text:
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
Part of the Civil Rights Movement
The four girls killed in the bombing (Clockwise from top left, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise McNair)
Location
Birmingham, Alabama
Coordinates
33°31′0″N 86°48′54″W / 33.51667°N 86.81500°W / 33.51667; -86.81500Coordinates: 33°31′0″N 86°48′54″W / 33.51667°N 86.81500°W / 33.51667; -86.81500
Date
September 15, 1963
10:22 a.m. (UTC-5)
Target
16th Street Baptist Church
Attack type
Church bombing, terrorism, hate crime, mass murder
Deaths
4
Non-fatal injuries
22
Perpetrators
Thomas Blanton (convicted)
Robert Chambliss (convicted)
Bobby Cherry (convicted)
Herman Cash (alleged)
Motive
Racism
Racial segregation
[show]
v
t
e
Civil Rights Movement
in Alabama
Montgomery bus boycott
Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
Birmingham campaign
Birmingham riot of 1963
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
Bloody Tuesday
Selma to Montgomery marches
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was an act of white supremacist terrorism[1][2] which occurred at the African-American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963, when four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side[3] of the church.[4]
Described by Martin Luther King Jr. as "one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity",[5] the explosion at the church killed four girls and injured 22 others.
Although the FBI had concluded in 1965 that the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing had been committed by four known Ku Klux Klansmen and segregationists—Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., Herman Frank Cash, Robert Edward Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry[6]—no prosecutions ensued until 1977, when Robert Chambliss was tried and convicted of the first degree murder of one of the victims, 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair. Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. and Bobby Cherry were each convicted of four counts of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 and 2002 respectively,[7] whereas Herman Cash, who died in 1994, was never charged with his alleged involvement in the bombing.
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing marked a turning point in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement and contributed to support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Contents
[hide]
1 Background
1.1 Birmingham Campaign and the 16th Street Baptist Church
2 Bombing
3 Reactions and condemnation
3.1 Funerals
4 Initial investigation
4.1 FBI closure of case
5 Resulting legislation
6 Formal reopening of investigation
6.1 Prosecution of Robert Chambliss
7 Later prosecutions
7.1 Thomas Edwin Blanton
7.2 Bobby Frank Cherry
8 Possible fifth conspirator
9 Aftermath
10 Media and memorials
10.1 Music
10.2 Film
10.3 Television
10.4 Books (non-fiction)
10.5 Books (fiction)
10.6 In sculpture and symbolism
11 See also
12 References
13 Cited works and further reading
14 External links
Background[edit]
In the years leading up to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Birmingham had earned a national reputation as a tense, violent and racially segregated city, in which even tentative racial integration of any form was met with violent resistance. Martin Luther King described Birmingham as "probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States".[8]
The city had no black police officers or firefighters, and few of the city's black residents were registered to vote. Bombings at black institutions were a regular occurrence:[9] Birmingham had seen at least 21 separate explosions at black properties and churches in the eight years before 1963, although none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities.[10] These attacks had earned the city the nickname "Bombingham".[11]
The 16th Street Baptist Church in 2005. The steps beneath which the bomb was planted can be seen in the foreground
Birmingham Campaign and the 16th Street Baptist Church[edit]
Main article: Birmingham campaign
The three-story 16th Street Baptist Church had become a rallying point for civil rights activities through the spring of 1963, and became the location where students who were arrested during the 1963 Birmingham campaign's Children's Crusade had been organized and trained by Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Director of Direct Action, James Bevel. The church was also used as a meeting-place for other civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and Fred Shuttlesworth. Tensions further escalated when the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Congress on Racial Equality became involved in a campaign to register African-Americans to vote in Birmingham.
On May 2, more than 1,000 students, some reportedly as young as eight, opted to leave school and gather at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Demonstrators present were given instructions to march to downtown Birmingham and discuss with the mayor their concerns about racial segregation in Birmingham, then to integrate buildings and businesses currently segregated. Although this march was met with fierce resistance and criticism, and saw up to 600 arrests on the first day alone, the Birmingham campaign and its Children's Crusade continued until May 5. These demonstrations led to an agreement, on May 8, between the city's business leaders and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, to integrate public facilities, including schools, in the city within 90 days. (The first three schools in Birmingham to become integrated would do so on September 4.)[12]
These demonstrations, and the concessions from city leaders to the majority of demonstrators' demands, were met with fierce resistance in Birmingham. In the weeks following the September 4 integration of public schools, three further bombs had been detonated in Birmingham.[10] Other acts of violence followed the settlement, and several staunch Ku Klux Klansmen were known to have expressed frustration at what they saw as a lack of effective resistance to integration.[13]
The 16th Street Baptist Church was a known and popular rallying point for civil rights activists, and had become an obvious target.
Bombing[edit]
In the early morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, four members of the United Klans of America—Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr.,[14] Herman Frank Cash, Robert Edward Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry—planted a minimum of 15 sticks[15] of dynamite with a time delay under the steps of the church, close to the basement.[16]
At approximately 10:22 a.m., an anonymous man phoned the 16th Street Baptist Church. The call was answered by the acting Sunday School secretary: a 14-year-old girl named Carolyn Maull.[17] To Maull, the anonymous caller simply said the words, "Three minutes",[18] before terminating the call. Less than one minute later, the bomb exploded as five children were present within the basement assembly, changing into their choir robes[19] in preparation for a sermon entitled "A Love That Forgives".[20][21] According to one survivor, the explosion shook the entire building and propelled the girls' bodies through the air "like rag dolls".[22]
The explosion blew a hole measuring seven feet in diameter in the church's rear wall, and a crater five feet wide and two feet deep in the ladies' basement lounge, destroying the rear steps to the church and blowing one passing motorist out of his car.[23] Several other cars parked near the site of the blast were destroyed, and windows of properties located more than two blocks from the church were also damaged. All but one of the church's stained-glass windows were destroyed in the explosion. The sole stained-glass window largely undamaged in the explosion depicted Christ leading a group of young children.[24]
Hundreds of individuals, some of them lightly wounded, converged on the church to search the debris for survivors as police erected barricades around the church and several outraged men scuffled with police. An estimated 2,000 black people, many of them hysterical, converged on the scene in the hours following the explosion as the church's pastor, the Reverend John Cross Jr., attempted to placate the crowd by loudly reciting the 23rd Psalm through a bullhorn.[25] One individual who converged on the scene to help search for survivors, Charles Vann, later recollected that he had observed a solitary white man whom he recognized as Robert Edward Chambliss (a known member of the Ku Klux Klan) standing alone and motionless at a barricade. According to Vann's later testimony, Chambliss was standing "looking down toward the church, like a firebug watching his fire".[15]
Four girls, Addie Mae Collins (age 14, born April 18, 1949), Carol Denise McNair (age 11, born November 17, 1951), Carole Robertson (age 14, born April 24, 1949), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14, born April 30, 1949), were killed in the attack.[26] The explosion was so intense that one of the girls' bodies was decapitated and so badly mutilated in the explosion that her body could only be identified through her clothing and a ring,[27] whereas another victim had been killed by a piece of mortar embedded in her skull.[28] All four girls were pronounced dead on arrival at the Hillman Emergency Clinic.[29] The then-pastor of the church, the Reverend John Cross, would recollect in 2001 that the girls' bodies were subsequently found "stacked on top of each other, clung together".[30]
More than 20 additional people were injured in the explosion, one of whom was Addie Mae's younger sister, 12-year-old Sarah Collins,[31] who had 21 pieces of glass embedded in her face and was blinded in one eye.[32] In her later recollections of the bombing, Collins would recall that in the moments immediately before the explosion, she had observed her sister, Addie, tying her dress sash.[33] Another sister of Addie Mae Collins, 16-year-old Junie Collins, would later recall that shortly before the explosion, she had been sitting in the basement of the church reading the Bible and had observed Addie Mae Collins tying the dress sash of Carol Denise McNair before she had herself returned upstairs to the ground floor of the church.[34]
Reactions and condemnation[edit]
As violence escalated in Birmingham in the hours following the bombing, police urged parents of black and white youths to keep their children indoors, as the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, ordered an additional 300 state police to assist in quelling unrest. Birmingham City Council convened an emergency meeting to propose safety measures for the city, although proposals for a curfew were rejected. Within 24 hours of the bombing, a minimum of five businesses and properties had been firebombed and numerous cars—most of which were driven by whites—had been stoned by rioting youths.[35]
In response to the church bombing, described by the Mayor of Birmingham, Albert Boutwell, as "just sickening", the Attorney General dispatched 25 FBI agents, including explosives experts, to Birmingham to conduct a thorough forensic investigation.
Congress of Racial Equality and members of the All Souls Church march in memory of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing victims on September 22, 1963
Although reports of the bombing and the loss of four children's lives were glorified by white supremacists, who in many instances chose to celebrate the loss as "four less niggers",[36] as news of the church bombing and the fact that four young girls had been killed in the explosion reached the national and international press, many felt that they had not taken the civil rights struggle seriously enough. The day following the bombing, a young white lawyer named Charles Morgan Jr. addressed a meeting of businessmen, condemning the acquiescence of white people in Birmingham towards the oppression of blacks. In this speech, Morgan addressed his audience with a speech in which he lamented: "Who did it [the bombing]? We all did it! The 'who' is every little individual who talks about the 'niggers' and spreads the seeds of his hate to his neighbor and his son ... What's it like living in Birmingham? No one ever really has known and no one will until this city becomes part of the United States."[37] A Milwaukee Sentinel editorial opined, "For the rest of the nation, the Birmingham church bombing should serve to goad the conscience. The deaths... in a sense, are on the hands of each of us."[38]
