Marion Beirne Spragins – industrial developer and banker – is synonymous with the development of Huntsville.
Spragins graduated from The University of Alabama with an A.B. degree and began his career as a bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Huntsville, where he worked until he left for service in World War I. He was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the field artillery in 1917, but because of extensive training reached France only a few months before the Armistice. After his discharge, he returned to Huntsville and married Georgia Lowry. In 1933, amidst the Great Depression, Spragins was elected executive vice president. His bank was one of two banks permitted to re-open after all banks were closed by presidential order. After his father died in 1935, Spragins became president of the bank. Spragins was a leader in the growth of the First National Bank of Huntsville and a leader in the community. He was a member of the Birmingham Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, chairman of the Alabama Bankers Association Legislation Committee, and member of the Advisory Committee to the United States Senate Banking and Currency Committee. From 1946 to 1967, Spragins served as a member of the Third Army Advisory Committee, and for his service received the Outstanding Civilian Service Award for his contributions to the liaison between the Army and the citizenry. Spragins was also closely identified with the establishment and growth of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. In 1963, Spragins was awarded Huntsville’s Distinguished Citizens Award.
