Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing
The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church as photographed in 1993 by the Historic American Buildings Survey
Location	Birmingham, Alabama
Date	September 15, 1963 (1963-09-15) 10:25 am.
Deaths	4
Injured	22
Perpetrator(s)	KKK Members Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton and Robert Chambliss

The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a racially motivated terrorist attack in September 1963 by members of a Ku Klux Klan group in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States. The bombing of the African-American church resulted in the deaths of four girls. Although city leaders had reached a settlement in May with demonstrators and started to integrate public places, not everyone agreed with ending segregation. Other acts of violence followed the settlement. The bombing increased support for people working for civil rights. It marked a turning point in the U.S. civil-rights movement of the mid-20th century and contributed to support for passage of civil rights legislation in 1964. HABS photograph: First Bank of the United States, Philadelphia HABS drawing: James Madisons Montpelier HAER photograph: Tacoma Narrows Bridge HALS drawing: Hale O Pi Ilani Heiau, Maui This article is about the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), a program of the U.S. National Park Service. ... This article is about the British city. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... KKK may refer to: // Ku Klux Klan, white supremacy group(s) Katipunan (Society), a revolutionary group from Philippine history; full name Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan Anak ng Bayan (roughly translated: Supreme and Venerable Society of the Sons of the Nation) Kokusai Kogyo Kabushikigaisha, a Japanese bus and taxi company AG K... Bobby Frank Cherry (June 20, 1930 in Mineral Springs, Alabama - November 18, 2004 at Kilby Correctional Facility, Montgomery) was convicted in 2002 for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, which killed four African-American girls. ... The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing was a terrorist incident that proved to be a turning point of the US civil rights movement of the 1960s. ... 16th Street Baptist Church in 2005 16th Street Baptist Church is a large, predominantly African American Baptist church in Birmingham in the U.S. state of Alabama. ... The following is a timeline of acts and failed attempts that can be considered terrorism. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... Nickname: Location in Jefferson County in the state of Alabama Coordinates: , Country State Counties Jefferson, Shelby Incorporated December 19, 1871 Government  - Type Mayor - Council  - Mayor Bernard Kincaid (Current) Larry Langford (Mayor-Elect) Area  - City 151. ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Prominent figures of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. ...

Bombing

Aftermath of the bombing

The attack was intended to instill fear among Americans who had been demonstrating for an end to segregation and to disrupt court-ordered integration of public schools. Instead, the bombing caused public outrage and helped build support for civil rights legislation by the Kennedy Administration. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ...

The three-story Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was a rallying point for civil-rights activities through the spring of 1963. The demonstrations led to an agreement in May between the city's black leaders and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to integrate public facilities in the country. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Logo. ...

In the early morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Herman Cash, and Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss, members of United Klans of America, a Ku Klux Klan group, planted 19 sticks of dynamite with a delayed-time release outside the basement of the church.^{[citation needed]} is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Bobby Frank Cherry (June 20, 1930 in Mineral Springs, Alabama - November 18, 2004 at Kilby Correctional Facility, Montgomery) was convicted in 2002 for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, which killed four African-American girls. ... The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing was a terrorist incident that proved to be a turning point of the US civil rights movement of the 1960s. ... United Klans of America was a Ku Klux Klan organization led by Robert Shelton, which peaked popularity in the late 1960s. ... This article is about a high explosive. ...

At about 10:22 a.m., when 26 children were walking into the basement assembly room for closing prayers after a sermon entitled "The Love That Forgives," the bomb exploded.^[1] Four girls: Addie Mae Collins (aged 14), Denise McNair (aged 11), Carole Robertson (aged 14), and Cynthia Wesley (aged 14), were killed in the blast, and 22 additional people were injured. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      A sermon is an oration by...

The explosion blew a hole in the church's rear wall, destroyed the back steps, and left intact only the frames of all but one stained-glass window. The lone window that survived the concussion was one in which Jesus Christ was depicted leading young children, although Christ's face was destroyed. In addition, five cars behind the church were damaged, two of them completely destroyed, while windows in the laundromat across the street were blown out. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A laundromat in California powered by solar panels on the roof. ...