Two more black youths, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware, were shot to death in Birmingham within seven hours of the Sunday morning bombing. Robinson, aged 16, was shot in the back by a policeman as he fled down an alley,[39] after ignoring police orders to halt. The police were reportedly responding to black youths throwing rocks at cars driven by white people. Robinson died before reaching the hospital. Ware, aged 13, was shot in the cheek and chest with a revolver[40] in a residential suburb 15 miles north of the city. A 16-year-old white youth named Larry Sims fired the gun (given to him by another youth named Michael Farley) at Ware, who was sitting on the handlebars of a bicycle ridden by his brother. Sims and Farley had been riding home from an anti-integration rally which had denounced the church bombing.[41] When he spotted Ware and his brother, Sims fired twice, reportedly with his eyes closed. (Sims and Farley were later convicted of second-degree manslaughter,[42] although the judge suspended their sentences and imposed two years' probation upon each youth.[41][43])
Some civil rights activists blamed George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama and an outspoken segregationist, for creating the climate that had led to the killings. One week before the bombing, Wallace granted an interview with a The New York Times journalist in which he said he believed Alabama needed a "few first-class funerals" to stop racial integration.[44]
The city of Birmingham initially offered a $52,000 reward for the arrest of the bombers. Governor George Wallace himself offered an additional $5,000 on behalf of the state of Alabama. Although this donation was accepted,[45] Martin Luther King Jr. is known to have informed Wallace via telegram of his belief that "the blood of four little children ... is on your hands. Your irresponsible and misguided actions have created in Birmingham and Alabama the atmosphere that has induced continued violence and now murder."[24][46]
Funerals[edit]
Carole Rosamond Robertson was laid to rest in a private family funeral held on September 17, 1963.[47] Reportedly, Carole's mother, Alpha, had expressly requested her daughter be buried separately from the other victims due to her distress at a remark Martin Luther King had made in which he (King) said the mindset that had allowed the murder of the four girls was the "apathy and complacency" of black people in Alabama.[48]
The service for Carole Rosamond Robertson was held at St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church. In attendance were 1,600 people. At this service, the Reverend C. E. Thomas addressed the congregation, informing them: "The greatest tribute you can pay to Carole is to be calm, be lovely, be kind, be innocent."[49] Carole Robertson was buried in a blue casket at Shadow Lawn Cemetery.[50]
On September 18, the funeral of the three other girls killed in the bombing was held at the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church. Although no city officials attended this service,[51] present at the girls' funerals were an estimated 800 clergymen of all races. Also present was Martin Luther King Jr. In a speech conducted before the burial of the girls, King addressed an estimated 3,300[52] mourners—including numerous white people—with a speech which included: "This tragic day may cause the white side to come to terms with its conscience. In spite of the darkness of this hour, we must not become bitter ... We must not lose faith in our white brothers. Life is hard. At times as hard as crucible steel, but, today, you do not walk alone."[53]
As the girls' coffins were led to their graves, King ordered that those present remain solemn and forbid any singing, shouting or demonstrations. These instructions were relayed to the crowd present by a single youth with a bullhorn.[54] At the time of the funerals, two of those critically injured in the bombing were still hospitalized, as was a 16-year-old white teenager named Dennis Robertson, who had been hit on the head with a brick thrown by a black youth as Robertson cycled home from his job.[47][55]
Initial investigation[edit]
Initially, investigators theorized that a bomb thrown from a passing car had caused the explosion at the 16th Street Baptist church; however, by September 20, the FBI was able to confirm that the explosion had been caused by a device which had been purposely planted beneath the steps to the church,[56] close to the women's lounge, where a section of wire and remnants of red plastic which could have been part of a timing device were discovered. (The plastic remnants were later lost by investigators.)[57]
Within days of the bombing, investigators began to focus their attention upon a Ku Klux Klan splinter group known as the "Cahaba Boys". The Cahaba Boys had formed earlier in 1963 due to a mutual feeling the Ku Klux Klan was becoming restrained and impotent in response to concessions granted to blacks aimed at ending racial segregation, and had previously been linked to several bomb attacks at black-owned businesses and the homes of black community leaders throughout the spring and summer of 1963.[58] Although the Cahaba Boys consisted of fewer than 30 active members,[59] this splinter group included Thomas Blanton Jr., Herman Cash, Robert Chambliss, and Bobby Cherry.
Investigators also gathered numerous witness statements attesting to a group of white men in a turquoise 1957 Chevrolet who had been seen near the church in the early hours of the morning of September 15.[60] These witness statements specifically indicated that a white man had exited the car and walked towards the steps of the church. (The physical description of the individual who had exited the car varied, and could have matched either Bobby Cherry or Robert Chambliss.[45])
Chambliss was questioned by the FBI on September 26.[61] On September 29, Chambliss was indicted solely upon charges of illegally purchasing and transporting dynamite on September 4, 1963. He and two acquaintances, John Hall and Charles Cagle, were each convicted upon a charge of illegally possessing and transporting dynamite on October 8—each receiving a $100 fine[62] and a suspended 180-day jail sentence.[63] At the time, no federal charges were filed against Chambliss or any of his fellow conspirators in relation to the bombing.[64]
FBI closure of case[edit]
The FBI did encounter difficulties in their initial investigation into the bombing. One later report stated: "By 1965, we had [four] serious suspects—namely Thomas Blanton Jr., Herman Frank Cash, Robert Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry, all Klan members—but witnesses were reluctant to talk and physical evidence was lacking. Also, at that time, information from our surveillance was not admissible in court. As a result, no federal charges were filed in the '60s."[64]
On May 13, 1965, local investigators and the FBI formally named Blanton, Cash, Chambliss, and Cherry as the perpetrators of the bombing, with Robert Chambliss the likely ringleader of the four.[65] This information was relayed to the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover;[66] however, no prosecutions of the four suspects ensued, reportedly on the basis of mistrust between local and federal investigators.[67] Later the same year, J. Edgar Hoover formally blocked any impending prosecutions against the suspects, and refused to disclose any evidence his agents had obtained with state or federal prosecutors.[68]
In 1968, the FBI formally closed their investigation into the bombing without filing charges against any of their named suspects. The files were sealed by order of J. Edgar Hoover.
Resulting legislation[edit]
President Lyndon Johnson signs into effect the Civil Rights Act of 1964. July 2, 1964
The Birmingham campaign, the March on Washington, the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist church, and the later assassination of John F. Kennedy—an ardent supporter of the civil rights cause who had proposed a Civil Rights Act of 1963 on national television[69]—increased worldwide awareness of and sympathy towards the civil rights cause.
Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, newly-inaugurated President Lyndon Johnson continued to press for the passage of the civil rights bill sought by his predecessor.
On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into effect the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In attendance were various leaders of the Civil Rights Movement including Martin Luther King Jr.[69] This resulting legislation outlawed any discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin; thus ensuring full, equal rights of African-Americans before the law.
Formal reopening of investigation[edit]
Officially, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing remained unsolved until William Baxley was elected Attorney General of Alabama in January 1971. Baxley had been a student at the University of Alabama when he heard about the bombing in 1963, and later recollected: "I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what."[70]
Within one week of being sworn into office, Baxley had researched original police files into the bombing, discovering that most of the original police documents were lackluster and inefficient.[71] Nonetheless, Baxley formally reopened the case into the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1971. Baxley was able to corroborate with and build trust with key witnesses, some of whom had been reluctant to testify in the first trial. Other witnesses obtained were able to identify Chambliss as the individual who had placed the bomb beneath the church. Baxley also gathered evidence proving Chambliss had purchased dynamite from a store in Jefferson County less than two weeks before the bomb was planted,[72] upon the pretext the dynamite was to be used to clear land the Ku Klux Klan had purchased near Highway 101.[73] In addition, he also obtained testimony from witnesses who were able to place Robert Chambliss and his car in the vicinity of the church on the day of the bombing. This testimony and evidence was used to formally construct a case against Robert Chambliss.
Baxley then requested access to the original FBI files on the case and discovered that evidence accumulated by the FBI against the named suspects between 1963 and 1965 had not been revealed to the prosecutors in Birmingham.[74] Although he met with initial resistance from the FBI,[75] Baxley was formally presented with some of the evidence which had been compiled by the FBI in 1976, after he publicly threatened to expose the Department of Justice for withholding evidence which could result in the prosecution of the perpetrators of the bombing.[76]
Prosecution of Robert Chambliss[edit]
On November 14, 1977, Robert Chambliss, then aged 73, stood trial in Birmingham's Jefferson County Courthouse. Chambliss was initially indicted on September 24, 1977, charged with four counts of murder relating to each victim of the 1963 church bombing;[77] however, at an initial court hearing scheduled October 18,[78] Judge Wallace Gibson ruled that the defendant would be tried upon one count of murder—that of Carol Denise McNair[79]—and that the remaining three counts of murder would remain, but that he would not be charged in relation to these three deaths.
Before his trial, Chambliss remained free upon a $200,000 bond raised by family and supporters and posted October 18.[80][81]
Chambliss pleaded not guilty to the charges, insisting that although he had indeed purchased a case of dynamite less than two weeks before the bombing, he had given the dynamite to a known Klan member named Gary Thomas Rowe Jr.[82]
