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16th Street Baptist Church bombing

February 06, 2023

The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a white supremacist terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963.[1][2][3] Four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted 19 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church.[4]

16th Street Baptist Church bombing
Part of the Civil Rights movement and the Birmingham campaign
The four girls killed in the bombing (clockwise from top left) Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Carol Denise McNair (11)
LocationBirmingham, Alabama
Coordinates33°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
DateSeptember 15, 1963; 59 years ago
10:22 a.m. (UTC-5)
Target16th Street Baptist Church
Attack type
Bombing
Domestic terrorism
Right-wing terrorism
Deaths4
Injured14–22
VictimsAddie Mae Collins
Cynthia Wesley
Carole Robertson
Carol Denise McNair
PerpetratorsThomas Blanton (convicted)
Robert Chambliss (convicted)
Bobby Cherry (convicted)
Herman Cash (alleged)
MotiveRacism and support for racial segregation

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 between 14 and 22 other people.

Although the FBI had concluded in 1965 that the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing had been committed by four known Klansmen and segregationists: Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., Herman Frank Cash, Robert Edward Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry,[6] no prosecutions were conducted until 1977, when Robert Chambliss was tried by Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley and convicted of the first-degree murder of one of the victims, 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair.

As part of a revival effort by states and the federal government to prosecute cold cases from the civil rights era, the state conducted trials in the early 21st century of Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. and Bobby Cherry, who were each convicted of four counts of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Future United States Senator Doug Jones successfully prosecuted Blanton and Cherry.[7] Herman Cash had died in 1994, and 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 also contributed to support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Congress.[8]

Background

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 in any form was met with violent resistance. Martin Luther King Jr. described Birmingham as "probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States."[9] Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety, Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor,[10] led the effort in enforcing racial segregation in the city through the use of violent tactics.[11]

Black and white residents of Birmingham had access to different public amenities such as water fountains and places of public gathering such as movie theaters.[12] The city had no black police officers or firefighters[12] and most black residents could expect to find menial employment in professions such as cooks and cleaners.[12] Black residents did not just experience segregation in the context of leisure and employment, but also in the context of their freedom and well-being. Given the state's disenfranchisement of most black people since the turn of the century, by making voter registration essentially impossible, few of the city's black residents were registered to vote. Bombings at black homes[13] and institutions were a regular occurrence, with at least 21 separate explosions recorded at black properties and churches in the eight years before 1963. However, none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities.[14] These attacks earned the city the nickname "Bombingham".[13][15]

 
The 16th Street Baptist Church in 2005. The steps beneath which the bomb was planted can be seen in the foreground.

Birmingham Campaign

Main article: Birmingham campaign

Civil Rights activists and leaders in Birmingham fought against the city's deeply-ingrained and institutionalized racism with tactics that included the targeting of Birmingham's economic and social disparities.[11] Their demands included that public amenities such as lunch counters and parks be desegregated, the criminal charges against demonstrators and protestors should be removed, and an end to overt discrimination with regards to employment opportunities.[11] The intentional scope of these activities was to see the end of segregation across Birmingham and the South as a whole.[11] The work these Civil Rights activists were engaged in within Birmingham was crucial to the movement as the Birmingham campaign was seen as guidance for other cities in the South with regards to rising against segregation and racism.[11]

The three-story 16th Street Baptist Church was a rallying point for civil rights activities through the spring of 1963.[8] When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Congress on Racial Equality became involved in a campaign to register African Americans to vote in Birmingham, tensions in the city increased. The church was used as a meeting-place for civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and Fred Shuttlesworth, for organizing and educating marchers.[8] It was the location where students were organized and trained by the SCLC Director of Direct Action, James Bevel, to participate in the 1963 Birmingham campaign's Children's Crusade after other marches had taken place.[8]

On Thursday, 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 the city, and to integrate buildings and businesses currently segregated. Although this march was met with fierce resistance and criticism, and 600 arrests were made on the first day alone, the Birmingham campaign and its Children's Crusade continued until May 5. The intention was to fill the jail with protesters. 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 be integrated would do so on September 4.)[16]

These demonstrations and the concessions from city leaders to the majority of demonstrators' demands were met with fierce resistance by other whites in Birmingham. In the weeks following the September 4 integration of public schools, three additional bombs were detonated in Birmingham.[17] Other acts of violence followed the settlement, and several staunch Klansmen were known to have expressed frustration at what they saw as a lack of effective resistance to integration.[18]

As a known and popular rallying point for civil rights activists, the 16th Street Baptist Church was an obvious target.

Bombing

In the early morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, four members of the United Klans of America—Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., Robert Edward Chambliss,[19] Bobby Frank Cherry, and (allegedly) Herman Frank Cash—planted a minimum of 15 sticks[20] of dynamite with a time delay under the steps of the church, close to the basement. 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.[21] The anonymous caller simply said the words, "Three minutes"[22]: 10  to Maull before terminating the call. Less than one minute later, the bomb exploded. Five children were in the basement at the time of the explosion,[23] in a restroom close to the stairwell, changing into choir robes[24] in preparation for a sermon entitled "A Rock That Will Not Roll".[25] According to one survivor, the explosion shook the entire building and propelled the girls' bodies through the air "like rag dolls".[26]

The explosion blew a hole measuring seven feet (2.1 m) in diameter in the church's rear wall, and a crater five feet (1.5 m) wide and two feet (0.61 m) deep in the ladies' basement lounge, destroying the rear steps to the church and blowing a passing motorist out of his car.[27] 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.[17]

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 converged on the scene in the hours following the explosion. The church's pastor, the Reverend John Cross Jr., attempted to placate the crowd by loudly reciting the 23rd Psalm through a bullhorn.[28]

Four girls—Addie Mae Collins (age 14, born April 18, 1949), Carol Denise McNair (age 11, born November 17, 1951), Carole Rosamond Robertson (age 14, born April 24, 1949), and Cynthia Dionne Wesley (age 14, born April 30, 1949)—were killed in the attack.[29] The explosion was so intense that one of the girls' bodies was decapitated and so badly mutilated that her body could be identified only through her clothing and a ring.[30] Another victim was killed by a piece of mortar embedded in her skull.[31] The pastor of the church, the Reverend John Cross, recollected in 2001 that the girls' bodies were found "stacked on top of each other, clung together".[32] All four girls were pronounced dead on arrival at the Hillman Emergency Clinic.[33]

Between 14 and 22 additional people were injured in the explosion,[34][35] one of whom was Addie Mae's younger sister, 12-year-old Sarah Collins.[36] She had 21 pieces of glass embedded in her face and was blinded in one eye.[37] In her later recollections of the bombing, Collins would recall that in the moments immediately before the explosion, she had watched her sister, Addie, tying her dress sash.[38] 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 returned upstairs to the ground floor of the church.[39]

Reactions

Unrest and tensions

Further information: Shooting of Johnny Robinson

Violence escalated in Birmingham in the hours following the bombing, with reports of groups of black and white youth throwing bricks and shouting insults at each other.[40] 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. The 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.[17]

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",[41] 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 toward the oppression of blacks. In this speech, Morgan 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."[42] 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."[43]

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,[41] 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[16] in a residential suburb 15 miles (24 km) 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.[44] 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,[45] although the judge suspended their sentences and imposed two years' probation upon each youth.[44][46])

Some civil rights activists blamed George Wallace, 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 The New York Times, in which he said he believed Alabama needed a "few first-class funerals" to stop racial integration.[47]

The city of Birmingham initially offered a $52,000 reward for the arrest of the bombers. Governor Wallace offered an additional $5,000 on behalf of the state of Alabama. Although this donation was accepted,[48]: 274  Martin Luther King Jr. is known to have sent Wallace a telegram saying, "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."[17][49]

Funerals

Carole Rosamond Robertson was laid to rest in a private family funeral held on September 17, 1963.[50] Reportedly, Carole's mother, Alpha, had expressly requested that her daughter be buried separately from the other victims. She was distressed about a remark made by Martin Luther King, who had said that the mindset that enabled the murder of the four girls was the "apathy and complacency" of black people in Alabama.[48]: 272 

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 told the congregation: "The greatest tribute you can pay to Carole is to be calm, be lovely, be kind, be innocent."[51] Carole Robertson was buried in a blue casket at Shadow Lawn Cemetery.[52]

 
Funeral program for Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, and Carol Denise McNair

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,[53] an estimated 800 clergymen of all races were among the attendees. Also present was Martin Luther King Jr. In a speech conducted before the burials of the girls, King addressed an estimated 3,300[54] mourners—including numerous white people—with a speech saying:

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.[55][56]

As the girls' coffins were taken to their graves, King directed that those present remain solemn and forbade any singing, shouting or demonstrations. These instructions were relayed to the crowd present by a single youth with a bullhorn.[55]

Initial investigation

Initially, investigators theorized that a bomb thrown from a passing car had caused the explosion at the 16th Street Baptist church. But by September 20, the FBI was able to confirm that the explosion had been caused by a device that was purposely planted beneath the steps to the church,[57] close to the women's lounge. A section of wire and remnants of red plastic were discovered there, which could have been part of a timing device. (The plastic remnants were later lost by investigators.)[22]: 63 

Within days of the bombing, investigators began to focus their attention upon a KKK splinter group known as the "Cahaba Boys". The Cahaba Boys had formed earlier in 1963, as they felt that the KKK was becoming restrained and impotent in response to concessions granted to black people to end racial segregation. This group 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.[22]: 57  Although the Cahaba Boys had fewer than 30 active members,[58] among them were 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.[59] These witness statements specifically indicated that a white man had exited the car and walked toward the steps of the church. (The physical description by witnesses of this person varied, and could have matched either Bobby Cherry or Robert Chambliss.[48])

Chambliss was questioned by the FBI on September 26.[46]: 386  On September 29, he was indicted upon charges of illegally purchasing and transporting dynamite on September 4, 1963. He and two acquaintances, John Hall and Charles Cagle, were each convicted in state court upon a charge of illegally possessing and transporting dynamite on October 8. Each received a $100 fine (the equivalent of $972 as of 2023) and a suspended 180-day jail sentence.[60][61] At the time, no federal charges were filed against Chambliss or any of his fellow conspirators in relation to the bombing.[62]

FBI closure of case

The FBI encountered difficulties in their initial investigation into the bombing. A 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."[63]

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.[64] This information was relayed to the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover;[65] however, no prosecutions of the four suspects ensued. There had been a history of mistrust between local and federal investigators.[66] Later the same year, J. Edgar Hoover formally blocked any impending federal prosecutions against the suspects,[67] 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

 
President Lyndon Johnson signs into effect the Civil Rights Act of 1964. July 2, 1964

The Birmingham campaign, the March on Washington in August, the September bombing of the 16th Street Baptist church, and the November 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 toward the civil rights cause in the United States.

Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, newly-inaugurated President Lyndon Johnson continued to press for 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 major leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King Jr.[69] This legislation prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin; to ensure full, equal rights of African Americans before the law.

Formal reopening of the investigation

Officially, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing remained unsolved until after 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 the original police documents were "mostly worthless".[71] Baxley formally reopened the case in 1971. He was able to build trust with key witnesses, some of whom had been reluctant to testify in the first investigation. Other witnesses obtained identified 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 KKK had purchased near Highway 101.[73]: 497  This testimony of witnesses and evidence was used to formally construct a case against Robert Chambliss.

After Baxley requested access to the original FBI files on the case, he learned that evidence accumulated by the FBI against the named suspects between 1963 and 1965 had not been revealed to the local prosecutors in Birmingham.[59] Although he met with initial resistance from the FBI,[48]: 278  in 1976 Baxley was formally presented with some of the evidence which had been compiled by the FBI, 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.[74]

Prosecution of Robert Chambliss

On November 14, 1977, Robert Chambliss, then aged 73, stood trial in Birmingham's Jefferson County Courthouse. Chambliss had been indicted by a grand jury on September 24, 1977, charged with four counts of murder, for each dead child in the 1963 church bombing.[75] But at a pre-trial hearing on October 18,[76] Judge Wallace Gibson ruled that the defendant would be tried upon one count of murder—that of Carol Denise McNair[76]—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.[76][77]

Chambliss pleaded not guilty to the charges, insisting that although he had purchased a case of dynamite less than two weeks before the bombing, he had given the dynamite to a Klansman and FBI agent provocateur named Gary Thomas Rowe Jr.[78]

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 Tom Cook, a retired Birmingham police officer, 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 before the bombing. Following Cook's testimony, Baxley introduced police sergeant Ernie Cantrell.[79] He testified that Chambliss had visited his headquarters in 1976 and that he had attempted to affix the blame for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing upon an altogether different member of the KKK. Cantrell also stated that Chambliss had boasted of his knowledge of how to construct a "drip-method bomb" using a fishing float and a leaking bucket of water. (Upon cross-examination by defense attorney Art Hanes Jr., Cantrell conceded that Chambliss had emphatically denied bombing the church.)

One individual who went to 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".[20]

One of the key witnesses to testify on behalf of the prosecution was the Reverend Elizabeth Cobbs, Chambliss's 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.[80] Moreover, Cobbs testified on November 16 that, on the day before the bombing, Chambliss had told her that 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 said: "It [the bomb] wasn't meant to hurt anybody ... it didn't go off when it was supposed to."[24] Another witness to testify was William Jackson, who testified as to his joining the KKK in 1963 and becoming acquainted with Chambliss shortly thereafter. Jackson testified that Chambliss had expressed frustration that the Klan was "dragging its feet" on the issue of racial integration,[18] and said he was eager to form a splinter group more dedicated to resistance.[81]

In his closing argument before the jury on November 17,[82] Baxley acknowledged that Chambliss was not the sole perpetrator of the bombing.[83] He expressed regret that the state was unable to request the death penalty in this case, as the death penalty in effect in the state in 1963 had been repealed. The current state death penalty law applied only to crimes committed after its passage. Baxley noted 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. He referred to testimony given by her father, Chris McNair, about the family's loss, and requested that the jury return a verdict of guilty.[84]

In his rebuttal closing argument, defense attorney Art Hanes Jr. attacked the evidence presented by the prosecution as being purely circumstantial,[85] adding that, despite the existence of similar circumstantial evidence, Chambliss had not been prosecuted in 1963 of the church bombing. Hanes noted conflicting testimony among several of the 12 witnesses called by the defense to testify as to Chambliss's whereabouts on the day of the bombing. A policeman and a neighbor had each testified that Chambliss was at the home of a man named Clarence Dill on that day.

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,[85] they found Robert Chambliss guilty of the murder of Carol Denise McNair.[86] He was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder.[87] 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."[88][89]

On the same afternoon that Chambliss's guilty verdict was announced, prosecutor Baxley issued a subpoena to Thomas Blanton to appear in court about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Although Baxley knew he had insufficient evidence to charge Blanton at this stage, he intended the subpoena to frighten Blanton into confessing his involvement and negotiating a plea deal to turn state evidence against his co-conspirators. Blanton, however, hired a lawyer and refused to answer any questions.[73]: 574 

Chambliss appealed his conviction, as provided under the law, saying that much of the evidence presented at his trial—including testimony relating to his activities within the KKK—was circumstantial; that the 14-year delay between the crime and his trial violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial; and the prosecution had deliberately used the delay to try to gain an advantage over Chambliss's defense attorneys. This appeal was dismissed on May 22, 1979.[90]

Robert Chambliss died in the Lloyd Noland Hospital and Health Center on October 29, 1985, at the age of 81.[91] 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, insisting Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. was the actual perpetrator.[92][93]

Later prosecutions

In 1995, ten years after Chambliss died, the FBI reopened their investigation into the church bombing. It was part of a coordinated effort between local, state and federal governments to review cold cases of the civil rights era in the hopes of prosecuting perpetrators.[94] They unsealed 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 not been made available to DA 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 KKK splinter group known as the Cahaba Boys. The four individuals named in the FBI report were Blanton, Cash, Chambliss, and Cherry.[58] By the time of the announcement, Herman Cash had also died; however, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry were still alive. Both were arrested.[95]

On May 16, 2000, a grand jury in Alabama indicted Thomas Edwin Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry on eight counts each 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.[96] The following day, both men surrendered to police.[97]: 162 

The state 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.[98] It concluded that vascular dementia had impaired his mind, therefore making Cherry mentally incompetent to stand trial or assist in his own defense.[99]

On April 10, 2001, Judge James Garrett indefinitely postponed Cherry's trial, pending further medical analysis.[100] In January 2002, Judge Garrett ruled Cherry mentally competent to stand trial and set an initial trial date for April 29.

Thomas Edwin Blanton

Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. was brought to trial in Birmingham, Alabama, before Judge James Garrett on April 24, 2001.[65] Blanton pleaded not guilty to the charges and chose not to testify on his 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, he warned the jury: "Just because you don't like him, that doesn't make him responsible for the bombing."[32]

The prosecution called a total of seven witnesses to testify in their case against Blanton, including relatives of the victims, John Cross, the former pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church; an FBI agent named William Fleming, and Mitchell Burns, a former Klansman who had become a paid FBI informant. Burns had secretly recorded several conversations with Blanton in which the latter (Blanton) had gloated when talking about the bombing, and had boasted the police would not catch him when he bombed another church.[101]

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 Waylen 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 saying that he was not with Miss Vaughn but, two nights before the bombing, was at a meeting with other Klansmen on a bridge above the Cahaba River.[102] He said: "You've got to have a meeting to plan a bomb."[102]

In addition to calling attention to flaws in the prosecution's case, the defense exposed inconsistencies in the memories of some prosecution witnesses who had testified. Blanton's attorneys criticized the validity and quality of the 16 tape recordings introduced as evidence,[103] arguing that the prosecution had edited and spliced the sections of the audio recording that were secretly obtained within Blanton's kitchen, reducing the entirety of the tape by 26 minutes. He said that the sections introduced as evidence were of poor audio quality, resulting in the prosecution presenting text transcripts of questionable accuracy to the jury. About the recordings made as Blanton conversed with Burns, Robbins emphasized that Burns had earlier testified that Blanton had never expressly said that he had made or planted the bomb.[104] The defense portrayed the audiotapes introduced into evidence as the statements of "two rednecks driving around, drinking" and making false, ego-inflating claims to one another.[105]