Victims

• Denise McNair was born November 17, 1951, 11 at the time of her death, she was the first child of photo shop owner Chris and schoolteacher Maxine McNair. Her playmates called her Niecie. A pupil at Center Street Elementary School, she had many friends. She held tea parties, was a member of the Brownies, and played baseball. She helped raise money to support muscular dystrophy by creating plays, dance routines, and poetry readings. These events became an annual event. People gathered in the yard to watch the show in Denise’s carport, the main stage. Children donated their pennies, dimes, and nickels. Denise was a schoolmate and friend of future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
• Cynthia Wesley was born April 30, 1949, 14 at the time of her death, she was the first adopted daughter of Claude and Gertrude Wesley, both of whom were teachers. Her mother made her clothes because of her petite size. Cynthia went to school at Ullman High School, which no longer exists. She excelled in math, reading, and band. Cynthia held parties in her backyard for all her friends. Upon Cynthia’s death she was so mutilated the only way to identify her was by the ring she wore, which was recognized by her father.
• Carole Robertson was born April 24, 1949. 14 at the time of her death. She was the third child of Alpha and Alvin Robinson. Her sister was Dianne and her brother was Alvin. Her father was a band master at the local elementary school. Her mother was a librarian, avid reader, dancer, and clarinet player. Carole, like her mother, enjoyed reading. She excelled at school and was a straight-A student, a member of Parker High School marching band and science club. She was also a Girl Scout and belonged to Jack and Jill of America. When she was at Wilkerson Elementary School she sang in the choir. Her legacy helped create the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Chicago, a social service agency that serves children and their families.
• Addie Mae Collins was born April 18, 1948, 14 at the time of her death, she was the daughter of Julius Collins. Her father was a janitor and her mother a homemaker. She was one of seven children. She was also an avid softball player. A youth center dedicated to Addie and her ideals was created in Birmingham.

Image File history File links Birmingham4. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For additional meanings of the word Brownies see Brownie (disambiguation) Brownies is the name given to the junior branch of the Girl Guides, and dates back to 1915. ... Muscular dystrophy refers to a group of genetic, hereditary muscle diseases that cause progressive muscle weakness. ... In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ... Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954) is the 66th United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President George W. Bush to hold the office. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. ... is the 108th day of the year (109th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Aftermath

Congress of Racial Equality march in Washington DC on 22 September 1963 in memory of the victims of the Birmingham bombings. The banner, which says "No more Birminghams", shows a picture of the aftermath of the bombing.

Outrage at the bombing and the grief that followed resulted in violence across Birmingham. By the end of the day, two more American youths had been killed. Sixteen-year-old Johnnie Robinson was shot and killed by police after throwing stones at cars with white people inside. Two white teenage boys riding on a motor scooter shot 13-year-old Virgil Ware, who was on a bike with his brother.^[2] “CORE” redirects here. ...

Three days after the tragedy, former Birmingham police commissioner Bull Connor inflamed tensions by saying to a crowd of 2,550 people at a Citizen's Council meeting, "If you're going to blame anyone for getting those children killed in Birmingham, it's your Supreme Court." Connor recalled that in 1954, after the Brown v. Board of Education decision had been reached, he said, "You're going to have bloodshed, and it's on them (the Court), not us." He also suggested that African Americans may have set the bomb deliberately to provoke an emotional response, saying, "I wouldn't say it's above (Dr. Martin Luther) King's crowd."^{[citation needed]} Theophilus Eugene Bull Connor (July 11, 1897, Selma, Alabama – March 10, 1973) was a Democratic police official in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama during the American Civil Rights Movement, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and a staunch advocate of racial segregation. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym SCOTUS[1]) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. ... Holding Segregation of students in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, because separate facilities are inherently unequal. ... “Martin Luther King” redirects here. ...

Following the tragic event, black strangers visited the grieving families to express their sorrow. At the funeral for three of the girls (one family preferred a separate, private funeral), Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke about life being "as hard as crucible steel." More than 8,000 mourners, including 3 clergymen of all races, attended the service. No city officials attended.^[3] Martin Luther King redirects here. ...

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ensuring equal rights of African Americans before the law. Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908–January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician. ... First page of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub. ...

Investigation and prosecution

Robert Chambliss was initially charged with the murders, but there was no conviction at first. Other perpetrators were identified but evidence was weak. Chambliss was convicted of having 122 sticks of dynamite without a permit. Years later investigation found that the FBI had accumulated evidence against the bombers which had not been revealed to the prosecutors, by order of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. F.B.I. and FBI redirect here. ... John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972), known popularly as J. Edgar Hoover, was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. ...

In 1978, Alabama Attorney-General Bill Baxley successfully prosecuted Chambliss. He was convicted of the four murders and sentenced to several terms of life imprisonment. Chambliss died in prison in 1985. William Joseph Baxley II (born June 27, 1941) is an American Democratic politician and attorney. ...