To discredit Chambliss's claims that Rowe had committed the bombing, prosecuting attorney William Baxley introduced two law enforcement officers to testify as to Chambliss's inconsistent claims of innocence. The first of these witnesses was a retired Birmingham police officer named Tom Cook, who testified on November 15 as to a conversation he had had with Chambliss in 1975. Cook testified that Chambliss had acknowledged his guilt regarding his 1963 arrest for possession of dynamite, but that he (Chambliss) was insistent he had given the dynamite to Rowe prior to the bombing. Following the testimony of Tom Cook, Baxley then introduced a police sergeant named Ernie Cantrell,[83] who testified that Chambliss had visited his headquarters in 1976, where he had attempted to affix the blame for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing upon an altogether different member of the Ku Klux Klan. Cantrell also stated that Chambliss had boasted of his knowledge of how to construct a "drip-method bomb" using a fishing float and leaking bucket of water. (Upon cross examination by defense attorney Art Hanes Jr., Cantrell did concede that Chambliss had emphatically denied actually bombing the church.)
One of the key witnesses to testify on behalf of the prosecution was the Reverend Elizabeth Cobbs—Chambliss's own niece. Reverend Cobbs stated that her uncle had repeatedly informed her he had been engaged in what he referred to as a "one-man battle" against blacks since the 1940s.[84] Moreover, Cobbs testified on November 16 that, on the day before the bombing, Chambliss had informed her he had in his possession enough dynamite to "flatten half of Birmingham". Cobbs also testified that, approximately one week after the bombing, she had observed Chambliss watching a news article relating to the four girls killed in the bombing. According to Cobbs, Chambliss had informed her: "It [the bomb] wasn't meant to hurt anybody ... it didn't go off when it was supposed to."[19] Another witness to testify was a man named William Jackson, who testified as to his joining the Ku Klux Klan in 1963 and his becoming acquainted with Chambliss shortly thereafter. Jackson testified that Chambliss had expressed frustration as to his (Chambliss's) belief that the Klan was "dragging its feet" on the issue of racial integration,[13] and of his eagerness to form a more virulent splinter group.[85]
In his closing argument before the jury on November 17,[86] Baxley acknowledged that Chambliss was not the sole perpetrator in the bombing,[87] before informing the jury of his regret that the state was unable to request the death penalty in this case, owing to the fact the death penalty in Alabama which had been in effect in 1963 had been repealed, and that the current death penalty within the state was only applicable in relation to crimes committed after its reinstatement. Noting that the day of the closing argument fell upon what would have been Carol Denise McNair's 26th birthday, and that she would have likely been a mother by this date, Baxley harked towards the testimony earlier delivered by Carol's father, Chris McNair, and requested that the jury return a verdict of guilty.[88]
In his rebuttal closing argument, defense attorney Art Hanes Jr. attacked the evidence presented by the prosecution as being purely circumstantial,[89] adding that similar circumstantial evidence had earlier seen Chambliss acquitted of the church bombing in 1963. Hanes also harked towards the testimony of several of the 12 witnesses the defense had called to testify as to Chambliss's whereabouts on the day of the bombing, including a policeman and a neighbor who had each testified as to Chambliss being at the home of a man named Clarence Dill on the day of the bombing.
Following the closing arguments, the jury retired to begin their deliberations, which lasted for over six hours and continued into the following day. On November 18, 1977,[90] Robert Chambliss was found guilty of the murder of Carol Denise McNair[91] and sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder.[92] At his sentencing, Chambliss stood before the judge and stated: "Judge, your honor, all I can say is God knows I have never killed anybody, never have bombed anything in my life ... I didn't bomb that church."[93]
The same afternoon Chambliss was convicted, William Baxley issued a subpoena to Thomas Blanton to appear in court in relation to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Although Baxley knew he had insufficient evidence to charge Blanton at this stage, this subpoena was issued in the hope of frightening Blanton into confessing his involvement and negotiating a deal to turn state evidence against his co-conspirators. Blanton, however, simply hired a lawyer and refused to answer any questions.[94]
Chambliss did appeal his conviction, citing that much of the evidence presented at his trial—including testimony relating to his activities within the Ku Klux Klan—was circumstantial; that the 14-year delay between the crime and his eventual trial violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial; and that this delay was a tactic used by the prosecution to gain an advantage over his own defense attorneys. This appeal was dismissed on May 22, 1979.[95]
Robert Chambliss died in the Lloyd Noland Hospital and Health Center on October 29, 1985, at the age of 81.[96] In the years since his incarceration, Chambliss had been confined to a solitary cell to protect him from attacks by fellow inmates. He had repeatedly proclaimed his innocence—repeatedly insisting Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. was the actual perpetrator.[97][98]
Later prosecutions[edit]
Ten years after Chambliss had died, the FBI discreetly reopened their investigation into the bombing,[99] resulting in the unsealing of 9,000 pieces of evidence previously gathered by the FBI in the 1960s (many of these documents relating to the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing had been unavailable to William Baxley in the 1970s). In May 2000, the FBI publicly announced their findings that the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing had been committed by four members of the Ku Klux Klan splinter group known as the Cahaba Boys. The four individuals named in the FBI report were Blanton, Cash, Chambliss, and Cherry.[100] At the time of the announcement, Herman Cash was deceased; however, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry were still alive. Both were arrested.[101]
On May 16, 2000, a grand jury in Alabama indicted Thomas Edwin Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry with eight counts each of first-degree murder in relation to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Both named individuals were charged with four counts of first-degree murder, and four counts of universal malice.[102] The following day, both men surrendered to police.[103]
The prosecution had originally intended to try both defendants together; however, the trial of Bobby Cherry was delayed due to the findings of a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation,[104] which had concluded that vascular dementia had impaired his mind, therefore making Cherry mentally incompetent to stand trial or assist in his own defense.[105]
On April 10, 2001, Judge James Garrett indefinitely postponed Cherry's trial, pending further medical analysis.[106] In January 2002, Judge Garrett ruled Cherry mentally competent to stand trial and set an initial trial date for April 29.
Thomas Edwin Blanton[edit]
Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. was brought to trial in Birmingham, Alabama, before Judge James Garrett on April 24, 2001.[66] Blanton pleaded not guilty to the charges, and opted not to testify on his own behalf throughout the trial.
In his opening statement to the jurors, defense attorney John Robbins acknowledged his client's affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan and his views on racial segregation, but warned the jury: "Just because you don't like him, that doesn't make him responsible for the bombing."[30]
The prosecution called a total of seven witnesses to testify in their case against Blanton, including relatives of the victims, the former reverend of the 16th Street Baptist Church, John Cross, an FBI agent named William Fleming, and a former Klansman who became a paid FBI informant, Mitchell Burns. Burns had secretly recorded several conversations with Blanton in which he (Blanton) had gloated when talking about the bombing, and had boasted the police would not catch him when he bombed another church.[107]
The most crucial piece of evidence presented at Blanton's trial was an audio recording secretly taped by the FBI in June, 1964, in which Blanton was recorded discussing his involvement in the bombing with his wife, who can be heard accusing her husband of conducting an affair with a woman named Waylene Vaughn two nights before the bombing. Although sections of the recording—presented in evidence on April 27—are unintelligible, Blanton can twice be heard mentioning the phrase "plan a bomb" or "plan the bomb". Most crucially, Blanton can also be heard describing his not being with Miss Vaughn, but at a meeting with other Ku Klux Klansmen on a bridge above the Cahaba River two nights before the bombing,[108] adding: "You've got to have a meeting to plan a bomb."[108]
In addition to calling attention to flaws in the prosecution's case, the defense was able to expose inconsistencies in the memories of some prosecution witnesses who had testified. Blanton's attorneys also criticized the validity and quality of the 16 tape recordings introduced as evidence,[109] arguing that the prosecution had deliberately spliced the sections of the audio recording secretly obtained within Blanton's kitchen, reducing the entirety of the tape by 26 minutes, and that the sections presented were of a poor audio quality, requiring the prosecution to present questionable text transcripts to the jury. In reference to the recordings made as Blanton conversed with Burns, Robbins emphasized that Burns had earlier testified that Blanton had never expressly stated he had made or planted the bomb,[110] and portrayed the audio tapes introduced into evidence as the statements of "two rednecks driving around, drinking" and making false, ego-inflating claims to one another.[111]
The trial lasted for one week, and saw seven witnesses testify on behalf of the prosecution, as opposed to just two witnesses for the defense. One of the defense witnesses was a retired chef named Eddie Mauldin, who was called to testify in an effort to discredit prosecution witnesses' statements that they had seen Blanton in the vicinity of the church prior to the bombing. Mauldin testified on April 30 that he had observed two men in a Rambler station wagon adorned with a confederate flag repeatedly drive past the church immediately before the blast, and that, seconds after the bomb had exploded, the car had "burned rubber" as it drove away. (Thomas Blanton had owned a Chevrolet in 1963,[112] and neither Chambliss, Cash nor Cherry had owned such a vehicle.)
Both counsels delivered their closing arguments before the jury on May 1. In his closing argument, prosecuting attorney Doug Jones first pointed to the fact that the trial was conducted 38 years after the bombing made the trial no less important, adding: "It's never too late for the truth to be told ... It's never too late for a man to be held accountable for his crimes." Jones then recited Blanton's extensive history with the Ku Klux Klan, before referring to the audio recordings presented earlier in the trial. Jones then recited the most damning statements Blanton had made in these recordings, before pointing at Blanton and stating: "That is a confession out of this man's mouth."
Defense attorney John Robbins reminded the jury in his closing argument that his client was an admitted segregationist and a "loudmouth", but that that was all that could be proven, and that his past was not the evidence upon which they should return their verdicts. Stressing that Blanton should not be judged for his beliefs, Robbins again vehemently criticized the validity and poor quality of the audio recordings presented, and the selectivity of the sections which had been introduced into evidence. Robbins also discredited the testimony of FBI agent William Fleming, who had earlier testified as to a government witness claiming he had seen Blanton in the vicinity of the church shortly before the bombing.[113]
