Journalist Alvin Benn was hired to work for United Press International, a news service that was similar to the Associated Press or Reuters, in 1964 after he got out of the Marine Corps. He had no experience as a journalist on a daily newspaper. His first day of work was the day that three Civil Rights workers ñ Name, Name and Name ñ were discovered murdered in Mississippi. In the hectic spirit of that day, Benn was assigned to Birmingham, Alabama. The city where the novice journalist was heading was called ìBombinghamî. Benn covered for the UPI the events that led to the nickname from 1964-1966.

On March 9, 2005, Alvin Benn, along with his wife, came to BTWís campus to speak to students from the Creative Writing and Journalism classes. He described how a reporter is writing history, but not waiting for it to be regarded as history. Benn told students that he wanted to be sent where the action was, and he got to.