The trial lasted for one week. Seven witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution, and two for the defense. One of the defense witnesses was a retired chef named Eddie Mauldin, who was called to testify to discredit prosecution witnesses' statements that they had seen Blanton in the vicinity of the church before 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;[106] 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 and future U.S. Senator Doug Jones said that although the trial was conducted 38 years after the bombing, it was 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 reviewed Blanton's extensive history with the Ku Klux Klan, before referring to the audio recordings presented earlier in the trial. Jones repeated 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."[107]

Defense attorney John Robbins reminded the jury in his closing argument that his client was an admitted segregationist and a "loudmouth", but that was all that could be proven. He said this 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.[108]

The jury deliberated for two and a half hours before returning with a verdict finding Thomas Edwin Blanton guilty of four counts of first-degree murder.[109] When asked by the judge whether he had anything to say before sentence was imposed, Blanton said: "I guess the Lord will settle it on Judgment Day."[110]

Blanton was sentenced to life imprisonment.[111][112] He was incarcerated at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama.[113] Blanton was confined in a one-man cell under tight security. He seldom spoke of his involvement in the bombing, shunned social activity and rarely received visitors.[114]

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. Martin said: "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 denying parole to Blanton.[115][116]

Blanton died in prison from unspecified causes on June 26, 2020.[117]

Bobby Frank Cherry

Bobby Frank Cherry was tried in Birmingham, Alabama, before Judge James Garrett, on May 6, 2002.[118] Cherry 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 presented his case: that the evidence would 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 personally planted or ignited the bomb, the combined evidence would illustrate that he had aided and abetted in the commission of the act.[97]: ch. 35 

Cherry's defense attorney, Mickey Johnson, protested his client's innocence, citing that much of the evidence presented was circumstantial. He also noted 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 warned the jurors they would have to distinguish 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, who had married Cherry 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 to the dynamite. Brogdon also testified that Cherry had told her of his regret that children had died in the bombing, before adding his satisfaction that they would never reproduce. Although the credibility of Brogdon's testimony was called into dispute at the trial, forensic experts conceded 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 discovered after the bombing.[119] (A fishing float attached to a section of wire, which may have been part of a timing device, was found 20 feet (6.1 m) from the explosion crater[85] following the bombing. One of several vehicles severely damaged in the explosion was found to have carried fishing tackle.[120])

Barbara Ann Cross also testified for the prosecution. She is the daughter of the Reverend John Cross and was aged 13 in 1963. Cross had attended the same Sunday School class as the four victims on the day of the bombing and was slightly wounded in the attack. On May 15,[121] 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, and they were asked to learn to consider, "What Would Jesus Do?"[97] Cross testified that she would usually 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 audiotapes 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 audiotapes 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. Don Cochran disputed this position, arguing that Alabama law provides for "conspiracies to conceal evidence" to be proven by both inference and circumstantial evidence.[97] 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 called to testify on behalf of the prosecution. 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 said the victims' "Youth Sunday [sermon] never happened ... because it was destroyed by this defendant's hate."[122] Cochran outlined Cherry's extensive record of racial violence dating back to the 1950s, and noted that he had experience and training in constructing and installing bombs from his service 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 told his first wife, Jean, that he and other Klansmen had constructed the bomb within the premises of business the Friday before the bombing. He said 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.[123]

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."[122] Johnson reiterated that there was no hard evidence linking Cherry to the bombing, but only evidence attesting to his racist beliefs dating from that era, adding that the family members who had testified against him were all estranged and therefore should be considered unreliable witnesses. Johnson urged the jury against convicting his client 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 the jury had deliberated for almost seven hours, the forewoman announced they had reached their verdicts: Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.[124] Cherry remained stoic as the sentence was read aloud. Relatives of the four victims openly wept in relief.[125]

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 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!"[66]

Bobby Frank Cherry died of cancer on November 18, 2004, at age 74, while incarcerated at the Kilby Correctional Facility.[124]

Following the convictions of Blanton and Cherry, Alabama's former Attorney General, William Baxley, expressed his frustration that he had never been informed of the existence of the FBI audio recordings before they were introduced in the 2001 and 2002 trials. Baxley acknowledged that typical juries in 1960s Alabama would have likely leaned in favor of both defendants, even if these recordings had been presented as evidence,[126] but said that he could have prosecuted Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry in 1977 if he had been granted access to these tapes. (A 1980 Justice Department report concluded that J. Edgar Hoover had blocked the prosecution of the four bombing suspects in 1965,[7] and he officially closed the FBI's investigation in 1968.[65])

A possible fifth conspirator

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. He became a paid FBI informant in 1961.[127] In this role, Rowe acted as an agent provocateur between 1961[128] and 1965. Although informative to the FBI, Rowe actively participated in violence against both black and white civil rights activists. By Rowe's own later admission, while serving as an FBI informant, he had shot and killed an unidentified black man and had been an accessory to the murder of Viola Liuzzo.[129]

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.[130] 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, DA William Baxley had chosen 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.[130] Nonetheless, a 1979 investigation cleared Rowe of any involvement in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.[131]

Aftermath

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.[132]
—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.[133]
  • The most seriously injured survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Sarah Jean Collins, remained hospitalized for more than two months[134] 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.[135] 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."[135]
  • 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.[136][42]
  • 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,[137] 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.[138]
    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.[138]
  • 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.[139]
  • 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."[140] The Welsh Window bears the inscription, "Given by The People of Wales".[141]
  • 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".[132]
  • 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,[142] the FBI had concluded in May 1965 that Cash was one of the four conspirators.[59] 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.[143]
  • 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.[144]

  • On May 24, 2013, President Barack Obama awarded a posthumous 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;[145] 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.[146] The gold medal was presented to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to display or temporarily loan to other museums.[146]
 
Politician Terri Sewell, with actresses from the play 4 Little Girls, pictured upon the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church (2019)

Media and memorials

Music

  • 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.[147]
  • Nina Simone's 1964 civil rights anthem "Mississippi Goddam" is partially inspired by the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. The lyric "Alabama's got me so upset" refers to this incident.[148]
  • Jazz musician John Coltrane's 1964 album Live at Birdland includes the track "Alabama", recorded two months after the bombing. This song was written as a direct musical tribute to the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.[149]
  • 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.[150]

Film

Television

  • The 1993 documentary, Angels of Change, focuses on the events leading up to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing as well as the aftermath of the bombing. This documentary was produced by the Birmingham-based TV station WVTM-TV and subsequently received a Peabody Award.[153]
  • 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.[27]

Books (non-fiction)

  • 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 978-0-671-68742-7.
  • 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 978-1-881548-10-2.
  • Hamlin, Christopher M. (1998). Behind the Stained Glass: A History of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Crane Hill Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57587-083-0.
  • Jones, Doug (2019). Bending Toward Justice: The Birmingham Church Bombing that Changed the Course of Civil Rights. All Points Books. ISBN 9781250201447.
  • 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 978-0-8173-0520-8.
  • 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)

  • Christopher Paul Curtis's 1995 novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 conveys the events of the bombing.[154] This fictional account of the bombing was later converted into a movie.[155]
  • 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

 
The Four Spirits sculpture, unveiled at Birmingham's 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,[140] the Welsh Window stands over the front door of the sanctuary.[156]
  • 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.[68] 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.[157] 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 depicted in the sculpture, this second casting is now on display at the George Washington Carver Museum.[158]
  • 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.[159] 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 honour those killed during the struggle, to appreciate how far the country has come in its quest for equality".[159]
  • 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[160] 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.[161] The fourth girl (Carole Robertson) is depicted standing and smiling as she motions the other three girls to attend their church sermon.[162]
  • At the base of the sculpture is an inscription of the title of the sermon the four girls were to attend before 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 who were 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.[162] 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."[163]

See also

References

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Cited works and further reading

  • Branch, Taylor (1988). Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–1963. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-68742-7.
  • 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 978-1-881548-10-2.
  • Hamlin, Christopher M. (1998). Behind the Stained Glass: A History of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Crane Hill Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57587-083-0.
  • 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 978-0-8173-0520-8.
  • 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 978-0-19-512357-9.

