Alabama Obituaries

Alabama’s newspapers date to 1811, and the state has strong local obituary indexes, including the Birmingham Public Library’s index to Birmingham-area papers. The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the state’s central resource.

Recent Alabama obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in Alabama are:

• AL.com (Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, Mobile Press-Register)
• Montgomery Advertiser
• Tuscaloosa News
• Decatur Daily
• Dothan Eagle

Legacy.com’s Alabama page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

Alabama obituaries in historic newspapers

The Mobile Centinel was printed in 1811 at Fort Stoddert, north of Mobile, when the area was part of the Mississippi Territory. Mobile, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery had papers by the 1820s, and their death notices covered planters, merchants and officials, and sometimes enslaved people named in estate notices.

Birmingham, founded in 1871, grew into the state’s industrial and newspaper center. Its papers reported deaths in the coal and steel industries, and Black papers in Birmingham, Mobile and Montgomery recorded deaths in communities that the white press often ignored.

Not all Alabama papers have been digitized, so county library indexes and microfilm remain important. The Birmingham Public Library’s obituary index covers Birmingham-area papers through 1996, and the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library keeps a local obituary index.

Where to find older Alabama obituaries

Digitized Alabama newspapers

• ADAH Digital Collections — Digitized records and publications from the Alabama state archives.
• Alabama newspapers on Chronicling America — Free Alabama titles digitized by the University of Alabama and ADAH for the Library of Congress.

Obituary and death indexes

• Obituary Index, Birmingham Public Library — Index to obituaries in Birmingham-area newspapers; copies can be ordered from the library.

Archives and libraries

• Alabama Department of Archives and History — State archives in Montgomery, with Alabama newspaper microfilm and death records.
• Heritage Room, Huntsville-Madison County Public Library — Local history department with an obituary index for Madison County papers; staff can send copies.
• Alabama Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Alabama newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

Alabama death records

Alabama death certificates have been filed statewide since 1908. For 25 years after a death, certified copies go to family members and others with a legal interest; after that anyone can order one from ADPH or any county health department. The Alabama Department of Archives and History holds older certificates and indexes.

• Alabama Center for Health Statistics (ADPH) — the office that issues Alabama death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: Alabama — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• Alabama Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in Alabama

• Start with the county. Before 1908, deaths were recorded by some county probate offices, so older death dates often come from church, cemetery and newspaper records instead.
• Use the Birmingham index for the Birmingham News. The Birmingham Public Library index covers decades of Birmingham papers and the library will mail copies.
• Check AL.com for three cities. The Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile dailies share one obituary section on AL.com, so one search covers all three.
• Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions