Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. In this speech, Morgan lamented: "Who did it [the bombing]? 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. Although sections of the recordingpresented in evidence on April 27are unintelligible, Blanton can twice be heard mentioning the phrase "plan a bomb" or "plan the bomb". A stretcher waits to carry away any more victims found. Your irresponsible and misguided actions have created in Birmingham and Alabama the atmosphere that has induced continued violence and now murder. 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". 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. )[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. He had repeatedly proclaimed his innocence, insisting Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. was the actual perpetrator. The blast killed four little girls and became a tragic marker in civil rights history.. He became a paid FBI informant in 1961. Governor Wallace offered an additional $5,000 on behalf of the state of Alabama. After Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the case, Chambliss was convicted in 1977 and sentenced to life in prison. She died Sunday at 93. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. You can navigate days by using left and right arrows. [50]), Chambliss was questioned by the FBI on September 26. [113][114] He was incarcerated at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Precisely because of its reputation as a stronghold for white supremacy, civil rights activists made Birmingham a major focus of their efforts to desegregate the Deep South. T hursday marked the 59th anniversary of white supremacists' deadly bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. His testimony was restricted to the areas of the recordings permitted into evidence. [49], The city of Birmingham initially offered a $52,000 reward for the arrest of the bombers. 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. "[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. Robinson, aged 16, was shot in the back by a policeman as he fled down an alley,[43] after ignoring police orders to halt. At 10:22 a.m. on the morning of September 15, 1963, some 200 church members were in the buildingmany attending Sunday school classes before the start of the 11 am servicewhen the bomb detonated on the churchs east side, spraying mortar and bricks from the front of the church and caving in its interior walls. Three 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins,. All rights reserved (About Us). The city of Birmingham, Alabama, was founded in 1871 and rapidly became the states most important industrial and commercial center. President Barack Obama would go on to sign a bill awarding the four young victims of the tragic 1963 Birmingham church bombing with the Congressional Gold Medal.. Barbara Cross, a friend of the girls who survived the church bombing, once recounted to TIME how close she was to possibly being the fifth person killed. Beneath piles of debris in the church basement, the dead bodies of four girlsAddie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, and Carole Robertson, all age 14, and Denise McNair (age 11)were discovered. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Although this donation was accepted,[50]:274 Martin Luther King Jr. is known to have sent Wallace a telegram saying, "the blood of four little children is on your hands. 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. In 1977, Alabama Attorney General Bob Baxley reopened the investigation and Klan leader Robert E. Chambliss was brought to trial for the bombings and convicted of murder. 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". 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. "For the past several weeks, Gov. The police were reportedly responding to Black youths throwing rocks at cars driven by white people. Terms of Use / Privacy Policy / Manage Newsletters, Click 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. [107], The trial lasted for one week. 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. Sims and Farley had been riding home from an anti-integration rally which had denounced the church bombing. A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died in 1994 before he could be tried. In the rubble of the 16th Street Baptist Church were the bodies of Addie Mae Collins, 14, Denise McNair, 11, Carole Robertson, 14, and Cynthia Wesley, 14. Throughout the trial, Cherry's defense attorney, Mickey Johnson, repeatedly observed that many of the prosecution's witnesses were either circumstantial or "inherently unreliable". There had been a history of mistrust between local and federal investigators. Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation had concluded in 1965 that the bombing had been committed by four known KKK members 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 Attorney General of Alabama Bill Baxley and convicted of the first-degree murder of one of the victims, 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair. [99] 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. [8], 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. [46] When he spotted Ware and his brother, Sims fired twice, reportedly with his eyes closed. [11] The intentional scope of these activities was to see the end of segregation across Birmingham and the South as a whole. In his closing argument, prosecuting attorney and future U.S. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Martin Luther King Jr. said he hoped the deaths "may well serve as the redemptive force that brings light to this dark city.". U.S. government destroying the dollars value through inflation. 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. 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. Kennedyan ardent supporter of the civil rights cause who had proposed a Civil Rights Act of 1963 on national television[71]increased worldwide awareness of and sympathy toward the civil rights cause in the United States. The force crumbled a stone-and-masonry wall 30 inches thick and left a crater more than 2 feet deep.Retired FBI bomb specialist Charles Killion testified that agents never determined what kind of explosive was used or how the bomb was triggered. As a result, no federal charges were filed in the '60s. Maxine McNair's 11-year-old daughter, Denise McNair, was the youngest of the four Black girls killed in the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. [50]:272, The service for Carole Rosamond Robertson was held at St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church. Cross said he believed the violence could have been prevented if civic leaders had spoken out forcefully against the bombings across Birmingham in recent years. We all did it! Outrage over the incident and the violent clash between protesters and police that followed helped draw national attention to the hard-fought, often-dangerous struggle for civil rights for African Americans. The NAACP questioned the speed of the investigation and whether all resources available were being utilized. 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. [32] All four girls were pronounced dead on arrival at the Hillman Emergency Clinic. 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. Addie Mae Collins was one of the four little girls murdered in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing back in 1963. "[104], 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. [127], 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]. 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963, on the predominantly African American 16th Street Baptist Church by local members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). 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. [83], In his closing argument before the jury on November 17,[84] Baxley acknowledged that Chambliss was not the sole perpetrator of the bombing. [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. [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. All but one of the church's stained-glass windows were destroyed in the explosion. Life is hard. Alabama Governor George Wallace was a leading foe of desegregation, and Birmingham had one of the strongest and most violent chapters of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Or, continue scrolling for the photos of the historic event. [57], Initially, investigators theorized that a bomb thrown from a passing car had caused the explosion at the 16th Street Baptist church. [7] Herman Cash died in 1994, and was never charged with his alleged involvement in the bombing. 