After reopening the case several times, the FBI in 2000 assisted the state authorities in bringing charges against Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton. Blanton and Cherry were convicted by state juries of all four murders and sentenced to life in prison. Though Cherry publicly denied involvement, relatives and friends testified that he "bragged" about being part of the bombing, and his ex-wife testified, "He said he lit the fuse."^[4] Herman Cash was considered to be the fourth suspect in the bombing but died in 1994 without ever having been charged. ^[5] Bobby Frank Cherry (June 20, 1930 in Mineral Springs, Alabama - November 18, 2004 at Kilby Correctional Facility, Montgomery) was convicted in 2002 for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, which killed four African-American girls. ...

Remembrances

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in 2005

• The song "Birmingham Sunday", composed by Richard Farina and recorded by Joan Baez, chronicled the events and aftermath of the bombing.
• The song "Mississippi Goddam" was composed and sung by Nina Simone in reaction to the racially-motivated bombings.
• A 1997 documentary about the bombing, 4 Little Girls, directed by Spike Lee, was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Documentary".
• The song "Alabama' on John Coltrane's Live at Birdland (recorded November 18, 1963) served as an elegy to the bombing.
• The song "Ronnie & Neil" on Drive-By Truckers' double album, Southern Rock Opera references the event in the opening line of the song, "Church blows up in Birmingham/ Four little black girls killed/ For no goddamned good reason."
• The novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis vividly conveys the events of the bombing.
• The poem "The Ballad of Birmingham" by Dudley Randall
• The song "American Guernica" by Adolphus Hailstork
• A 2002 television drama Sins of the Father, directed by Robert Dornhelm, is based on the events of the bombing
• The song "Coded Language* by Saul Williams
• Four Spirits (2003), novel by Sena Jeter Naslund and play (2006) by Naslund and Elaine Hughes. The world premiere of the play was on February 7, 2008 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
• The poem "Birmingham Sunday" by Langston Hughes

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 526 pixelsFull resolution (1600 × 1052 pixel, file size: 604 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, photographed September 2005 using a Canon Powershot S410 digital camera. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 526 pixelsFull resolution (1600 × 1052 pixel, file size: 604 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, photographed September 2005 using a Canon Powershot S410 digital camera. ... Richard Farina was an influential and important figure in both the Counter culture scene of the early to mid sixties as well as the budding folk rock scene of the same time. ... Joan Chandos Baez (born January 9, 1941) is an American folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style. ... Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known by her stage name Nina Simone (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist. ... The year 1997 in film involved some significant events. ... 4 Little Girls is a 1997 documentary about the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. It was directed by Spike Lee and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Categories: | | | | ... Shelton Jackson Lee (born March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia), better known as Spike Lee, is an Emmy Award - winning, and Academy Award - nominated American film director, producer, writer, and actor noted for his films dealing with controversial social and political issues. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... Coltrane redirects here. ... is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Drive-By Truckers are a rock/alt-country/cowpunk (their website actually calls them a psychobilly band) band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of five members (Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, and Shonna Tucker) originally hail from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama. ... A double album is an audio album of sufficient length that two units of the medium in which it is sold (especially records and compact discs) are necessary to contain the entirety of it. ... // Southern Rock Opera Southern Rock Opera is the sprawling 2001 double album recorded and released by Drive-By Truckers, a rock and alt-country band from northern Alabama. ... Christopher Paul Curtis (born May 10, 1953) is an American childrens author and a Newbery Medal winner who wrote the The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 and the critically acclaimed Bud, Not Buddy. ... The Ballad of Birmingham is a poem written by African-American poet Dudley Randall (1914-2000). ... Dudley Randall (1914 - 2000) was an African-American poet and poetry publisher from Detroit, Michigan. ... The bombing of Guernica was an aerial attack on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War by planes of the German Luftwaffe Condor Legion and subordinate Italian Fascists from the Corpo Truppe Volontarie expeditionary force organized as Aviazione Legionaria. ... Adolphus Hailstork (born Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork III, Rochester, New York, April 17, 1941) is an American composer and educator. ... The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. ... Robert Dornhelm (born 17 December 1947 in Timişoara, Romania) is a Romanian film and television director. ... Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is most known for his blend of poetry and hip-hop. ... is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

The Birmingham News is a the daily newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, and the largest newspaper in Alabama. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Further reading

• Branch, Taylor (1988). Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954 -1963. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-68742-5. 
• Sikora, Frank (April 1991). Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing Case. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0520-3. 
• Cobbs, Elizabeth H.; Smith, Petric J. (April 1994). Long Time Coming: An Insider’s Story of the Birmingham Church Bombing that Rocked the World. Birmingham, AL: Crane Hill. ISBN 1-881548-10-4. 
• Hamlin, Christopher M. (1998). Behind the Stained Glass: A History of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Birmingham, AL: Crane Hill.

External links

• Online archives at the Birmingham Public Library, including the investigation and trial
• website of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
• Online History
• Additional Information