External links

External video
  Booknotes interview with Diane McWhorter on Carry Me Home, May 27, 2001, C-SPAN
  After Words interview with Doug Jones on Bending Toward Justice, March 9, 2019, C-SPAN
  • at CrimeLibrary.com
  • Official website of the 16th Street Baptist Church
  • 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 "'Where Was God' When Bomb Hit", by Larry Still, covering the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing]
  • Online archives available at the Birmingham Public Library. These archives include photographic and newspaper archives
  • Chambliss vs. State: Details of Robert Chambliss's 1979 appeal against his conviction
  • Audio interview with 16th Street Baptist Church bombing survivor Sarah Collins Rudolph
  • FourSpirits1963.com February 12, 2015, at the Wayback Machine—A website devoted to the construction and preservation of the Four Spirits memorial sculpture at Kelly Ingram Park

February 06, 2023
16th, street, baptist, church, bombing, white, supremacist, terrorist, bombing, 16th, street, baptist, church, birmingham, alabama, sunday, september, 1963, four, members, local, klux, klan, chapter, planted, sticks, dynamite, attached, timing, device, beneath. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a white supremacist terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama on Sunday September 15 1963 1 2 3 Four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted 19 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church 4 16th Street Baptist Church bombingPart of the Civil Rights movement and the Birmingham campaignThe four girls killed in the bombing clockwise from top left Addie Mae Collins 14 Cynthia Wesley 14 Carole Robertson 14 and Carol Denise McNair 11 LocationBirmingham AlabamaCoordinates33 31 0 N 86 48 54 W 33 51667 N 86 81500 W 33 51667 86 81500 Coordinates 33 31 0 N 86 48 54 W 33 51667 N 86 81500 W 33 51667 86 81500DateSeptember 15 1963 59 years ago 10 22 a m UTC 5 Target16th Street Baptist ChurchAttack typeBombing Domestic terrorism Right wing terrorismDeaths4Injured14 22VictimsAddie Mae CollinsCynthia WesleyCarole Robertson Carol Denise McNairPerpetratorsThomas Blanton convicted Robert Chambliss convicted Bobby Cherry convicted Herman Cash alleged MotiveRacism and support for racial segregation 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 between 14 and 22 other people Although the FBI had concluded in 1965 that the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing had been committed by four known Klansmen and segregationists Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr Herman Frank Cash Robert Edward Chambliss and Bobby Frank Cherry 6 no prosecutions were conducted until 1977 when Robert Chambliss was tried by Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley and convicted of the first degree murder of one of the victims 11 year old Carol Denise McNair As part of a revival effort by states and the federal government to prosecute cold cases from the civil rights era the state conducted trials in the early 21st century of Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr and Bobby Cherry who were each convicted of four counts of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 and 2002 respectively Future United States Senator Doug Jones successfully prosecuted Blanton and Cherry 7 Herman Cash had died in 1994 and 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 also contributed to support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Congress 8 Contents 1 Background 1 1 Birmingham Campaign 2 Bombing 3 Reactions 3 1 Unrest and tensions 3 2 Funerals 4 Initial investigation 4 1 FBI closure of case 5 Resulting legislation 6 Formal reopening of the investigation 6 1 Prosecution of Robert Chambliss 7 Later prosecutions 7 1 Thomas Edwin Blanton 7 2 Bobby Frank Cherry 8 A 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 linksBackground EditIn 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 in any form was met with violent resistance Martin Luther King Jr described Birmingham as probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States 9 Birmingham s Commissioner of Public Safety Theophilus Eugene Bull Connor 10 led the effort in enforcing racial segregation in the city through the use of violent tactics 11 Black and white residents of Birmingham had access to different public amenities such as water fountains and places of public gathering such as movie theaters 12 The city had no black police officers or firefighters 12 and most black residents could expect to find menial employment in professions such as cooks and cleaners 12 Black residents did not just experience segregation in the context of leisure and employment but also in the context of their freedom and well being Given the state s disenfranchisement of most black people since the turn of the century by making voter registration essentially impossible few of the city s black residents were registered to vote Bombings at black homes 13 and institutions were a regular occurrence with at least 21 separate explosions recorded at black properties and churches in the eight years before 1963 However none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities 14 These attacks earned the city the nickname Bombingham 13 15 The 16th Street Baptist Church in 2005 The steps beneath which the bomb was planted can be seen in the foreground Birmingham Campaign Edit Main article Birmingham campaign Civil Rights activists and leaders in Birmingham fought against the city s deeply ingrained and institutionalized racism with tactics that included the targeting of Birmingham s economic and social disparities 11 Their demands included that public amenities such as lunch counters and parks be desegregated the criminal charges against demonstrators and protestors should be removed and an end to overt discrimination with regards to employment opportunities 11 The intentional scope of these activities was to see the end of segregation across Birmingham and the South as a whole 11 The work these Civil Rights activists were engaged in within Birmingham was crucial to the movement as the Birmingham campaign was seen as guidance for other cities in the South with regards to rising against segregation and racism 11 The three story 16th Street Baptist Church was a rallying point for civil rights activities through the spring of 1963 8 When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference SCLC and the Congress on Racial Equality became involved in a campaign to register African Americans to vote in Birmingham tensions in the city increased The church was used as a meeting place for civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr Ralph David Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth for organizing and educating marchers 8 It was the location where students were organized and trained by the SCLC Director of Direct Action James Bevel to participate in the 1963 Birmingham campaign s Children s Crusade after other marches had taken place 8 On Thursday 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 the city and to integrate buildings and businesses currently segregated Although this march was met with fierce resistance and criticism and 600 arrests were made on the first day alone the Birmingham campaign and its Children s Crusade continued until May 5 The intention was to fill the jail with protesters 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 be integrated would do so on September 4 16 These demonstrations and the concessions from city leaders to the majority of demonstrators demands were met with fierce resistance by other whites in Birmingham In the weeks following the September 4 integration of public schools three additional bombs were detonated in Birmingham 17 Other acts of violence followed the settlement and several staunch Klansmen were known to have expressed frustration at what they saw as a lack of effective resistance to integration 18 As a known and popular rallying point for civil rights activists the 16th Street Baptist Church was an obvious target Bombing EditIn the early morning of Sunday September 15 1963 four members of the United Klans of America Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr Robert Edward Chambliss 19 Bobby Frank Cherry and allegedly Herman Frank Cash planted a minimum of 15 sticks 20 of dynamite with a time delay under the steps of the church close to the basement 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 21 The anonymous caller simply said the words Three minutes 22 10 to Maull before terminating the call Less than one minute later the bomb exploded Five children were in the basement at the time of the explosion 23 in a restroom close to the stairwell changing into choir robes 24 in preparation for a sermon entitled A Rock That Will Not Roll 25 According to one survivor the explosion shook the entire building and propelled the girls bodies through the air like rag dolls 26 The explosion blew a hole measuring seven feet 2 1 m in diameter in the church s rear wall and a crater five feet 1 5 m wide and two feet 0 61 m deep in the ladies basement lounge destroying the rear steps to the church and blowing a passing motorist out of his car 27 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 17 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 converged on the scene in the hours following the explosion The church s pastor the Reverend John Cross Jr attempted to placate the crowd by loudly reciting the 23rd Psalm through a bullhorn 28 Four girls Addie Mae Collins age 14 born April 18 1949 Carol Denise McNair age 11 born November 17 1951 Carole Rosamond Robertson age 14 born April 24 1949 and Cynthia Dionne Wesley age 14 born April 30 1949 were killed in the attack 29 The explosion was so intense that one of the girls bodies was decapitated and so badly mutilated that her body could be identified only through her clothing and a ring 30 Another victim was killed by a piece of mortar embedded in her skull 31 The pastor of the church the Reverend John Cross recollected in 2001 that the girls bodies were found stacked on top of each other clung together 32 All four girls were pronounced dead on arrival at the Hillman Emergency Clinic 33 Between 14 and 22 additional people were injured in the explosion 34 35 one of whom was Addie Mae s younger sister 12 year old Sarah Collins 36 She had 21 pieces of glass embedded in her face and was blinded in one eye 37 In her later recollections of the bombing Collins would recall that in the moments immediately before the explosion she had watched her sister Addie tying her dress sash 38 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 returned upstairs to the ground floor of the church 39 Reactions EditUnrest and tensions Edit Further information Shooting of Johnny Robinson Violence escalated in Birmingham in the hours following the bombing with reports of groups of black and white youth throwing bricks and shouting insults at each other 40 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 The 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 17 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 41 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 toward the oppression of blacks In this speech Morgan 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 42 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 43 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 41 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 16 in a residential suburb 15 miles 24 km 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 44 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 45 although the judge suspended their sentences and imposed two years probation upon each youth 44 46 Some civil rights activists blamed George Wallace 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 The New York Times in which he said he believed Alabama needed a few first class funerals to stop racial integration 47 The city of