. “The story of Haleyville reminds us that the most important innovations can come from anywhere and that there’s genius residing everywhere in this country,” she said. “And when you mix that with the ability to get something done, you reap real lasting change, and you can make progress that is felt everywhere. To me, that’s the real story of Haleyville and 911.”
This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
