Educators Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry and George Vernon Irons have been elected to the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame at Samford University.

The two will be inducted during the annual Men's Hall of Fame luncheon Tuesday, Sept. 24, at The Club. Tickets to the 11:30 a.m. event may be ordered by telephoning (205) 879-1076.

Founded by the Alabama Legislature in 1987, the hall recognizes men "whose lives have impacted the state, nation and world." Honorees must have been deceased at least two years. HOF board members represent Alabama's seven Congressional districts. The Birmingham Women's Committee of 100 sponsors the program.

Curry (1825-1903), an advocate of free schooling for everyone, supervised the George Peabody Fund for public education in the South during the 1870s. He also worked to improve education for African American children.

Curry, from Talladega, was a graduate of the University of Georgia and Harvard law School. He served in the Alabama Legislature and was twice elected to the U.S. Congress before the Civil War. Following service in the Confederate Army, he was president of Howard College (now Samford University) during 1865-68 before heading the Peabody Fund.

After declining the post of head of the national Bureau of Education, Curry was appointed U.S. ambassador to Spain in 1885. He became the first Alabamian to be recognized in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol in 1906. The Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia is named in his honor.

Irons (1902-98), from Demopolis, was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Alabama. A historian, he taught for more than 50 years with time out for service as an antiaircraft artillery commander during World War II. Following the war, he advised veterans returning to college.

After earning his doctorate from Duke University in 1933, Irons joined the faculty at Samford University. He taught at Samford for 43 years, serving as history department head for 22 years. He was a founder of the Alabama Historical Association and a Birmingham civic leader.

Irons was a well known distance runner during the 1920s, serving as captain of the track team and setting records at the University of Alabama. Nicknamed the "Knight of the Cinder Path," he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1978.