Birmingham initially offered a 52 000 reward for the arrest of the bombers Governor Wallace offered an additional 5 000 on behalf of the state of Alabama Although this donation was accepted 48 274 Martin Luther King Jr is known to have sent Wallace a telegram saying 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 17 49 Funerals Edit Carole Rosamond Robertson was laid to rest in a private family funeral held on September 17 1963 50 Reportedly Carole s mother Alpha had expressly requested that her daughter be buried separately from the other victims She was distressed about a remark made by Martin Luther King who had said that the mindset that enabled the murder of the four girls was the apathy and complacency of black people in Alabama 48 272 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 told the congregation The greatest tribute you can pay to Carole is to be calm be lovely be kind be innocent 51 Carole Robertson was buried in a blue casket at Shadow Lawn Cemetery 52 Funeral program for Addie Mae Collins Cynthia Wesley and Carol Denise McNair 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 53 an estimated 800 clergymen of all races were among the attendees Also present was Martin Luther King Jr In a speech conducted before the burials of the girls King addressed an estimated 3 300 54 mourners including numerous white people with a speech saying 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 55 56 As the girls coffins were taken to their graves King directed that those present remain solemn and forbade any singing shouting or demonstrations These instructions were relayed to the crowd present by a single youth with a bullhorn 55 Initial investigation EditInitially investigators theorized that a bomb thrown from a passing car had caused the explosion at the 16th Street Baptist church But by September 20 the FBI was able to confirm that the explosion had been caused by a device that was purposely planted beneath the steps to the church 57 close to the women s lounge A section of wire and remnants of red plastic were discovered there which could have been part of a timing device The plastic remnants were later lost by investigators 22 63 Within days of the bombing investigators began to focus their attention upon a KKK splinter group known as the Cahaba Boys The Cahaba Boys had formed earlier in 1963 as they felt that the KKK was becoming restrained and impotent in response to concessions granted to black people to end racial segregation This group 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 22 57 Although the Cahaba Boys had fewer than 30 active members 58 among them were 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 59 These witness statements specifically indicated that a white man had exited the car and walked toward the steps of the church The physical description by witnesses of this person varied and could have matched either Bobby Cherry or Robert Chambliss 48 Chambliss was questioned by the FBI on September 26 46 386 On September 29 he was indicted upon charges of illegally purchasing and transporting dynamite on September 4 1963 He and two acquaintances John Hall and Charles Cagle were each convicted in state court upon a charge of illegally possessing and transporting dynamite on October 8 Each received a 100 fine the equivalent of 972 as of 2023 update and a suspended 180 day jail sentence 60 61 At the time no federal charges were filed against Chambliss or any of his fellow conspirators in relation to the bombing 62 FBI closure of case Edit The FBI encountered difficulties in their initial investigation into the bombing A 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 63 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 64 This information was relayed to the Director of the FBI J Edgar Hoover 65 however no prosecutions of the four suspects ensued There had been a history of mistrust between local and federal investigators 66 Later the same year J Edgar Hoover formally blocked any impending federal prosecutions against the suspects 67 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 in August the September bombing of the 16th Street Baptist church and the November 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 toward the civil rights cause in the United States Following the assassination of John F Kennedy on November 22 1963 newly inaugurated President Lyndon Johnson continued to press for 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 major leaders of the Civil Rights Movement including Martin Luther King Jr 69 This legislation prohibited discrimination based on race color religion gender or national origin to ensure full equal rights of African Americans before the law Formal reopening of the investigation EditOfficially the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing remained unsolved until after 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 the original police documents were mostly worthless 71 Baxley formally reopened the case in 1971 He was able to build trust with key witnesses some of whom had been reluctant to testify in the first investigation Other witnesses obtained identified 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 KKK had purchased near Highway 101 73 497 This testimony of witnesses and evidence was used to formally construct a case against Robert Chambliss After Baxley requested access to the original FBI files on the case he learned that evidence accumulated by the FBI against the named suspects between 1963 and 1965 had not been revealed to the local prosecutors in Birmingham 59 Although he met with initial resistance from the FBI 48 278 in 1976 Baxley was formally presented with some of the evidence which had been compiled by the FBI 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 74 Prosecution of Robert Chambliss Edit On November 14 1977 Robert Chambliss then aged 73 stood trial in Birmingham s Jefferson County Courthouse Chambliss had been indicted by a grand jury on September 24 1977 charged with four counts of murder for each dead child in the 1963 church bombing 75 But at a pre trial hearing on October 18 76 Judge Wallace Gibson ruled that the defendant would be tried upon one count of murder that of Carol Denise McNair 76 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 76 77 Chambliss pleaded not guilty to the charges insisting that although he had purchased a case of dynamite less than two weeks before the bombing he had given the dynamite to a Klansman and FBI agent provocateur named Gary Thomas Rowe Jr 78 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 Tom Cook a retired Birmingham police officer 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 before the bombing Following Cook s testimony Baxley introduced police sergeant Ernie Cantrell 79 He testified that Chambliss had visited his headquarters in 1976 and that he had attempted to affix the blame for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing upon an altogether different member of the KKK Cantrell also stated that Chambliss had boasted of his knowledge of how to construct a drip method bomb using a fishing float and a leaking bucket of water Upon cross examination by defense attorney Art Hanes Jr Cantrell conceded that Chambliss had emphatically denied bombing the church One individual who went to 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 20 One of the key witnesses to testify on behalf of the prosecution was the Reverend Elizabeth Cobbs Chambliss s 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 80 Moreover Cobbs testified on November 16 that on the day before the bombing Chambliss had told her that 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 said It the bomb wasn t meant to hurt anybody it didn t go off when it was supposed to 24 Another witness to testify was William Jackson who testified as to his joining the KKK in 1963 and becoming acquainted with Chambliss shortly thereafter Jackson testified that Chambliss had expressed frustration that the Klan was dragging its feet on the issue of racial integration 18 and said he was eager to form a splinter group more dedicated to resistance 81 In his closing argument before the jury on November 17 82 Baxley acknowledged that Chambliss was not the sole perpetrator of the bombing 83 He expressed regret that the state was unable to request the death penalty in this case as the death penalty in effect in the state in 1963 had been repealed The current state death penalty law applied only to crimes committed after its passage Baxley noted 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 He referred to testimony given by her father Chris McNair about the family s loss and requested that the jury return a verdict of guilty 84 In his rebuttal closing argument defense attorney Art Hanes Jr attacked the evidence presented by the prosecution as being purely circumstantial 85 adding that despite the existence of similar circumstantial evidence Chambliss had not been prosecuted in 1963 of the church bombing Hanes noted conflicting testimony among several of the 12 witnesses called by the defense to testify as to Chambliss s whereabouts on the day of the bombing A policeman and a neighbor had each testified that Chambliss was at the home of a man named Clarence Dill on that day 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 85 they found Robert Chambliss guilty of the murder of Carol Denise McNair 86 He was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder 87 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 88 89 On the same afternoon that Chambliss s guilty verdict was announced prosecutor Baxley issued a subpoena to Thomas Blanton to appear in court about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Although Baxley knew he had insufficient evidence to charge Blanton at this stage he intended the subpoena to frighten Blanton into confessing his involvement and negotiating a plea deal to turn state evidence against his co conspirators Blanton however hired a lawyer and refused to answer any questions 73 574 Chambliss appealed his conviction as provided under the law saying that much of the evidence presented at his trial including testimony relating to his activities within the KKK was circumstantial that the 14 year delay between the crime and his trial violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial and the prosecution had deliberately used the delay to try to gain an advantage over Chambliss s defense attorneys This appeal was dismissed on May 22 1979 90 Robert Chambliss died in the Lloyd Noland Hospital and Health Center on October 29 1985 at the age of 81 91 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 insisting Gary Thomas Rowe Jr was the actual perpetrator 92 93 Later prosecutions EditIn 1995 ten years after Chambliss died the FBI reopened their investigation into the church bombing It was part of a coordinated effort between local state and federal governments to review cold cases of the civil rights era in the hopes of prosecuting perpetrators 94 They unsealed 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 not been made available to DA 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 KKK splinter group known as the Cahaba Boys The four individuals named in the FBI report were Blanton Cash Chambliss and Cherry 58 By the time of the announcement Herman Cash had also died however Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry were still alive Both were arrested 95 On May 16 2000 a grand jury in Alabama indicted Thomas Edwin Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry on eight counts each 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 96 The following day both men surrendered to police 97 162 The state 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 98 It concluded that vascular dementia had impaired his mind therefore making Cherry mentally incompetent to stand trial or assist in his own defense 99 On April 10 2001 Judge James Garrett