Betsy Childs Howard is an editor for The Gospel Coalition. 1. “I was sad because he had died, 'cause I was looking for him to talk, and tell who else was in this bombing because I really believe there was more than four people. Sarah Collins, the younger sister of Addie Mae, survived with serious injuries. When the bomb went off, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Denise McNair and Carole Robertson all died on the spot. “My mother told me that all the girls that were in there with me, they was all killed. 5. Blanton remains in prison and will become eligible for parole in 2021, after having been denied parole in 2016. The 16th Street Baptist Church served as a rallying point during the civil rights movement. While most of the parishioners were able to find safety under the pews and escape the building, the mutilated bodies of four young girls, Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carole Robertson (age 14), Cynthia Wesley (age 14), and Carol Denise McNair (age 11) were found in the rubble-filled basement. In late 1967, Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley ordered the case reopened. Four young African American girls were killed and more than 20 other churchgoers were injured in the explosion, which was declared a racially motivated act of domestic terrorism. Dozens of FBI agents worked the case throughout September and October and into the new year—as many as 36 at one point. However, citing a lack of physical evidence and the reluctance of witnesses to cooperate, the FBI refused to file charges at the time. The crater and other damage caused by the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which killed four African-American girls. At approximately 10:22 a.m., on the morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church’s Sunday school secretary received a telephone call during which an anonymous male caller simply said “three minutes.” Seconds later, a powerful bomb exploded under the church’s front steps near the basement. No one was indicted for the murders until 1977, when Chambliss was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In this manner, the bombing accomplished exactly the opposite results its perpetrators had hoped for. African Americans in the South were basically forbidden from assembling anywhere but inside a church, so the church also functioned as a civic hall. 8. Chasity Maxie joined the WBRC FOX6 News family in April of 2020, but her journey here has had many twists and turns. Many members of 16th Street held teaching and professional jobs. She lost one eye and underwent many reconstructive facial surgeries. FBI bomb experts raced to the scene—via military jet—and an additional dozen personnel from other offices were sent to assist Birmingham. And eventually the fear, prejudice, and reticence that kept witnesses from coming forward began to subside. In addition, the church has been placed on the UNESCO “Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.” In May 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the four young girls who died in the 1963 bombing. Martin Luther King Jr. holds a press conference in Birmingham the day after the attack. Soon after the bombing, the streets around the 16th Street Baptist Church filled with thousands of black protesters. Herman Cash died in 1994 before he was sentenced. I saw the beauty of it firsthand. Sisters, You Have Permission to Lead an Ordinary Life, The Children’s Series You Should Start Reading in 2020, The One Book on Racial History You Should Read (Ideally with Others). Along with being listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, the church was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The city is proposing to reallocate prior years' Community Development Block Grant funding but not everyone is happy about it. We have seriously disrupted Klan activities by our pressure and interviews so that these organizations have lost members and support. 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing: History and Legacy. In July 1997, a full 20 years after the Chambliss conviction, the FBI reopened the case based on new evidence. But there was a survivor among those young ladies - the sister of one of the girls who was murdered on that day. The 16th Street Baptist Church was repaired and reopened for regular services on Sunday, June 7, 1964. Resulting in the injury of 14 people and the death of four girls, … King’s words would prove true as the death of four little girls galvanized the sympathy of the nation and the world for the cause of the civil rights movement. A fifth girl, Addie Mae Collins’ 12-year-old sister Susan, survived but was left permanently blind. It was founded in 1873, just 10 years after Abraham Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation. It was declared a national historic landmark in 2006. During the 1960s, the church regularly hosted civil rights movement organizational meetings and rallies. And there’s one wound that will never heal: Thomas Blanton, Jr., the last known bomber, died back in June. Copyright © 2020 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. Here are eight other facts you need to know about the 16th Street Baptist Church bomb attack. The attack took place just three weeks after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his iconic speech, “I Have a Dream.”. God still has a way of wringing good out of evil. A piece of glass remains in her left eye, doctors saying it’s best to leave it since it’s not causing her any trouble. 