Ted M. Henry, chairman of the board of Henry Brick Company, was born in Selma, Alabama, the song of John Davis Henry and Evelyn Sherrier Henry.
His father left the lumber business in 1945 and founded the Henry Brick Company and for more than 65 years, family-owned Henry Brick has defined the brick marker’s art.
During Henry’s career, Henry Brick Company moved from manufacturing 26 million bricks in 1961, the year he returned from the Army to its peak year of production in 2006 when the company made 116 million bricks.
Henry attended Davidson College for three semesters before transferring to The University of Alabama where he earned a degree in industrial management in 1960. He began working for the company while a student, calling on customers in the Tuscaloosa area.
He has played a prominent role in the brick industry on a national level, serving for three years as chairman of the Brick Institute of America, the national organization for brick manufacturers. He became chairman of the BIA in 1995 and is the only person to serve three years in that position. Also in 1995, he was elected as a director of the National Association of Manufacturers, serving as the state’s small manufacturer representative. He was on the board for 10 years over a period of two terms.
“Brickyard,” the magazine of the Clemson Brick Forum and the National Brick Research Center, called Henry “THE Gentleman of the Brick Industry.”
He has been active in business organizations. He is past chairman of the board of Peoples BancTrust Company, Inc. of Selma, for which he served as a director for 40 years. He served as chairman of the board of the Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce, as was a director of the Business Council of Alabama for 20 years, serving as a member of the BCA’s executive committee and as a district chairman. He served on the board of Leadership Alabama.
He and his family have been stalwart supporters of civic and cultural organizations and initiatives. He has served as a chairman of the Sturdivant Museum Association and as president of the Selma-Dallas County Historical Society. He served on the Alabama Historical Commission for 13 years, including a term as chairman. Henry and his family, through Henry Brick Company, established the Rose Garden Pavilion on the grounds of the historic Sturdivant Hall in Selma. The Greek Revival home built in 1853 has been one of Selma’s main tourist attractions.
Henry served as a co-chair of the fundraising effort for the new $6 million YMCA in Selma, built in 2005. He and his wife live in an 1893 Victorian home in the Old Town Historic District. He and the Henry Brick family also donated funds for the courtyard at the Performing Arts Center, led the effort to build a courtyard to honor company employees outside the Selma-Dallas County Public Library, and supported the renovation of the historic St. James hotel.
He has been a staunch supporter of education, serving for eight years as a trustee of Rhodes College. He currently serves on the President’s Cabinet at The University of Alabama.
Henry is a lifetime member and an elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Selma. He and his wife, Debe Denson Henry, have four children: William Davis Henry, Drew Morrow Henry, Christopher Dennison Henry, and Katherine Hope Patterson.