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. In 1963 the 16th Street Baptist Church hosted several meetings led by civil rights activists. The Rev. "I will never stop crying thinking about it," said Cross, who was 13 at the . With its large African American congregation, the 16th Street Baptist Church served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., who once called Birmingham a symbol of hardcore resistance to integration. Alabamas governor, George Wallace, made preserving racial segregation one of the central goals of his administration, and Birmingham had one of the most violent and lawless chapters of the Ku Klux Klan. Birmingham "is synonymous to barbarism" and "needs to be protected against itself," said New York City Mayor Robert Wagner. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 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. [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 and 500 Alabama National Guardsmen to assist in quelling unrest. Updates? Though Birminghams white supremacists (and even certain individuals) were immediately suspected in the bombing, repeated calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice went unanswered for more than a decade. Bobby Frank Cherry was tried in Birmingham, Alabama, before Judge James Garrett, on May 6, 2002. "[45], Two more Black youths, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware, were shot to death in Birmingham within seven hours of the Sunday morning bombing. Blanton, however, hired a lawyer and refused to answer any questions. 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. Blanton's attorneys criticized the validity and quality of the 16 tape recordings introduced as evidence,[105] 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. Vernon Merritt photo, More than 1,600 people attended the memorial service for Carole Rosamond Robertson on Sept. 17, 1963. Grief will not prevail. His famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail was published in the national press, along with shocking images of police brutality against protesters in Birmingham that helped build widespread support for the civil rights cause. The bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church was examined by director Spike Lee in the Oscar-nominated documentary 4 Little Girls (1997). Four black girls. [121] (A fishing float attached to a section of wire, which may have been part of a timing device, was found 20 feet (6.1m) from the explosion crater[87] following the bombing. The last convicted bomber in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four young African American girls has died in prison, nearly 60 years after the terror attack targeted the US civil. Sarah Collins Rudolph was the fifth girl and survived. Another 22 people were injured in the explosion. Although informative to the FBI, Rowe actively participated in violence against both Black and white civil rights activists. [42], 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",[43] 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 bells of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., tolled Monday in remembrance of the four girls who were killed in a bombing at the church 40 years ago. Two more violent deaths that day Later that day, 13-year-old Virgil Ware, riding on the. Here are photos from that day: Original caption: NEWS FILE/TOM SELF Firefighters sift through rubble and search for bodies in the basement of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church after a bomb killed four girls on Sunday, September 15, 1963. [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. (The physical description by witnesses of this person varied, and could have matched either Bobby Cherry or Robert Chambliss. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. [132] These polygraph results had convinced some FBI agents of Rowe's culpability in the bombing. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. "[17][51], Carole Rosamond Robertson was laid to rest in a private family funeral held on September 17, 1963. At approximately 10:22a.m., an anonymous man phoned the 16th Street Baptist Church. 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. [20], One of the key witnesses to testify on behalf of the prosecution was the Reverend Elizabeth Cobbs, Chambliss's niece. (The plastic remnants were later lost by investigators. 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." Their deaths made all of us focus upon the ugliness of those who would punish people because of the color of their skin. C.E. 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. Sept. 19, 2020 Even though it has been more than 50 years since Ku Klux Klansmen bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., Sarah Collins Rudolph said remnants from the blast. The bomb injured at least 20 people and killed four young girls: Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair. Saturday was the 55th anniversary of the bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Jones reviewed Blanton's extensive history with the Ku Klux Klan, before referring to the audio recordings presented earlier in the trial. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! [68] Later the same year, J. Edgar Hoover formally blocked any impending federal prosecutions against the suspects,[69] and refused to disclose any evidence his agents had obtained with state or federal prosecutors.[70]. We strive for accuracy and fairness. [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. Thomas Blanton, left, and Bobby Frank Cherry appear in court on May 19, 2000, in Birmingham after being accused of the 1963 church bombing. Such a lack of evidence isnt unusual in powerful explosions, he said, because bomb components often are destroyed.However, defense attorney Mickey Johnson hammered at the lack of evidence. The most seriously injured survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Sarah Jean Collins, remained hospitalized for more than two months, 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 artwork via an appeal conducted through the, John Petts died in 1991 at the age of 77. 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. 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. "It was just a matter of time," said Pastor John H. Cross of the bombing. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. "We've been expecting this all along.". When a bomb made of dynamite detonated at 10:22 am on September 15, 1963, church members were attending Sunday school classes before the start of the 11:00 am church service. [117][118], Blanton died in prison from unspecified causes on June 26, 2020.[119]. After the blast, Christ's head was blown away. Thomas told those gathered "The greatest tribute you can pay to Carole is to be calm, be loving, be kind, be innocent. At a funeral for three of the girls (ones family preferred a separate, private service), King addressed more than 8,000 mourners. An estimated 2,000 Black people converged on the scene in the hours following the explosion. 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. The current state death penalty law applied only to crimes committed after its passage. Officially, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing remained unsolved until after William Baxley was elected Attorney General of Alabama in January 1971. Johnson warned the jurors they would have to distinguish between evidence and proof. [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. FILE - Sarah Collins Rudolph and her husband, George Rudolph, talk in their . Following these closing arguments, the jury retired to consider their verdicts. Within days of the bombing, investigators began to focus their attention upon a KKK splinter group known as the "Cahaba Boys". 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. [41] The Birmingham City Council convened an emergency meeting to propose safety measures for the city, although proposals for a curfew were rejected. The Rev. 1963 Four Black schoolgirls killed in Birmingham church bombing On September 15, 1963, a bomb explodes during Sunday morning services in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham,.
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