1. The original church on 16th Street was demolished in 1908. The fourth man, Herman Frank Cash, had died in 1994. His concern was to prevent leaks, not to stifle justice. Family and friends of Carole Robertson attend graveside services for her in Birmingham on September 17, 1963. Here's a look at what you need to know about the Birmingham, Alabama, church bombingthat killed four African-American girls during church services in 1963. The 16th Street Baptist Church was a centre for civil rights activists in the city. Four members of the Ku Klux Klan—Robert Chambliss, Thomas Blanton, Herman Frank Cash, and Bobby Frank Cherry—planted 19 sticks of dynamite under the church. He said the U.S. Army "ought to come to Birmingham and take over this city and run it.". Our Birmingham office launched an immediate investigation and wired the FBI Director about the crime. In his eulogy, Dr. King said, "These children -- unoffending, innocent and beautiful -- were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity. 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Witness History On September 15th 1963, four young black girls were killed in a racist bomb attack against a church in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. On September 9, President John F. Kennedy further enraged white segregationists by ordering armed troops of the Alabama National Guard to oversee the racial integration of all Birmingham public schools. ?” In 1966, Hoover overruled his staff and made transcripts of wiretaps available to Justice. Firefighters and ambulance attendants remove a body from the church. Here are eight other facts you need to know about the 16th Street Baptist Church bomb attack. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/birmingham-church-bombing-video Fear that members would lose their jobs initially made church leaders hesitant about involving their congregation in the burgeoning civil rights movement, though the church eventually became the rallying point for the movement in Birmingham. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act as Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, look on. Cynthia Wesley Biography, Life, Interesting Facts. Three former Ku Klux Klan members are eventually convicted of murder for the bombing. She attended the 16th Street Baptist Church with her parents, Julius and Alice, as well as her six siblings. 9. AP Photo. Also, at that time, information from our surveillances was not admissible in court. Fifty years ago on Sunday, September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. 7. She also said she had hoped things would be different by now in terms of racism and encourages everyone to continue peaceful protests and vote in the upcoming presidential election. Source link, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/four-black-schoolgirls-killed-in-birmingham?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss, http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0915.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-the-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss, 8 Important Facts About The 16th Street Baptist Church Bomb Attack, 10 Things Not Taught In Schools About The Arab Enslavement Of Blacks, 8 Fun Facts to Know About Record Producer & Singer Ne-Yo. Luckily, Sarah Collins—Addie Mae’s younger sister—managed to survive the attack, but lost her right eye. The bomb was planted by four members of the Ku Klux Klan, who had already warned of a forthcoming attack. The next day, the home of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s brother A. D. King, was damaged by a bomb. As press coverage of the violent treatment of the peacefully protesting Birmingham children spread, public opinion turned heavily in their favor. 1. The explosion caved in the church’s interior walls and blew bricks and mortar into the parking lot. President Barack Obama honored the four girls with a Congregational Medal of Honor, which was presented before the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on May 24, 2013. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/four-black-schoolgirls-killed-in-birmingham?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The violent blast ripped through the wall, killing four African-American girls on the other side and injuring more than 20 inside the church. Sarah Jean Collins, 12, lost an eye in the blast. As a result, no federal charges were filed in the ‘60s. On the 52nd anniversary of the bombing, here are several facts everyone should know of the senseless crime: A twisted and broken stained glass window from the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The 16th Street Baptist Church was the first African-American church in the United States. The Birmingham church bombing was the third such attack in eleven days. Survivors of the blast would never fully recover from the trauma, but 50 years later, they work to forgive their enemies and honor the legacy of four little girls. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. It was founded in 1873, just 10 years after Abraham Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation. Martin Luther King Jr. Ralph Abernathy: Advisor and Confidante to Martin Luther King Jr. Black History and Women Timeline 1960-1969, Congress of Racial Equality: History and Impact on Civil Rights, Organizations of the Civil Rights Movement, Civil Rights Legislation and Supreme Court Cases, Biography of the Rev. During the 1960s, the church regularly hosted civil rights movement meetings and rallies, such as the Birmingham “Children’s Crusade” anti-segregation march of May 1963. Adam Jones/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. Three Ku Klux Klan members were later convicted of murder. The city had no black police officers or firefighters and all but the most menial city jobs were held by whites. Copyright 2020 WBRC. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Tuesday marked the 57th anniversary of the 16th Street Church bombing, a hate crime that killed 4 Black girls who were attending Sunday school. The mere suggestion of racial integration was immediately rejected by the apartheid-like all-white city leadership. …We have made extensive use of the polygraph, surveillances, microphone surveillances and technical surveillances…”. Chasity is a Chicago native who received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies at Northern Illinois University.

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