indefinitely postponed Cherry s trial pending further medical analysis 100 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 65 Blanton pleaded not guilty to the charges and chose not to testify on his 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 he warned the jury Just because you don t like him that doesn t make him responsible for the bombing 32 The prosecution called a total of seven witnesses to testify in their case against Blanton including relatives of the victims John Cross the former pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church an FBI agent named William Fleming and Mitchell Burns a former Klansman who had become a paid FBI informant Burns had secretly recorded several conversations with Blanton in which the latter Blanton had gloated when talking about the bombing and had boasted the police would not catch him when he bombed another church 101 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 Waylen 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 saying that he was not with Miss Vaughn but two nights before the bombing was at a meeting with other Klansmen on a bridge above the Cahaba River 102 He said You ve got to have a meeting to plan a bomb 102 In addition to calling attention to flaws in the prosecution s case the defense exposed inconsistencies in the memories of some prosecution witnesses who had testified Blanton s attorneys criticized the validity and quality of the 16 tape recordings introduced as evidence 103 arguing that the prosecution had edited and spliced the sections of the audio recording that were secretly obtained within Blanton s kitchen reducing the entirety of the tape by 26 minutes He said that the sections introduced as evidence were of poor audio quality resulting in the prosecution presenting text transcripts of questionable accuracy to the jury About the recordings made as Blanton conversed with Burns Robbins emphasized that Burns had earlier testified that Blanton had never expressly said that he had made or planted the bomb 104 The defense portrayed the audiotapes introduced into evidence as the statements of two rednecks driving around drinking and making false ego inflating claims to one another 105 The trial lasted for one week Seven witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution and two for the defense One of the defense witnesses was a retired chef named Eddie Mauldin who was called to testify to discredit prosecution witnesses statements that they had seen Blanton in the vicinity of the church before 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 106 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 and future U S Senator Doug Jones said that although the trial was conducted 38 years after the bombing it was 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 reviewed Blanton s extensive history with the Ku Klux Klan before referring to the audio recordings presented earlier in the trial Jones repeated 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 107 Defense attorney John Robbins reminded the jury in his closing argument that his client was an admitted segregationist and a loudmouth but that was all that could be proven He said this 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 108 The jury deliberated for two and a half hours before returning with a verdict finding Thomas Edwin Blanton guilty of four counts of first degree murder 109 When asked by the judge whether he had anything to say before sentence was imposed Blanton said I guess the Lord will settle it on Judgment Day 110 Blanton was sentenced to life imprisonment 111 112 He was incarcerated at the St Clair Correctional Facility in Springville Alabama 113 Blanton was confined in a one man cell under tight security He seldom spoke of his involvement in the bombing shunned social activity and rarely received visitors 114 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 Martin said 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 denying parole to Blanton 115 116 Blanton died in prison from unspecified causes on June 26 2020 117 Bobby Frank Cherry Edit Bobby Frank Cherry was tried in Birmingham Alabama before Judge James Garrett on May 6 2002 118 Cherry 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 presented his case that the evidence would 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 personally planted or ignited the bomb the combined evidence would illustrate that he had aided and abetted in the commission of the act 97 ch 35 Cherry s defense attorney Mickey Johnson protested his client s innocence citing that much of the evidence presented was circumstantial He also noted 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 warned the jurors they would have to distinguish 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 who had married Cherry 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 to the dynamite Brogdon also testified that Cherry had told her of his regret that children had died in the bombing before adding his satisfaction that they would never reproduce Although the credibility of Brogdon s testimony was called into dispute at the trial forensic experts conceded 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 discovered after the bombing 119 A fishing float attached to a section of wire which may have been part of a timing device was found 20 feet 6 1 m from the explosion crater 85 following the bombing One of several vehicles severely damaged in the explosion was found to have carried fishing tackle 120 Barbara Ann Cross also testified for the prosecution She is the daughter of the Reverend John Cross and was aged 13 in 1963 Cross had attended the same Sunday School class as the four victims on the day of the bombing and was slightly wounded in the attack On May 15 121 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 and they were asked to learn to consider What Would Jesus Do 97 Cross testified that she would usually 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 audiotapes 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 audiotapes 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 Don Cochran disputed this position arguing that Alabama law provides for conspiracies to conceal evidence to be proven by both inference and circumstantial evidence 97 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 called to testify on behalf of the prosecution 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 said the victims Youth Sunday sermon never happened because it was destroyed by this defendant s hate 122 Cochran outlined Cherry s extensive record of racial violence dating back to the 1950s and noted that he had experience and training in constructing and installing bombs from his service 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 told his first wife Jean that he and other Klansmen had constructed the bomb within the premises of business the Friday before the bombing He said 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 123 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 122 Johnson reiterated that there was no hard evidence linking Cherry to the bombing but only evidence attesting to his racist beliefs dating from that era adding that the family members who had testified against him were all estranged and therefore should be considered unreliable witnesses Johnson urged the jury against convicting his client 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 the jury had deliberated for almost seven hours the forewoman announced they had reached their verdicts Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted of four counts of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment 124 Cherry remained stoic as the sentence was read aloud Relatives of the four victims openly wept in relief 125 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 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 66 Bobby Frank Cherry died of cancer on November 18 2004 at age 74 while incarcerated at the Kilby Correctional Facility 124 Following the convictions of Blanton and Cherry Alabama s former Attorney General William Baxley expressed his frustration that he had never been informed of the existence of the FBI audio recordings before they were introduced in the 2001 and 2002 trials Baxley acknowledged that typical juries in 1960s Alabama would have likely leaned in favor of both defendants even if these recordings had been presented as evidence 126 but said that he could have prosecuted Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry in 1977 if he had been granted access to these tapes A 1980 Justice Department report concluded that J Edgar Hoover had blocked the prosecution of the four bombing suspects in 1965 7 and he officially closed the FBI s investigation in 1968 65 A possible fifth conspirator EditAlthough 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 He became a paid FBI informant in 1961 127 In this role Rowe acted as an agent provocateur between 1961 128 and 1965 Although informative to the FBI Rowe actively participated in violence against both black and white civil rights activists By Rowe s own later admission while serving as an FBI informant he had shot and killed an unidentified black man and had been an accessory to the murder of Viola Liuzzo 129 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 130 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 DA William Baxley had chosen 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 130 Nonetheless a 1979 investigation cleared Rowe of any involvement in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing 131 Aftermath EditThey 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 132 State Senator Roger Bedford at the unveiling of a state historic marker to the victims September 15 1990Following 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 133 The most seriously injured survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Sarah Jean Collins remained hospitalized for more than two months 134 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 135 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 135 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 136 42 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 137 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 138 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 138 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 139 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 140 The Welsh Window bears the inscription Given by The People of Wales 141 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 132 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 142 the FBI had concluded in May 1965 that Cash was one of the four conspirators 59 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 143 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 144 On May 24 2013 President Barack Obama awarded a posthumous 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 11 145 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 146 The gold medal was presented to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to display or temporarily loan to other museums 146 Politician Terri Sewell with actresses from the play 4 Little Girls pictured upon the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church 2019 Media and memorials EditMusic Edit The song Birmingham Sunday is directly inspired by the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Written in 1964 by Richard Farina and recorded by Farina 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 147 Nina Simone s 1964 civil rights anthem Mississippi Goddam is partially inspired by the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing The lyric Alabama s got me so upset refers to this incident 148 Jazz musician John Coltrane s 1964 album Live at Birdland includes the track Alabama recorded two months after the bombing This song was written as a direct musical tribute to the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing 149 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 150 Film Edit A 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls exclusively focuses on 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 151 2002 docudrama Sins of the Father directly focuses on the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Directed by Robert Dornhelm the film casts Richard Jenkins as Bobby Cherry and Bruce McFee as Robert Chambliss 152 The 2014 American historical drama Selma which focuses on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches also includes a scene which depicts the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing This film was directed by Ava DuVernay citation needed Television Edit The 1993 documentary Angels of Change focuses on the events leading up to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing as well as the aftermath of the bombing This documentary was produced by the Birmingham based TV station WVTM TV and subsequently received a Peabody Award 153 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 27 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 amp Schuster ISBN 978 0 671 68742 7 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 978 1 881548 10 2 Hamlin Christopher M 1998 Behind the Stained Glass A History of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Crane Hill Publishers ISBN 978 1 57587 083 0 Jones Doug 2019 Bending Toward Justice The Birmingham Church Bombing that Changed the Course of Civil Rights All Points Books ISBN 9781250201447 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 amp Schuster ISBN 978 1 4767 0951 2 Sikora Frank 1991 Until Justice Rolls Down The Birmingham Church Bombing Case University of Alabama Press ISBN 978 0 8173 0520 8 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 154 This fictional account of the bombing was later converted into a movie 155 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 Birmingham s 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 140 the Welsh Window stands over the front door of the sanctuary 156 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 68 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 157 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 depicted in the sculpture this second casting is now on display at the George Washington Carver Museum 158 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 159 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 honour those killed during the struggle to appreciate how far the country has come in its quest for equality 159 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 160 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 161 The fourth girl Carole Robertson is depicted standing and smiling as she motions the other three girls to attend their church sermon 162 At the base of the sculpture is an inscription of the title of the sermon the four girls were to attend before 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 who were 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 162 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 163 See also EditAfrican American history African Americans in Alabama Domestic terrorism in the United States Mass racial violence in the United States Racial segregation of churches in the United States Racism against Black Americans Racism in the United States Terrorism in the United States Timeline of terrorist attacks in the United States Timeline of African American history Timeline of the civil rights movementReferences Edit Hewitt Christopher 2005 Political violence and terrorism in modern America a chronology Westport Conn Greenwood Publishing Group p 12 ISBN 9780313334184 Parrott Sheffer Chelsea 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc Retrieved April 4 2019 Graham David June 18 2015 How Much Has Changed Since the Birmingham Church Bombing The Atlantic The Atlantic Monthly Group Archived from the original on April 24 2016 Retrieved June 6 2019 Today in 1963 The Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church ajccenter wfu edu September 15 2013 Archived from the original on August 13 2017 Retrieved June 17 2017 Krajicek David J September 1 2013 Justice Story Birmingham church bombing kills 4 innocent girls in racially motivated attack New York Daily News Archived from the original on September 2 2013 Retrieved May 28 2019 White Jerry May 20 2000 Former Klansmen indicted for murder in 1963 bombing of Birmingham Alabama church World Socialist Web Site Retrieved May 27 2019 a b Reeves Jay May 23 2002 Case closed Cherry guilty TimesDaily Associated Press Retrieved May 27 2019 a b c d 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing 1963 U S National Park Service www nps gov Retrieved September 29 2022 King Martin Luther Jr April 16 1963 Letter From Birmingham City Jail Excerpts TeachingAmericanHistory org Ashland University Retrieved May 27 2019 Theophilus Eugene Bull Connor 1897 1973 U S National Park Service www nps gov Retrieved October 27 2022 a b c d e Morris Aldon D 1993 Birmingham Confrontation Reconsidered An Analysis of the Dynamics and Tactics of Mobilization American Sociological Review 58 5 621 636 doi 10 2307 2096278 ISSN 0003 1224 JSTOR 2096278 a b c Cochran Donald Q 2006 Ghosts of Alabama The Prosecution of Bobby Frank Cherry for the Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Michigan Journal of Race and Law 12 a b Meche Brittany March 1 2020 Memories of An Imperial City Race Gender and Birmingham Alabama Antipode 52 2 475 495 doi 10 1111 anti 12606 ISSN 0066 4812 S2CID 213240633 Six Dead After Church Bombing The Washington Post United Press International September 16 1963 Retrieved May 27 2019 Addie Mae Collins Biography com n d Retrieved May 27 2019 a b Bryant William O September 11 1963 Six Negro Children Killed in Alabama Sunday Times News Retrieved November 21 2010 a b c d Six Dead After Church Bombing The Washington Post United Press International September 16 1963 Retrieved May 27 2019 a b Former Klansman Is Guilty Of Bomb Deaths Observer Reporter Associated Press November 19 1977 Retrieved May 27 2019 Factiva Global factiva com Retrieved September 16 2013 a b CrimeLibrary com p 5 Archived from the original on February 10 2015 Retrieved 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Addie Mae Collins Denise McNair Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley congress gov United States House of Representatives April 24 2013 Retrieved March 7 2015 From the archive 16 September 1963 Black church bombed in Birmingham Alabama The Guardian September 16 2014 Retrieved May 27 2019 Father Recalls Deadly Blast At Ala Baptist Church npr org September 15 2008 Retrieved May 27 2019 a b Reeves Jay April 25 2001 Trial of Bombing Suspect Begins The Ledger Associated Press Retrieved May 27 2019 Wright Barnett September 15 2013 No screaming only crying Witnesses remember infamous Sunday of 1963 church bombing photos videos al com Retrieved May 27 2019 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing Fast Facts CNN October 8 2019 Retrieved June 17 2020 Birmingham Times September 12 2019 New Memorial for 16th St Baptist Church on Sun 56 Years After Bombing The Birmingham Times Retrieved June 17 2020 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Forty Years Later Birmingham Still Struggles with Violent Past National Public Radio All Things Considered September 15 2003 Retrieved May 27 2019 40 years for Justice Did the FBI Cover for the Birmingham Bombers The Daily Beast September 15 2013 Retrieved May 27 2019 Nelson Cary ed About the 1963 Birmingham Bombing The Modern American Poetry Site Department of English University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Retrieved May 28 2019 Huff Melissa September 11 2013 Beauty from the Ashes of 16th Street Baptist Church TheGospelCoalition org Retrieved May 27 2019 Padgett Tim Sikora Frank September 22 2003 The Legacy of Virgil Ware TIME Retrieved July 19 2018 a b Bullard Sara May 20 1993 Free at Last A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Those Who Died in the Struggle Oxford University Press pp 63 64 ISBN 978 0195083811 a b Cohen Andrew September 13 2013 The Speech That Shocked Birmingham the Day After the Church Bombing The Atlantic Retrieved May 28 2019 Nation s Shame The Milwaukee Sentinel September 16 1963 Retrieved November 21 2010 a b Padgett Tim Sikora Frank September 22 2003 The Legacy of Virgil Ware Time Retrieved May 27 2019 Reeves Jay May 7 2004 Ceremony recalls victim of civil rights violence TimesDaily Associated Press Retrieved May 27 2019 a b The Informant The FBI the Ku Klux Klan and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo Yale University Press May 11 2005 p 88 ISBN 978 0300106350 Maxwell Bill May 4 2003 Columns Drawn back to Birmingham St Petersburg Times Archived from the original on May 13 2003 Retrieved May 27 2019 a b c d e Chermak Steven Bailey Frankie Y 2007 Crimes and Trials of the Century ISBN 978 0313341090 Retrieved May 27 2019 Williams Byron 2013 1963 The Year of Hope and Hostility Lulu com pp 184 185 ISBN 978 0989662000 Retrieved May 27 2019 Three Bomb Victims Are Buried Park City Daily News Associated Press September 19 1963 Retrieved May 27 2019 Hundreds Mourn At Rites Sarasota Herald Tribune Associated Press September 18 1963 Retrieved May 27 2019 Williams James D September 21 1963 First of 4 Birmingham Bomb Victims is Buried Baltimore Afro American Retrieved May 27 2019 We Shall Overcome Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement nps gov National Public Radio Archived from the original on December 17 2007 Retrieved November 19 2007 Over 3 000 Attend Bomb Victims Rites Pittsburgh Post Gazette Associated Press September 19 1963 Retrieved May 27 2019 a b Funeral Speakers Say Deaths Of Three Children Not In Vain Ocala Star Banner Associated Press September 19 1963 Retrieved May 27 2019 Dreier Peter September 15 2013 Martin Luther King s Eulogy for the Martyred Children Huffington Post Retrieved May 28 2019 Find Church Bomb Was Planted The Milwaukee Journal September 21 1963 Retrieved May 27 2019 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint url status link a b Farley Christopher John May 22 2000 The ghosts of Alabama After 37 years two men are indicted for a bombing that transfigured the civil rights movement CNN Retrieved May 27 2019 a b c Clary Mike April 14 2001 Birmingham s Painful Past Reopened Los Angeles Times Retrieved May 27 2019 Sheckler Finch Jackie 2011 It Happened in Alabama Globe Pequot Press p 102 ISBN 978 0762761135 Retrieved May 28 2019 Herbers John October 9 1963 Birmingham Klansman Guilty in Dynamite Case Two Other Defendants Face Trial Today Dr King Gives City an Ultimatum on Jobs The New York Times Retrieved September 16 2013 FBI A Byte Out of History The 63 Baptist Church Bombing fbi gov Federal Bureau of Investigation Archived from the original on October 13 2010 Retrieved November 21 2010 FBI A Byte Out of History The 63 Baptist Church Bombing fbi gov Federal Bureau of Investigation Archived from the original on October 13 2010 Retrieved November 21 2010 Preitauer Chris September 30 2014 Murderer Of 4 Birmingham Girls Found Guilty 38 yrs later blackhistorycollection org Retrieved May 28 2019 a b c Randall Kate May 5 2001 Former Klansman convicted in deadly 1963 bombing of Birmingham Alabama church World Socialist Web Site Retrieved May 27 2019 a b Temple Chanda Cherry convicted Jury verdict in bombing hailed as justice finally Al com Archived from the original on September 21 2015 Retrieved February 13 2019 King Colbert I May 5 2001 No Thanks to Hoover The Washington Post Retrieved September 25 2021 a b Waddell Amy September 15 2013 That Which Might Have Been Birmingham 1963 50 Year Anniversary Huffington Post Retrieved May 27 2019 a b Civil Rights Act of 1964 National Park Service Retrieved May 28 2019 Jenkins Ray November 21 1977 Birmingham Church Bombing Conviction Ended an Obsession of the Prosecutor The Day