The jury deliberated for just two and a half hours before returning with a verdict finding Thomas Edwin Blanton guilty of four counts of first-degree murder.[114] When asked by the judge whether he had anything to say before sentence was imposed, Blanton simply said: "I guess the Lord will settle it on Judgment Day."[115]
Blanton was sentenced to serve a sentence of life imprisonment,[116][117] and remains the sole perpetrator of the 1963 Birmingham Church bombing still alive. His first parole hearing was held on August 3, 2016. Relatives of the slain girls, prosecutor Doug Jones, Alabama Chief Deputy Attorney General Alice Martin, and Jefferson County district attorney Brandon Falls each spoke at the hearing to oppose Blanton's parole, with Martin addressing the hearing by stating: "The cold blooded callousness of this hate crime has not diminished by the passage of time." The Board of Pardons and Paroles debated for less than 90 seconds before opting to deny parole to Blanton. He is next eligible for parole in 2021.[118][119]
Bobby Frank Cherry[edit]
Bobby Frank Cherry was tried in Birmingham, Alabama, before Judge James Garrett, on May 6, 2002.[120] Cherry also pleaded not guilty to the charges, and did not testify on his own behalf during the trial.
In his opening statement for the prosecution, Don Cochran outlined that he expected the evidence to be presented to show that Cherry had participated in a conspiracy to commit the bombing and conceal evidence linking him to the crime, and that he had later gloated over the deaths of the victims. Cochran also added that although the evidence to be presented would not conclusively show that Cherry had actually planted or ignited the bomb, the combined evidence would illustrate that he had aided and abetted in the commission of the act.[121]
Cherry's defense attorney, Mickey Johnson, protested his client's innocence, citing that much of the evidence presented was circumstantial, and that Cherry had initially been linked to the bombing by the FBI via an informant who had claimed, fifteen months after the bombing, that she had seen Cherry place the bomb at the church shortly before the bombing. Johnson then warned the jurors they would have to draw a distinction between evidence and proof.
Following the opening statements, the prosecution began presenting witnesses. Crucial testimony at Cherry's trial was delivered by his former wife, Willadean Brogdon, whom Cherry had married in 1970. Brogdon testified on May 16 that Cherry had boasted to her that he had been the individual who planted the bomb beneath the steps to the church, then returned hours later to light the fuse upon the dynamite. Brogdon also testified that Cherry had informed her of his regret that children had died in the bombing, before adding his contentment that they would never reproduce. Although the credibility of Brogdon's testimony was called into dispute at the trial, forensic experts did concede that, although her account of the planting of the bombing differed from that which had been discussed in the previous perpetrators' trials, Brogdon's recollection of Cherry's account of the planting and subsequent lighting of the bomb could explain why no conclusive remnants of a timing device were subsequently discovered after the bombing.[122] (A fishing float attached to a section of wire which may have been part of a timing device was found 20 feet from the explosion crater[89] following the bombing, although one of several vehicles heavily damaged in the explosion was found to have carried fishing tackle.[123])
Another witness to testify on behalf of the prosecution was Barbara Ann Cross, the daughter of the Reverend John Cross, who was aged 13 in 1963. Cross had been slightly wounded in the bombing, and had attended the same Sunday School class as the four victims on the day of the bombing. On May 15,[124] Cross testified that prior to the explosion, she and the four girls killed had each attended a Youth Day Sunday School lesson in which the theme taught was how to react to a physical injustice. Cross testified that each girl present had been taught to contemplate how Jesus would react to affliction or injustice, with the message taught being to consider, "What Would Jesus Do?"[121] Cross testified that she would herself have accompanied her friends into the basement lounge to change into robes for the forthcoming sermon, but she had been given an assignment. Shortly thereafter, she had heard "the most horrible noise", before being struck on the head by debris.
Throughout the trial, Cherry's defense attorney, Mickey Johnson, repeatedly observed that many of the prosecution's witnesses were either circumstantial or "inherently unreliable". Many of the same audio tapes presented in Blanton's trial were also introduced into evidence in the trial of Bobby Cherry. A key point contested as to the validity of the audio tapes being introduced into evidence, outside the hearing of the jury, was the fact that Cherry had no grounds to contest the introduction of the tapes into evidence, as, under the Fourth Amendment, neither his home or property had been subject to discreet recording by the FBI. This was disputed by Don Cochran, who argued that Alabama law allows conspiracies to conceal evidence to be proven by both inference and circumstantial evidence.[121] In spite of a rebuttal argument by the defense, Judge Garrett ruled that some sections were too prejudicial, but also that portions of some audio recordings could be introduced as evidence. Through these rulings, Mitchell Burns was also called to testify on behalf of the prosecution, although his testimony was restricted to the areas of the recordings permitted into evidence.
Prosecutor Doug Jones points toward Bobby Cherry as he delivers his closing argument to the jury. May 21, 2002
On May 21, 2002, both prosecution and defense attorneys delivered their closing arguments to the jury. In his closing argument for the prosecution, Don Cochran gave attention to the fact the victims' "Youth Sunday [sermon] never happened ... because it was destroyed by this defendant's hate."[125] Cochran then outlined Cherry's extensive record of racial violence dating back to the 1950s, also noting his knowledge of constructing and installing bombs obtained in his days as a Marine demolition expert. Cochran also reminded the jury of a secretly-obtained FBI recording which had earlier been introduced into evidence in which Cherry had informed his first wife, Jean, that he and other Klansmen had constructed the bomb within the premises of a business the Friday before the bombing, and that Cherry had signed an affidavit in the presence of the FBI on October 9, 1963, confirming that he, Chambliss and Blanton were at these premises on this date.[126]
In the closing argument for the defense, attorney Mickey Johnson argued that Cherry had nothing to do with the bombing, and reminded the jurors that his client was not on trial for his beliefs, stating: "It seems like more time has been spent here throwing around the n-word than proving what happened in September 1963."[127] Johnson then reiterated that there was no hard evidence linking Cherry to the bombing, but only evidence attesting to his racist beliefs dating from that era, and that the family members who had testified against him were all estranged and therefore unreliable witnesses. Johnson then urged the jury not to convict his client via guilt by association.
Following these closing arguments, the jury retired to consider their verdicts. These deliberations continued until the following day.
On the afternoon of May 22, after deliberating for almost seven hours, the forewoman of the jury announced they had reached their verdicts: Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.[128] Cherry remained stoic as the sentence was read aloud, although relatives of the four victims openly wept in relief.[129]
When asked by the judge whether he had anything to say before sentence was imposed, Cherry motioned to the prosecutors and stated: "This whole bunch lied all the way through this thing [the trial]. I told the truth. I don't know why I'm going to jail for nothing. I haven't done anything!"[67]
Bobby Frank Cherry died of cancer on November 18, 2004, at age 74, while incarcerated at the Kilby Correctional Facility.[130]
Following the convictions of Blanton and Cherry, Alabama's former Attorney General, William Baxley, expressed his frustration at his never being informed of the existence of these audio recordings before their emergence at the 2001 and 2002 trials. Baxley acknowledged that the social circumstances in 1960s Alabama would likely have leaned in favor of both defendants even with the FBI recordings presented in evidence,[131] but added that he could have prosecuted Thomas Blanton—and likely Bobby Cherry—in 1977, had he been granted access to the secretly recorded tapes of Blanton conversing with his wife and with FBI informant Mitchell Burns. (A 1980 Justice Department report had concluded that J. Edgar Hoover had blocked prosecution of the four suspects of the bombing in 1965,[7] and had officially closed the investigation in 1968.[66])
Possible fifth conspirator[edit]
Although both Blanton and Cherry denied their involvement in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, until his death in 1985, Robert Chambliss repeatedly insisted that the bombing had been committed by Gary Thomas Rowe, Jr. Rowe had been encouraged to join the Klan by acquaintances in 1960 before becoming a paid FBI informant just two months after the bombing.[132] In this role, Rowe acted as an agent provocateur between 1961[133] and 1965. Although informative to the FBI, Rowe participated in violence against blacks and white civil rights activists. By Rowe's own later admission, in his role as an FBI informant, he had shot and killed an unidentified black man and had been an accessory to the murder of Viola Liuzzo.[134]
Investigative records show that Rowe had twice failed polygraph tests when questioned as to his possible involvement in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and two separate, non-fatal explosions.[135] These polygraph results had convinced some FBI agents of Rowe's culpability in the bombing. Prosecutors at Chambliss's 1977 trial had initially intended to call Rowe as a witness; however, William Baxley had opted not to call Rowe as a witness after being informed of the results of these polygraph tests.
Although never formally named as one of the conspirators by the FBI, Rowe's record of deception on the polygraph tests leaves open the possibility that Chambliss's claims may have held a degree of truth.[136] Nonetheless, a 1979 investigation cleared Rowe of any involvement in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.[137]
Aftermath[edit]
They forever changed the face of this state and the history of this state. Their deaths made all of us focus upon the ugliness of those who would punish people because of the color of their skin.[138]
—State Senator Roger Bedford at the unveiling of a state historic marker to the victims. September 15, 1990
Following the bombing, the 16th Street Baptist Church remained closed for over eight months, as assessments and, later, repairs were conducted upon the property. Both the church and the bereaved families received an estimated $23,000 in cash donations from members of the public.[48] Gifts totalling over $186,000 were donated from around the world. The church reopened to members of the public on June 7, 1964, and continues to remain an active place of worship today, with an average weekly attendance of nearly 2,000 worshippers. The current pastor of the church is the Reverend Arthur Price Jr.[139]
The most seriously injured survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Sarah Jean Collins, remained hospitalized for more than two months[140] following the bombing. Collins' injuries were so extensive that medical personnel did initially fear she would lose the sight in both eyes, although by October, they were able to inform Collins she would regain the sight in her left eye.[141]
