Background
Callahan was born in 1904 in Tuscaloosa.
Callahan was born in 1904 in Tuscaloosa.
He attended law school at the University of Alabama in 1926 and would go into practice in that same year.
His name, Artemas Killian, was in honor of a doctor, Artemas Daniel Killian, that revived him when he died as an infant. He would also serve as a license inspector and as assistant solicitor for Tuscaloosa County. He was first elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1930, serving a single term until 1934.
He would be re-elected on another four occasions, serving from 1947-1951, 1955-1967.
During his time in the house he was known as an advocate of the University of Alabama, Bryce Hospital, Partlow State School, and Tuscaloosa County"s labor movement. He was also one of the legislators that passes a bill to help finance a hospital, in which he later served on its board of directors.
As a lawyer, Callahan was one of the first in the area to include African Americans on his juries. After his service in the house, he would return to his law practice in which he would retire from in 1998, at the age of 94.
He died at the age of 97 at a nursing home in 2001, one day after his birthday.
He was a member of the House Interim Committee on Mental Health and the House Judiciary Committee. A Baptist by religion, he was an avid fiddle player, and a member of a musicians" union.