Retrieved November 21 2010 Moreno Yasmin October 17 2013 Bill Baxley Reflects on 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing The Harvard Crimson Retrieved May 27 2019 Davis Townsend 1998 Weary Feet Rested Souls A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement W W Norton amp Company p 84 ISBN 978 0393045925 Retrieved May 27 2019 a b McWhorter Diane 2001 Carry Me Home Birmingham Alabama the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution Simon amp Schuster p 496 ISBN 978 1 4767 0951 2 Former Prosecutor Says FBI Delayed Alabama Conviction ABC News May 5 2002 Archived from the original on July 19 2018 Retrieved May 27 2019 Bombing Trial Postponed The Tuscaloosa News Associated Press October 30 1977 Retrieved May 27 2019 a b c Trial Date Changed Gadsden Times Associated Press October 30 1977 Retrieved May 27 2019 Trial Set For Nov 14 Gadsden Times Associated Press October 29 1977 Retrieved May 27 2019 Rowe Will Fight Extradition To State Tuscaloosa News Associated Press October 4 1978 Retrieved May 27 2019 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 978 1 881548 10 2 Chambliss is Identified Boca Raton News United Press International November 16 1977 Retrieved May 27 2019 Former Klansman Convicted Of Murder Lakeland Ledger Associated Press November 19 1977 Retrieved May 27 2019 Mitchell Garry November 19 1977 Former Klansman Convicted In Bombing Death Sarasota Herald Tribune Associated Press Retrieved May 27 2019 Mitchell Louis D November 1978 Another Redemption Baxley in Birmingham The Crisis p 314 Retrieved May 27 2019 Raines Howell November 18 1977 Birmingham Bomb Case Goes to Jury St Petersburg Times Retrieved May 27 2019 a b c Chambliss Guilty Rome News Tribune Associated Press November 18 1977 Retrieved May 27 2019 Puzzle Pieces Put Together in Bombing Case Gadsden Times Associated Press November 20 1977 Retrieved May 27 2019 Anderson S Willoughby April 2008 The Past on Trial Birmingham the Bombing and Restorative Justice California Law Review 96 2 482 JSTOR 20439181 Alabamian Guilty in 63 Blast that Killed Four Girls The New York Times November 18 1977 Retrieved October 4 2021 Ex Klansman Found Guilty Of Bombing Eugene Register Guard UPI November 18 1977 Retrieved May 28 2019 Ex Klansman Loses Appeal Gadsden Times Associated Press May 23 1979 Retrieved May 27 2019 Klansman Guilty in Death The Pittsburgh Press UPI November 19 1977 Retrieved November 21 2010 Baxley Draws Attack The Tuscaloosa News Associated Press September 4 1978 Retrieved May 27 2019 Robert E Chambliss Figure in 63 Bombing The New York Times 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 Campbell Duncan May 23 2002 Former Klansman convicted of deadly Alabama church bombing 40 years on The Guardian Retrieved May 27 2019 Leith Sam May 23 2002 Klansman convicted of killing black girls The Telegraph London Archived from the original on January 12 2022 Retrieved September 16 2013 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing Fast Facts CNN September 7 2018 Retrieved May 28 2019 a b c d 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 Retrieved May 28 2019 Sack Kevin April 25 2001 As Church Bombing Trial Begins in Birmingham the City s Past Is Very Much Present The New York Times Retrieved November 21 2010 A Long Time Coming Toledo Blade April 26 2001 Retrieved May 28 2019 Cherry Found Mentally Sound The Tuscaloosa News Associated Press June 1 2001 Retrieved May 28 2019 Former Klansman who was Key Witness at Bombing Trial Dies The Tuscaloosa News Associated Press November 23 2002 Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Reeves Jay April 28 2001 Secret Tape Played at Trial Star News Associated Press Retrieved May 28 2019 Johnson Bob April 29 2001 Church Bombing Verdict Hinges on how Jurors Understand Tapes Spartanburg Herald Journal Retrieved May 28 2019 Jury Hears More Old Tapes in Church Bombing Trial Southeast Missourian Associated Press April 29 2001 Retrieved May 28 2019 Birmingham church bomber guilty gets four life terms CNN May 1 2001 Retrieved May 28 2019 Testimony Concludes in Trial On Birmingham Church Blast The 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2016 16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton denied parole The Birmingham News Retrieved August 6 2016 Genzlinger Neil June 26 2020 Thomas Blanton Who Bombed a Birmingham Church Dies at 82 The New York Times Retrieved June 27 2020 Johnson Robert Jr 1998 Race Law and Public Policy Black Classic Press p 426 ISBN 978 1 58073 019 8 Retrieved May 28 2019 Bragg Rick May 17 2002 Witnesses Say Ex Klansman Boasted of Church Bombing The New York Times Retrieved May 28 2019 Reeves Jay April 20 2001 Design of Bomb Still Uncertain 38 Years Later The Tuscaloosa News Associated Press Retrieved May 28 2019 Johnson Bob May 15 2002 Explosives Expert Testifies In Church Bombing Trial Nevada Daily Mail Associated Press Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Prosecutor Says Justice Overdue in 63 Bombing The Washington Times Associated Press May 22 2002 Retrieved May 28 2019 Bragg Rick May 22 2002 More Than Just a Racist Now the Jury Must Decide The New York Times Retrieved May 28 2019 a b O Donnell Michelle November 19 2004 Bobby Frank Cherry 74 Klansman in Bombing Dies The New York Times Retrieved February 5 2009 Former Klansman Convicted in 1963 Church Bombing Reading Eagle Associated Press May 23 2002 Retrieved May 28 2019 Delayed not Denied The Baltimore Sun May 7 2001 Archived from the original on March 27 2016 Retrieved May 28 2019 Raines Howell February 18 1980 Hoover Let 4 Off Hook In Murders The Spokesman Review Retrieved May 28 2019 Kaufman Michael T October 4 1998 Gary T Rowe Jr 64 Who Informed on Klan In Civil Rights Killing Is Dead The New York Times Retrieved May 28 2019 Long Fight Predicted In Case Against Rowe The Times News Associated Press October 3 1978 Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Raines Howell July 11 1978 Paid FBI Informer Tells Of Murder Silence Ocala Star Banner Retrieved May 28 2019 Hebert Keith S Gary Thomas Rowe Jr encyclopediaofalabama org Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Memorial Dedicated For Church Bombing Victims On Anniversary Gadsden Times Associated Press September 16 1990 Retrieved May 28 2019 Our Ministry Team 16thstreetbaptist org Archived from the original on May 28 2019 Retrieved May 28 2019 Ravitz Jessica September 14 2013 Siblings of the bombing Remembering Birmingham church blast 50 years on CNN Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Purks Jim October 16 1963 Girl Living in Darkness After Church Bombing The Owosso Argus Press Associated Press Retrieved May 28 2019 A Time to Speak Chicago Tribune April 26 1964 Richardson Christopher M June 11 2014 Historical Dictionary of the Civil Rights Movement Rowman amp Littlefield p 401 ISBN 9780810860643 Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Prior Neil March 10 2011 Alabama church bombing victims honoured by Welsh window BBC News Retrieved May 28 2019 Welsh Launch Bombing Fund Tuscaloosa News Associated Press September 19 1963 Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Younge Gary March 6 2011 American civil rights the Welsh connection The Guardian Retrieved May 28 2019 Younge Gary The Wales Window of Alabama BBC Radio 4 Retrieved May 28 2019 Archibald John Hansen Jeff September 7 1997 Death spares scrutiny of Cash in bomb probe AL com Archived from the original on May 26 2008 Retrieved May 28 2019 Pastor Was At Church When Bomb Killed Four Sarasota Herald Tribune November 19 2007 Retrieved May 28 2019 Johnson Scott W Birmingham s New Legacy The Weekly Standard Retrieved May 28 2019 Public Law 113 11 United States Government Publishing Office Retrieved May 28 2019 An Act To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins Denise McNair Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley to commemorate the lives they lost 50 years ago in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church where these 4 little Black girls ultimate sacrifice served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement a b H R 360 Summary congress gov United States Congress May 24 2013 Retrieved May 30 2013 Erlewine Stephen Thomas Freedom Highway Rhiannon Giddens AllMusic Retrieved February 1 2021 A History of American Protest When Nina Simone Sang what Everyone was Thinking longreads com April 20 2017 Retrieved September 13 2020 On John Coltrane s Alabama allaboutjazz com August 10 2005 Retrieved September 13 2020 American Guernica LKM Music Hal Leonard Online halleonard com Retrieved December 8 2017 Still Reeling From the Day Death Came to Birmingham The New York Times July 9 1997 Retrieved September 13 2020 Television Review A Father s Guilt A Son s Wrenching Decision The New York Times January 4 2002 Retrieved September 15 2020 The Peabody Awards Angels of Change peabodyawards com Retrieved January 11 2021 Curtis Christopher 1995 The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 1st ed Delacorte Press ISBN 9780385382946 The Watsons Go to Birmingham Hallmark Channel Archived from the original on June 23 2018 Retrieved April 5 2019 Alexander Leslie M Walter C Rucker JR February 9 2010 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Encyclopedia of African American History p 1029 ISBN 9780195167795 That which might have been Artbyjohnwaddell com Retrieved September 16 2013 That Which Might Have Been Birmingham 1963 Phoenix Arizona Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking com Waymarking com Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Civil Rights Memorial Southern Poverty Law Center Retrieved April 11 2015 Gray Jeremy September 2 2013 Memorial project for 16th Street Baptist Church bombing raises 200 000 of 250 000 goal al com Retrieved May 28 2019 Gordon Tom September 14 2013 Four Spirits unveiled across from Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Weld Birmingham s Newspaper Retrieved May 28 2019 a b Collins Alan September 15 2013 Four Spirits sculpture unveiled to the public WBRC Retrieved May 28 2019 Yeager Andrew September 15 2013 Four Spirits Statue Memorial to 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Victims Unveiled WBHM Retrieved May 28 2019 Cited works and further reading EditBranch Taylor 1988 Parting the Waters America in the King Years 1954 1963 Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 0 671 68742 7 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 978 1 881548 10 2 Hamlin Christopher M 1998 Behind the Stained Glass A History of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Crane Hill Publishers ISBN 978 1 57587 083 0 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 978 0 8173 0520 8 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 978 0 19 512357 9 External links EditExternal video Booknotes interview with Diane McWhorter on Carry Me Home May 27 2001 C SPAN After Words interview with Doug Jones on Bending Toward Justice March 9 2019 C SPAN16th Street Baptist Church bombing at CrimeLibrary com Official website of the 16th Street Baptist Church 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 Where Was God When Bomb Hit by Larry Still covering the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Online archives available at the Birmingham Public Library These archives include photographic and newspaper archives Chambliss vs State Details of Robert Chambliss s 1979 appeal against his conviction Audio interview with 16th Street Baptist Church bombing survivor Sarah Collins Rudolph FourSpirits1963 com Archived February 12 2015 at the Wayback Machine A website devoted to the construction and preservation of the Four Spirits memorial sculpture at Kelly Ingram Park Portals 1960s United States Christianity Civil rights movement Law Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 16th Street Baptist Church bombing amp oldid 1135421917, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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