When asked her feelings towards the bombers on October 15, 1963, Collins first thanked those who had cared for her and sent messages of condolence, flowers and toys, then said: "As for the bomber, people are praying for him. We wonder what he would be thinking today, if he had children ... He will face God. We turn this problem over to God, because no one else can solve Birmingham's problems. We leave it up to God to solve them."[141]
Charles Morgan Jr., the young white lawyer who had delivered an impassioned speech on September 16, 1963, deploring the tolerance and complacency of much of the white population of Birmingham towards the suppression and intimidation of blacks—thereby contributing to the climate of hatred in the city—himself received death threats directed against him and his family in the days following his speech. Within three months, Morgan and his family were forced to flee Birmingham.[142]
James Bevel, a prominent figure within the Civil Rights Movement and organizer of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was galvanized to create what became known as the Alabama Project for Voting Rights as a direct result of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing. Following the bombing, Bevel and his then-wife, Diane, relocated to Alabama,[143] where they tirelessly worked upon the Alabama Project for Voting Rights, which aimed to extend full voting rights for all eligible citizens of Alabama regardless of race. This initiative subsequently contributed to the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, which themselves resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, thus prohibiting any form of racial discrimination within the process of voting.
The Welsh Window. Designed by artist John Petts, the stained-glass window depicts a black Christ with his arms outstretched; his right arm pushing away hatred and injustice, the left extended in an offering of forgiveness.[144]
Within the 16th Street Baptist Church, there still stands the Welsh Window. Sculpted by Carmarthenshire-based artist John Petts, who had initiated a campaign in Wales to raise money to fund a replacement stained-glass window which had been destroyed in the bombing. Petts had opted to construct a stained-glass image of a black Christ to replace one of the windows destroyed in the bombing.[145]
Within two days of the church bombing, Petts had contacted then-pastor of the church, the Reverend John Cross, announcing he had launched a fundraising campaign to create this sculpture via an appeal conducted through the Western Mail, requesting funds from the Welsh public to pay for the construction of the structure in Wales, and its delivery and installation at the 16th Street Baptist Church.[146]
John Petts died in 1991 at the age of 77. In a 1987 interview focusing upon his recollections of the bombing, Petts recollected: "Naturally, as a father, I was horrified by the deaths of those children." Petts then elaborated that the inspiration for the stained-glass image was a verse from the Gospel of Matthew: "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."[147] The Welsh Window bears the inscription, "Given by The People of Wales".[148]
On the 27th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, a state historic marker was unveiled at Greenwood Cemetery, the final resting place of three of the four victims of the bombing (Carole Robertson's body had been reburied in Greenwood Cemetery in 1974, following the death of her father). Several dozen people were present at the unveiling, presided over by state Senator Roger Bedford. At the service, the four girls were described as martyrs who "died so freedom could live".[138]
Herman Frank Cash died of cancer in February 1994. He was never charged with his alleged involvement in the bombing, and did maintain his innocence. Although Cash is known to have passed a polygraph test in which he was questioned as to his potential involvement in the bombing,[149] the FBI had concluded in May 1965 that Cash was one of the four conspirators.[150] Cash is interred at Northview Cemetery in Polk County, Georgia.
The Reverend John Cross, who had been the pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church at the time of the 1963 bombing, died of natural causes on November 15, 2007. He was 82 years old. The Reverend Cross is interred at Hillandale Memorial Gardens in DeKalb County, Georgia.[151]
Thomas Edwin Blanton, the sole perpetrator of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing still alive, is currently incarcerated at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama.[152] Since his 2001 conviction, Blanton has been confined in a one-man cell under tight security. He has seldom spoken of his involvement in the bombing, shuns social activity and rarely receives visitors.[153]
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was eight years old at the time of the bombing and both a classmate and friend of Carol Denise McNair. On the day of the bombing, Rice was at her father's church, located a few blocks from the 16th Street Baptist Church. In 2004, Rice recalled her memories of the bombing:
I remembered the bombing of that Sunday School at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. I did not see it happen, but I heard it happen and I felt it happen, just a few blocks away at my father's church. It is a sound that I will never forget, that will forever reverberate in my ears. That bomb took the lives of four young girls, including my friend and playmate [Carol] Denise McNair. The crime was calculated, not random. It was meant to suck the hope out of young lives, bury their aspirations, and ensure that old fears would be propelled forward into the next generation.[154]
On May 24, 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal to the four girls killed in the 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing. This medal was awarded through signing into effect Public Law 113–11;[155] a bill which awarded one Congressional Gold Medal to be created in recognition of the fact the girls' deaths served as a major catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, and invigorated a momentum ensuring the signing into passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[156] The gold medal was presented to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to display or temporarily loan to other museums.[156]
Media and memorials[edit]
Music[edit]
The song "Birmingham Sunday" is directly inspired by the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Written in 1964 by Richard Fariña and recorded by Fariña's sister-in-law, Joan Baez, the song was included on Baez's 1964 album Joan Baez/5. The song would also be covered by Rhiannon Giddens, and is included on her 2017 album Freedom Highway.
The 1964 album track upon jazz musician John Coltrane's album Live at Birdland includes the track "Alabama". This song was written as a direct musical tribute to the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
African-American composer Adolphus Hailstork's 1982 work for wind ensemble titled American Guernica was composed in memory of the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.[157]
Film[edit]
A 1997 documentary, 4 Little Girls, focuses exclusively upon the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Directed by Spike Lee, this documentary includes interviews with family and friends of the victims and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.
The 2002 docudrama, Sins of the Father, directly focuses upon the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Directed by Robert Dornhelm, the film casts Richard Jenkins as Bobby Cherry and Bruce McFee as Robert Chambliss.
The 2014 American historical drama, Selma, which focuses upon the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, also includes a scene depicting the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. This film was directed by Ava DuVernay.
Television[edit]
The 1993 documentary, Angels of Change, focuses upon both the events leading to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and its aftermath. This documentary was produced by Birmingham-based TV station WVTM-TV, and subsequently received a Peabody Award.
The History Channel has broadcast a documentary entitled Remembering the Birmingham Church Bombing. Broadcast to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombing, this documentary includes interviews with the Head of Education at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.[158]
Books (non-fiction)[edit]
Anderson, Susan (2008). The Past on Trial: The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing, Civil Rights Memory and the Remaking of Birmingham. Chapel Hill. ISBN 978-0-54988-141-4.
Branch, Taylor (1988). Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–1963. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-68742-5.
Chalmers, David (2005). Backfire: How the Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement. Chapel Hill. ISBN 978-0-7425-2311-1.
Cobbs, Elizabeth H.; Smith, Petric J. (1994). Long Time Coming: An Insider's Story of the Birmingham Church Bombing that Rocked the World. Crane Hill Publishers. ISBN 1-881548-10-4.
Hamlin, Christopher M. (1998). Behind the Stained Glass: A History of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Crane Hill Publishers. ISBN 1-57587-083-5.
Klobuchar, Lisa (2009). 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing: The Ku Klux Klan's History of Terror. Compass Point Books. ISBN 978-0-7565-4092-0.
McKinstry, Carolyn; George, Denise (2011). While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement. Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4143-3636-7.
McWhorter, Diane (2001). Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4767-0951-2.
Sikora, Frank (1991). Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing Case. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0520-3.
Thorne, T. K. (2013). Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers. Lawrence Books. ISBN 978-1-61374-864-0.
Books (fiction)[edit]
Christopher Paul Curtis's 1995 novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 conveys the events of the bombing. This fictional account of the bombing was later converted into a movie.
The 2001 novel Bombingham, written by Anthony Grooms, is set in Birmingham in 1963. This novel portrays a fictional account of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and the shootings of Virgil Ware and Johnny Robinson.
The American Girl book No Ordinary Sound, set in 1963 and featuring the character of Melody Ellison, has the bombing as a major plot point.
In sculpture and symbolism[edit]
The Four Spirits sculpture, unveiled at Kelly Ingram Park, September 2013
Welsh craftsman and artist John Petts was inspired to construct and deliver the iconic stained-glass Welsh Window to the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1965. The Welsh Window is a large stained-glass edifice depicting a black Jesus, with arms outstretched, reminiscent of the Crucifixion of Jesus. Erected at the church in 1965,[159] the Welsh Window stands over the front door of the sanctuary.[160]
The American sculptor John Henry Waddell has created a memorial symbolizing those killed in the bombing. Entitled That Which Might Have Been: Birmingham 1963, the sculpture—depicting four adult women in differing postures—was created over a period of 15 months.[161] The four women in the sculpture are each depicted in symbolic terms; representing the four victims of the bombing, had they been allowed to mature to womanhood.[162] The sculpture was originally displayed at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Phoenix in 1969. A second casting of the sculpture was intended for display in Birmingham; however, due to controversy over the nudity of the women in the sculpture, this second casting is now on display at the George Washington Carver Museum.[163]
The names of the four girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing are engraved upon the Civil Rights Memorial. Erected in Montgomery, Alabama in 1989.[164] The Civil Rights Memorial is an inverted, conical granite fountain and is dedicated to 41 people who died in the struggle for the equal rights and integrated treatment of all people between the years 1954 and 1968. The names of the 41 individuals themselves are chronologically engrained upon the surface of this fountain. Creator Maya Lin has described this sculpture as a "contemplative area; a place to remember the Civil Rights Movement, to honor those killed during the struggle, to appreciate how far the country has come in its quest for equality".[165]
The Four Spirits sculpture was unveiled at Birmingham's Kelly Ingram Park in September 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombing. Crafted in Berkeley, California by Birmingham-born sculptor Elizabeth MacQueen[166] and designed as a memorial to the four children killed on September 15, 1963, the bronze and steel life-size sculpture depicts the four girls in preparation for the church sermon at the 16th Street Baptist Church in the moments immediately before the explosion. The youngest girl killed in the explosion (Carol Denise McNair) is depicted releasing six doves into the air as she stands tiptoed and barefooted upon a bench as another barefooted girl (Addie Mae Collins) is depicted kneeling upon the bench, affixing a dress sash to McNair; a third girl (Cynthia Wesley) is sat upon the bench alongside McNair and Collins with a Bible in her lap.[167] The fourth girl (Carole Robertson) is depicted standing and smiling as she motions the other three girls to attend their church sermon.[168]
At the base of the sculpture is an inscription of the name of the sermon the four girls were to attend prior to the bombing—"A Love That Forgives". Oval photographs and brief biographies of the four girls killed in the explosion, the most seriously injured survivor (Sarah Collins), and the two teenage boys shot to death later that day also adorn the base of the sculpture. More than 1,000 people were present at the unveiling of the memorial, including survivors of the bombing, friends of the victims and the parents of Denise McNair, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware.[169] Among those to speak at the unveiling was the Reverend Joseph Lowery, who informed those present: "Don't let anybody tell you these children died in vain. We wouldn't be here right now, had they not gone home before our eyes."[170]
See also[edit]
African-American history
Mass racial violence in the United States
Timeline of the civil rights movement
1960s portal
African American portal
Alabama portal
Christianity portal
Criminal justice portal
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "16th Street Baptist Church bombing", from Encyclopædia Britannica
Jump up ^ "Fifty Years After Bombing, Birmingham is Resurrected", by John Meacham, Time. September 23, 2013
Jump up ^ "Today in 1963: The Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church". ajccenter.wfu.edu. 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
Jump up ^ Know 1 Radio.com
Jump up ^ N.Y. Daily News Sept. 1, 2013
Jump up ^ wsws.org May 20, 2000
^ Jump up to: a b Times Daily May 23, 2002
Jump up ^ TeachingAmericanHistory.org
Jump up ^ "New Bomb Blast Hits Birmingham". The Miami News. 1963-09-25.
^ Jump up to: a b Washington Post Sept. 16, 1963
Jump up ^ [1]
Jump up ^ "Six Negro Children Killed in Alabama Sunday". The Times-News, Hendersonville, NC. 1963-09-11. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
^ Jump up to: a b Observer-Reporter Nov. 19, 1977
Jump up ^ "Factiva". Global.factiva.com. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
^ Jump up to: a b CrimeLibrary.com p. 5
Jump up ^ Bilal R. Muhammad (2011). The African-American Odyssey. books.google.com. ISBN 978-1467035132.
Jump up ^ CBN.com
Jump up ^ 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing: The Ku Klux Klan's History of Terror p. 10
^ Jump up to: a b Eugene Register-Guard Oct. 29, 1985
Jump up ^ University of California, Los Angeles. "Birmingham Church Bombed". ucla.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
Jump up ^ "Father Recalls Deadly Blast At Ala. Baptist Church". npr.org. September 15, 2008.
Jump up ^ http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/terrorists/birmingham_church/4.html CrimeLibrary.com p. 4
Jump up ^ History.com. Sep. 13, 2013
^ Jump up to: a b "Six Dead After Church Bombing". Washington Post. 1963-09-16. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
Jump up ^ N.Y. Sun.com
Jump up ^ United States House of Representatives (April 24, 2013). "AWARDING CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL TO ADDIE MAE COLLINS, DENISE McNAIR, CAROLE ROBERTSON, AND CYNTHIA WESLEY". beta.congress.gov. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
Jump up ^ TheGuardian.com Sep. 16, 2014
Jump up ^ NPR.org Sep. 15, 2008
Jump up ^ al.com Sep. 15, 2013
^ Jump up to: a b Lakeland Ledger Apr. 25, 2001
Jump up ^ "16th Street Baptist Church Bombing: Forty Years Later, Birmingham Still Struggles with Violent Past". National Public Radio: All Things Considered. 2003-09-15. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
Jump up ^ The Daily Beast Sep. 15, 2013
Jump up ^ Nelson, Cary (ed.). "About the 1963 Birmingham Bombing". The Modern American Poetry Site. Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Jump up ^ TheGospelCoalition.org
Jump up ^ Washington Post Sep. 16, 1963
Jump up ^ Free at Last: A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Those Who Died in the Struggle p. 63
Jump up ^ TheAtlantic.com Sep. 13, 2013
Jump up ^ "Nation's Shame". The Milwaukee Sentinel. 1963-09-16. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
Jump up ^ Free at Last: A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Those Who Died in the Struggle p. 64
Jump up ^ William O. Bryant (September 11, 1963). "Six Negro Children Killed in Alabama". The Times News. United Press International. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b TIME Sep. 22, 2003
Jump up ^ Times Daily May 7, 2004
Jump up ^ The Informant, the FBI and the Ku Klux Klan p. 88
Jump up ^ "Columns: Drawn back to Birmingham".
^ Jump up to: a b Crimes and Trials of the Century p. 274.
Jump up ^ 1963: The Year of Hope and Hostility pp. 184–185
^ Jump up to: a b Park City Daily News Sept. 19, 1963
^ Jump up to: a b Crimes and Trials of the Century p. 272
Jump up ^ Sarasota Herald-Tribune Sept. 18, 1963
Jump up ^ Baltimore Afro-American Sept. 21, 1963
Jump up ^ "We Shall Overcome Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
Jump up ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sept. 19, 1963
Jump up ^ Ocala Star-Banner Sept. 19, 1963
Jump up ^ Ocala Star[-Banner Sept. 19, 1963
Jump up ^ Time.com Sept. 22, 2003
Jump up ^ The Milwaukee Journal Sep. 21, 1963
Jump up ^ 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing: The Ku Klux Klan's History of Terror p. 63
Jump up ^ 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing: The Ku Klux Klan's History of Terror p. 57
Jump up ^ CNN.com May 22, 2000
Jump up ^ L.A. Times.com Apr. 14, 2001 p. 1
Jump up ^ The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo p. 386
Jump up ^ It Happened in Alabama p. 102
Jump up ^ JOHN HERBERS Special to the New York Times (1963-10-09). "N.Y. Times Oct. 9, 1963". Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
^ Jump up to: a b "FBI: A Byte Out of History: The '63 Baptist Church Bombing". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on 13 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
Jump up ^ blackhistorycollection.org
^ Jump up to: a b c wsws.org May 5, 2001
^ Jump up to: a b Al.com May 23, 2002
Jump up ^ Huffington Post Sep. 15, 2013
^ Jump up to: a b Civil Rights Act of 1964
Jump up ^ Jenkins, Ray (1977-11-21). "Birmingham Church Bombing Conviction Ended an Obsession of the Prosecutor". The Day (New London, Connecticut). Retrieved 2010-11-21.
Jump up ^ The Crimson.com. Oct. 17, 2013.
Jump up ^ Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement p. 84
Jump up ^ Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution p. 497
Jump up ^ Clary, Mike (2001-04-14). "Birmingham's Painful Past Reopened". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
Jump up ^ Crimes and Trials of the Century p. 278
Jump up ^ abcnews.com May 5, 2002
Jump up ^ The Tuscalooasa News Oct. 30, 1977
Jump up ^ Gadsden Times Oct. 30, 1977
Jump up ^ Times Oct. 30, 1977
Jump up ^ Gadsden Times Oct. 18, 1977
Jump up ^ Gadsden Times Oct. 29, 1977
Jump up ^ Tuscaloosa News Oct. 4, 1978
Jump up ^ WordPress.com
Jump up ^ Boca Raton News Nov. 16, 1977
Jump up ^ Lakeland Ledger Nov. 19, 1977
Jump up ^ Sarasota Herald-Tribume Nov. 19, 1977
Jump up ^ The Crisis Nov. 1978 p. 314
Jump up ^ St. Petersburg Times Nov. 18, 1977
^ Jump up to: a b Rome News-Tribune Nov. 18, 1977
Jump up ^ Rome News Tribunal Nov. 18, 1977
Jump up ^ Gadsden Times Nov. 20, 1977
Jump up ^ Anderson, S. Willoughby, "The Past on Trial: Birmingham, the Bombing, and Restorative Justice", California Law Review, 96/2, (April 2008):482.
Jump up ^ CrimeLibrary.com p. 9
Jump up ^ Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution p. 574
Jump up ^ Gadsden Times May 23, 1979.
Jump up ^ "Klansman Guilty in Death". The Pittsburgh Press. 1977-11-19. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
Jump up ^ The Tuscaloosa News Sep. 4, 1978
Jump up ^ "Robert E. Chambliss, Figure in '63 Bombing". The New York Times. Dated October 30, 1985. Retrieved August 29, 2013. "Robert Edward Chambliss ... who was convicted of murder in the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church ... died yesterday in a hospital in Birmingham."
Jump up ^ TheGuardian.com. May 23, 2002
Jump up ^ "The ghosts of Alabama". CNN. 2000-05-22.
Jump up ^ Leith, Sam (2002-05-23). "Klansman convicted of killing black girls". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
Jump up ^ CNN.com Jun. 13, 2013
Jump up ^ Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers p. 162
Jump up ^ Sack, Kevin (2001-04-25). "As Church Bombing Trial Begins in Birmingham, the City's Past Is Very Much Present". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
Jump up ^ Toledo Blade Apr. 26, 2001
Jump up ^ Tuscaloosa News Jun. 1, 2001
Jump up ^ The Tuscaloose News Nov. 23, 2002
^ Jump up to: a b Star-News Apr. 28, 2001
Jump up ^ Herald-Journal Apr. 29, 2001
Jump up ^ Southeast Missourian Apr. 29, 2001
Jump up ^ CNN.com May 1, 2001
Jump up ^ The New York Times May 1, 2001
Jump up ^ The Dispatch May 1, 2001
Jump up ^ The Argus-Press May 2, 2001
Jump up ^ The Telegraph May 2, 2001
Jump up ^ AlabamaCivilRights.edu
Jump up ^ "Former Klansman faces prison in 1963 Killings". The Vindicator. 2001-05-02. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
Jump up ^ Faulk, Kent (July 14, 2016). "Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bomber up for parole next month". The Birmingham News. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
Jump up ^ Faulk, Kent (August 3, 2016). "16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton denied parole". The Birmingham News. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
Jump up ^ Race, Law and Public Policy p. 426
^ Jump up to: a b c Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers ch. 35
Jump up ^ N.Y, Times.com May 17, 2002
Jump up ^ Tuscaloosa News Apr. 20, 2001
Jump up ^ Nevada Daily Mail May 15, 2002
Jump up ^ Washington Times May 22, 2002
Jump up ^ N.Y. Times May 22, 2002
Jump up ^ Washington Times May 22, 2002.
Jump up ^ O'Donnell, Michelle (2004-11-19). "Bobby Frank Cherry, 74, Klansman in Bombing, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
Jump up ^ Reading Eagle May 23, 2002
Jump up ^ N.Y. Times Nov. 19, 2004
Jump up ^ Baltimore Sun May 7, 2002
Jump up ^ The Spokesman Review Feb. 18, 1980
Jump up ^ The New York Times Oct. 4, 1998
Jump up ^ The Times-News Oct. 3, 1978
Jump up ^ Ocala Star-Banner Jul. 11, 1978 p. 1
Jump up ^ Ocala Star-Banner Jul. 11, 1978 p. 10a
Jump up ^ encyclopediaofalabama.org
^ Jump up to: a b Gadsden Times Sept. 16, 1990
Jump up ^ 16thstreetbaptist.org
Jump up ^ CNN.com Sept. 14, 2013
^ Jump up to: a b The Owosso Argus-Press Oct. 16, 1963
Jump up ^ Chicago Tribune Apr. 26, 1964
Jump up ^ Historical Dictionary of the Civil Rights Movement p. 401
Jump up ^ BBC.co.uk Mar. 10, 2011
Jump up ^ BBC Mar. 10, 2011
Jump up ^ Tuscaloose News Sept. 19, 1963
Jump up ^ The Guardian. Mar. 6, 2011
Jump up ^ Gary Younge. "The Wales Window of Alabama". BBC4 radio. Nicola Swords.
Jump up ^ al.com Sep. 7, 1997 Archived May 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ L.A. Times.com Apr. 14, 2001
Jump up ^ Sarasota Herald-Tribune Nov. 19, 2007
Jump up ^ Alabama Dept. of Corrections. Blanton, Thomas Edwin
Jump up ^ Daily Mail Sept. 10, 2013
Jump up ^ Scott W Johnson. "Birmingham's New Legacy". The Weekly Standard.
Jump up ^ gpo.gov
^ Jump up to: a b "H.R. 360 – Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
Jump up ^ "American Guernica, LKM Music - Hal Leonard Online". www.halleonard.com. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
Jump up ^ History.com
Jump up ^ Younge, Gary (6 March 2011). "American civil rights: the Welsh connection". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Encyclopedia of African-American History p. 1029
Jump up ^ Huffington Post Sept. 15, 2013
Jump up ^ "That which might have been". Artbyjohnwaddell.com. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
Jump up ^ Waymarking.com
Jump up ^ "Civil Rights Martyrs | Southern Poverty Law Center". Splcenter.org. Retrieved 2015-04-11.
Jump up ^ slpcenter.org
Jump up ^ al.com Sep. 2, 2013
Jump up ^ WeldBirmingham.com Sept. 14, 2013
Jump up ^ MyFoxLocal.com Sep. 15, 2013
Jump up ^ MyFoxLocal.com Sept. 15, 2013
Jump up ^ wbhm.org Sep. 15, 2013
Cited works and further reading[edit]
Branch, Taylor (1988). Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–1963. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-68742-5.
Cobbs, Elizabeth H.; Smith, Petric J. (1994). Long Time Coming: An Insider's Story of the Birmingham Church Bombing that Rocked the World. Crane Hill Publishers. ISBN 1-881548-10-4.
Hamlin, Christopher M. (1998). Behind the Stained Glass: A History of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Crane Hill Publishers. ISBN 1-57587-083-5.
Klobuchar, Lisa (2009). 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing: The Ku Klux Klan's History of Terror. Compass Point Books. ISBN 978-0-7565-4092-0.
McKinstry, Carolyn; George, Denise (2011). While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement. Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4143-3636-7.
Sikora, Frank (1991). Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing Case. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0520-3.
Thorne, T. K. (2013). Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers. Lawrence Books. ISBN 978-1-61374-864-0.
Wade, Wyn C. (1998). The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512357-3.
External links[edit]
16th Street Baptist Church bombing at CrimeLibrary.com
Official website of the 16th Street Baptist Church
Transcript of Martin Luther King's eulogy, delivered at the funerals of Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair and Cynthia Wesley, September 18, 1963
FBI article documenting the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
FBI.gov archive of newspaper clippings relating to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
October 1963 Jet magazine article focusing upon the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
Online archives available at the Birmingham Public Library. These archives include photographic and newspaper archives
About the Birmingham Church Bombing and 1963 Civil Rights Movement at Illinois.edu
Chambliss vs. State: Details of Robert Chambliss's 1979 appeal against his conviction
Contemporary news article detailing Robert Chambliss's 1977 conviction
Audio interview with 16th Street Baptist Church bombing survivor Sarah Collins Rudolph
WHBM news article detailing the 2013 unveiling of the Four Spirits Statue at Kelly Ingram Park
FourSpirits1963.com—A website devoted to the construction and preservation of the Four Spirits memorial sculpture at Kelly Ingram Park
[show]
v
t
e
Civil Rights Memorial
In memoriam
Louis Allen
Willie Brewster
Benjamin Brown
Johnnie Mae Chappell
James Chaney
Addie Mae Collins
Vernon Dahmer
Jonathan Daniels
Henry Hezekiah Dee
Roman Ducksworth Jr.
Willie Edwards
Medgar Evers
Andrew Goodman
Paul Guihard
Samuel Hammond Jr.
Jimmie Lee Jackson
Wharlest Jackson
Martin Luther King Jr.
Bruce W. Klunder
George W. Lee
Herbert Lee
Viola Liuzzo
Carol Denise McNair
Delano Herman Middleton
Charles Eddie Moore
Oneal Moore
William Lewis Moore
Mack Charles Parker
Lemuel Penn
James Reeb
John Earl Reese
Carole Robertson
Michael Schwerner
Henry Ezekial Smith
Lamar Smith
Emmett Till
Clarence Triggs
Virgil Lamar Ware
Cynthia Wesley
Ben Chester White
Sammy Younge Jr.
Contributors
Southern Poverty Law Center
Maya Lin
Related
Murder of Harry and Harriette Moore
Civil rights movement
[show]
v
t
e
Civil rights movement
Notable
events
(timeline)
Prior to 1954
Murder of Harry and Harriette Moore
1954–1959
Brown v. Board of Education
Bolling v. Sharpe
Briggs v. Elliott
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
Gebhart v. Belton
White America, Inc.
Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company
Emmett Till
Montgomery bus boycott
Browder v. Gayle
Tallahassee bus boycott
Mansfield school desegregation
1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom
"Give Us the Ballot"
Royal Ice Cream sit-in
Little Rock Nine
National Guard blockade
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Kissing Case
Biloxi wade-ins
1960–1963
Greensboro sit-ins
Nashville sit-ins
Sit-in movement
Civil Rights Act of 1960
Gomillion v. Lightfoot
Boynton v. Virginia
Rock Hill sit-ins
Robert F. Kennedy's Law Day Address
Freedom Rides
attacks
Garner v. Louisiana
Albany Movement
University of Chicago sit-ins
"Second Emancipation Proclamation"
Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot
"Segregation now, segregation forever"
Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
1963 Birmingham campaign
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Children's Crusade
Birmingham riot
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
John F. Kennedy's Report to the American People on Civil Rights
March on Washington
"I Have a Dream"
St. Augustine movement
1964–1968
Twenty-fourth Amendment
Bloody Tuesday
Freedom Summer
workers' murders
Civil Rights Act of 1964
1965 Selma to Montgomery marches
"How Long, Not Long"
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections
March Against Fear
White House Conference on Civil Rights
Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement
Memphis sanitation strike
King assassination
funeral
riots
Poor People's Campaign
Civil Rights Act of 1968
Green v. County School Board of New Kent County
Activist
groups
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
Atlanta Student Movement
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Committee on Appeal for Human Rights
Council for United Civil Rights Leadership
Dallas County Voters League
Deacons for Defense and Justice
Georgia Council on Human Relations
Highlander Folk School
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Montgomery Improvement Association
Nashville Student Movement
NAACP
Youth Council
Northern Student Movement
National Council of Negro Women
National Urban League
Operation Breadbasket
Regional Council of Negro Leadership
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Southern Regional Council
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
The Freedom Singers
Wednesdays in Mississippi
Women's Political Council
Activists
Ralph Abernathy
Victoria Gray Adams
Zev Aelony
Mathew Ahmann
William G. Anderson
Gwendolyn Armstrong
Arnold Aronson
Ella Baker
Marion Barry
Daisy Bates
Harry Belafonte
James Bevel
Claude Black
Gloria Blackwell
Randolph Blackwell
Unita Blackwell
Ezell Blair Jr.
Joanne Bland
Julian Bond
Joseph E. Boone
William Holmes Borders
Amelia Boynton
Raylawni Branch
Ruby Bridges
Aurelia Browder
H. Rap Brown
Guy Carawan
Stokely Carmichael
Johnnie Carr
James Chaney
J. L. Chestnut
Colia Lafayette Clark
Ramsey Clark
Septima Clark
Xernona Clayton
Eldridge Cleaver
Kathleen Cleaver
Charles E. Cobb Jr.
Annie Lee Cooper
Dorothy Cotton
Claudette Colvin
Vernon Dahmer
Jonathan Daniels
Joseph DeLaine
Dave Dennis
Annie Devine
Patricia Stephens Due
Joseph Ellwanger
Charles Evers
Medgar Evers
Myrlie Evers-Williams
Chuck Fager
James Farmer
Walter E. Fauntroy
James Forman
Marie Foster
Golden Frinks
Andrew Goodman
Fred Gray
Jack Greenberg
Dick Gregory
Lawrence Guyot
Prathia Hall
Fannie Lou Hamer
William E. Harbour
Vincent Harding
Dorothy Height
Lola Hendricks
Aaron Henry
Oliver Hill
Donald L. Hollowell
James Hood
Myles Horton
Zilphia Horton
T. R. M. Howard
Ruby Hurley
Jesse Jackson
Jimmie Lee Jackson
Richie Jean Jackson
T. J. Jemison
Esau Jenkins
Barbara Rose Johns
Vernon Johns
Frank Minis Johnson
Clarence Jones
J. Charles Jones
Matthew Jones
Vernon Jordan
Tom Kahn
Clyde Kennard
A. D. King
C.B. King
Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Sr.
Bernard Lafayette
James Lawson
Bernard Lee
Sanford R. Leigh
Jim Letherer
Stanley Levison
John Lewis
Viola Liuzzo
Z. Alexander Looby
Joseph Lowery
Clara Luper
Malcolm X
Mae Mallory
Vivian Malone
Thurgood Marshall
Benjamin Mays
Franklin McCain
Charles McDew
Ralph McGill
Floyd McKissick
Joseph McNeil
James Meredith
William Ming
Jack Minnis
Amzie Moore
Douglas E. Moore
Harriette Moore
Harry T. Moore
William Lewis Moore
Irene Morgan
Bob Moses
William Moyer
Elijah Muhammad
Diane Nash
Charles Neblett
Edgar Nixon
Jack O'Dell
James Orange
Rosa Parks
James Peck
Charles Person
Homer Plessy
Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Fay Bellamy Powell
Al Raby
Lincoln Ragsdale
A. Philip Randolph
George Raymond Jr.
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Cordell Reagon
James Reeb
Frederick D. Reese
Gloria Richardson
David Richmond
Bernice Robinson
Jo Ann Robinson
Bayard Rustin
Bernie Sanders
Michael Schwerner
Cleveland Sellers
Charles Sherrod
Alexander D. Shimkin
Fred Shuttlesworth
Modjeska Monteith Simkins
Glenn E. Smiley
A. Maceo Smith
Kelly Miller Smith
Mary Louise Smith
Maxine Smith
Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson
Charles Kenzie Steele
Hank Thomas
Dorothy Tillman
A. P. Tureaud
Hartman Turnbow
Albert Turner
C. T. Vivian
Wyatt Tee Walker
Hollis Watkins
Walter Francis White
Roy Wilkins
Hosea Williams
Kale Williams
Robert F. Williams
Andrew Young
Whitney Young
Sammy Younge Jr.
James Zwerg
Influences
Nonviolence
Padayatra
Sermon on the Mount
Mahatma Gandhi
Ahimsa
Satyagraha
The Kingdom of God Is Within You
Frederick Douglass
W. E. B. Du Bois
Mary McLeod Bethune
Related
Jim Crow laws
Plessy v. Ferguson
Separate but equal
Buchanan v. Warley
Hocutt v. Wilson
Sweatt v. Painter
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States
Katzenbach v. McClung
Loving v. Virginia
Fifth Circuit Four
Brown Chapel
Holt Street Baptist Church
Edmund Pettus Bridge
March on Washington Movement
African-American churches attacked
Journey of Reconciliation
Freedom Songs
"Kumbaya"
"Keep Your Eyes on the Prize"
"Oh, Freedom"
"This Little Light of Mine"
"We Shall Not Be Moved"
"We Shall Overcome"
Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence"
Watts riots
Voter Education Project
1960s counterculture
In popular culture
King Memorial
Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
Freedom Riders National Monument
Civil Rights Memorial
Noted
historians
Taylor Branch
Clayborne Carson
John Dittmer
Michael Eric Dyson
Chuck Fager
Adam Fairclough
David Garrow
David Halberstam
Vincent Harding
Steven F. Lawson
Doug McAdam
Diane McWhorter
Charles M. Payne
Timothy Tyson
Akinyele Umoja
Movement photographers
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing&oldid=832369747"
Categories:
1963 in Alabama
1963 murders in the United States
African-American history in Birmingham, Alabama
Anti-black racism in the United States
Attacks on churches
Attacks on places of worship in the United States
Conflicts in 1963
Explosions in the United States
History of African-American civil rights
History of Alabama
History of Birmingham, Alabama
Improvised explosive device bombings in the United States
Ku Klux Klan crimes in Alabama
Mass murder in 1963
Massacres in places of worship
Murder in Alabama
Murdered American children
Murdered African-American people
People murdered in Alabama
Racially motivated violence against African Americans
September 1963 events in the United States
Terrorist incidents in 1963
Hidden categories:
Webarchive template wayback links
Coordinates on Wikidata
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
العربية
Français
Suomi
Edit links
This page was last edited on 25 March 2018, at 15:49.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

values:
/wiki/Civil_Rights_Movement
mw-redirect
Civil Rights Movement

attrs: colspan style

values: Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location

values:
col
navbox-title
2
background-color: #CEE0F2

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: float:right; clear:right; margin:0.2em 0 0.2em 0.5em; width:300px;;padding:3px

values: Edit section: Birmingham Campaign and the 16th Street Baptist Church

values: Southern Christian Leadership Conference

values:
/wiki/Ralph_David_Abernathy
mw-redirect
Ralph David Abernathy

values:
/wiki/Congress_on_Racial_Equality
mw-redirect
Congress on Racial Equality

values:
/wiki/Civil_rights
mw-redirect
Civil rights

values:
/wiki/Sunday_School
mw-redirect
Sunday School

values: Edit section: Reactions and condemnation

values: All Souls Church, Unitarian (Washington, D.C.)

values:
/wiki/Milwaukee_Sentinel
mw-redirect
Milwaukee Sentinel

values:
/wiki/Lyndon_Johnson
mw-redirect
Lyndon Johnson

values: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

values: Edit section: Formal reopening of investigation

values: Edit section: Prosecution of Robert Chambliss

values:
/wiki/Not_guilty_(plea)
mw-redirect
Not guilty (plea)

values: Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Edit section: Possible fifth conspirator

values: float: right; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 85%; background:#t5dbf1; color:black; width:27em; max-width: 27%;

values:
/wiki/Race_of_Jesus#African
mw-redirect
Race of Jesus

values:
/wiki/History_(U.S._TV_channel)
mw-redirect
History (U.S. TV channel)

values:
/wiki/Melody_Ellison
mw-redirect
Melody Ellison

values: Edit section: In sculpture and symbolism

values: Mass racial violence in the United States

values:
noprint metadata navbox
navigation
Portals
font-weight:bold;padding:0.4em 2em

values:
/wiki/National_Public_Radio
mw-redirect
National Public Radio

values:
/wiki/The_Los_Angeles_Times
mw-redirect
The Los Angeles Times

values:
nofollow
http://www.16thstreetbaptist.org/
external text

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values: Edit section: Cited works and further reading

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.16thstreetbaptist.org

values:
nofollow
http://www.fourspirits1963.com/
external text

values:
/wiki/Murder_of_Louis_Allen
mw-redirect
Murder of Louis Allen

values: Benjamin Brown (civil rights organizer) (page does not exist)

values:
/wiki/Johnnie_Mae_Chappell
mw-redirect
Johnnie Mae Chappell

values:
/wiki/Addie_Mae_Collins
mw-redirect
Addie Mae Collins

values:
/wiki/Murder_of_Jonathan_Daniels
mw-redirect
Murder of Jonathan Daniels

values:
/wiki/Henry_Hezekiah_Dee
mw-redirect
Henry Hezekiah Dee

values: Roman Ducksworth Jr. (page does not exist)

values:
/wiki/Willie_Edwards
mw-redirect
Willie Edwards

values:
/wiki/Paul_Guihard
mw-redirect
Paul Guihard

values:
/wiki/Jimmie_Lee_Jackson
mw-redirect
Jimmie Lee Jackson

values:
/wiki/Wharlest_Jackson
mw-redirect
Wharlest Jackson

values:
/wiki/Herbert_Lee_(murder_victim)
mw-redirect
Herbert Lee (murder victim)

values:
/wiki/Carol_Denise_McNair
mw-redirect
Carol Denise McNair

values:
/wiki/Delano_Herman_Middleton
mw-redirect
Delano Herman Middleton

values:
/wiki/Charles_Eddie_Moore
mw-redirect
Charles Eddie Moore

values:
/wiki/Oneal_Moore
mw-redirect
Oneal Moore

values:
/wiki/William_Lewis_Moore
mw-redirect
William Lewis Moore

values:
/wiki/Mack_Charles_Parker
mw-redirect
Mack Charles Parker

values:
/wiki/Lemuel_Penn
mw-redirect
Lemuel Penn

values:
/wiki/Carole_Robertson
mw-redirect
Carole Robertson

values:
/wiki/Henry_Ezekial_Smith
mw-redirect
Henry Ezekial Smith

values:
/wiki/Cynthia_Wesley
mw-redirect
Cynthia Wesley

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values: Template:African-American civil rights movement

values: Template talk:African-American civil rights movement

values: Arkansas National Guard and the integration of Central High School

values: Greyhound Bus Station (Montgomery, Alabama)

values: Report to the American People on Civil Rights

values: Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner

values: Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections

values: Green v. County School Board of New Kent County

values: Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights

values: Council for United Civil Rights Leadership

values: Highlander Research and Education Center

values: Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

values: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

values: Mary Louise Smith (civil rights activist)

values: Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States

values: Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church (Selma, Alabama)

values: List of attacks against African-American churches

values: National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam

values: Civil rights movement in popular culture

values: Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument

values: List of photographers of the civil rights movement

values: nowraplinks collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values: Category:1963 murders in the United States

values: Category:African-American history in Birmingham, Alabama

values: Category:Anti-black racism in the United States

values: Category:Attacks on places of worship in the United States

values: Category:Explosions in the United States

values: Category:History of African-American civil rights

values: Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in the United States

values: Category:Racially motivated violence against African Americans

values: Category:September 1963 events in the United States

values: Category:Webarchive template wayback links

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: تفجير الكنيسة المعمدانية في شارع 16 – Arabic

values: Attentat de l'église baptiste de la 16e rue – French

values: 16th Street Baptist Churchin pommi-isku – Finnish

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing rootpage-16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing skin-vector action-view