It was declared a national historic landmark in 2006. Birmingham Public Library. 35. He had repeatedly proclaimed his innocence, insisting Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. was the actual perpetrator. 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. Family and friends of Carole Robertson attend graveside services for her in Birmingham on September 17, 1963. Show all. Fifty years ago, less than a month after the 1963 March on Washington, a bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, killing four young African-American girls. Crucial testimony at Cherry's trial was delivered by his former wife, Willadean Brogdon, who had married Cherry in 1970. [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. 2023 Cable News Network. Three former Ku Klux Klan members are eventually convicted of murder for 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. He was able to build trust with key witnesses, some of whom had been reluctant to testify in the first investigation. Cherry's defense attorney, Mickey Johnson, protested his client's innocence, citing that much of the evidence presented was circumstantial. [11], The three-story 16th Street Baptist Church was a rallying point for civil rights activities through the spring of 1963. [36] She had 21 pieces of glass embedded in her face and was blinded in one eye. 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. (The first three schools in Birmingham to be integrated would do so on September 4. [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. The files were sealed by order of J. Edgar Hoover. 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. Following these closing arguments, the jury retired to consider their verdicts. [48]), Chambliss was questioned by the FBI on September 26. Most parishioners were able to evacuate the building as it filled with smoke, but the bodies of four young girls (14-year-old Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson and 11-year-old Denise McNair) were found beneath the rubble in a basement restroom. Even though the legal system was slow to provide justice, the effect of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church was immediate and significant. Updated 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. 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]. Petts then elaborated that the inspiration for the stained-glass image was a verse from the, 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). 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. An estimated 2,000 black people converged on the scene in the hours following the explosion. [4] "[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. [13][15], 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. 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. 1963 Birmingham church bombing From left, 11-year-old Denise McNair and 14-year-olds Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley were killed while attending Sunday services.. 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. )[22]:63. 2. "[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. There had been a history of mistrust between local and federal investigators. 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. I didn't bomb that church. I haven't done anything! In his closing argument, prosecuting attorney and future U.S. His family confirmed his death Wednesday in a . [73]:574, Chambliss appealed his conviction, as provided under the law, saying that much of the evidence presented at his trialincluding testimony relating to his activities within the KKKwas 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. Four young black girls-Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, and Cynthia Diane Wesley, and Carole Robe 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 is located at Kelly Ingram Park, on the corner of Sixteenth Street North and Sixth Avenue North. [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. [25] According to one survivor, the explosion shook the entire building and propelled the girls' bodies through the air "like rag dolls". [47], The city of Birmingham initially offered a $52,000 reward for the arrest of the bombers. 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. The act of terror by four members of the KKK at the historic Black church killed four little girls: 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley and 11-year-old Denise McNair. Martin Luther King Jr. holds a press conference in Birmingham the day after the attack. [111][112] He was incarcerated at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama. [115][116], Blanton died in prison from unspecified causes on June 26, 2020.[117]. The citys police commissioner, Eugene Bull Connor, was notorious for his willingness to use brutality in combating radical demonstrators, union members and any Black citizens. Also present was Martin Luther King Jr. In 1968, the FBI formally closed their investigation into the bombing without filing charges against any of their named suspects. 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. [86] He was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder. The intention was to fill the jail with protesters. [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. Through these rulings, Mitchell Burns was called to testify on behalf of the prosecution. The Church of England is considered the original church of the Anglican Communion, which represents over 85 million people in more than 165 read more, The civil rights movement was an organized effort by Black Americans to end racial discrimination and gain equal rights under the law. Barbara Ann Cross also testified for the prosecution. 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. 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? [73]:497 This testimony of witnesses and evidence was used to formally construct a case against Robert Chambliss. 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. 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. "[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. Their deaths made all of us focus upon the ugliness of those who would punish people because of the color of their skin. [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. [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]. ", "Beauty from the Ashes of 16th Street Baptist Church", "The Speech That Shocked Birmingham the Day After the Church Bombing", "Ceremony recalls victim of civil rights violence", "First of 4 Birmingham Bomb Victims is Buried", "We Shall Overcome Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement", "Funeral Speakers Say Deaths Of Three Children Not In Vain", "Martin Luther King's 'Eulogy for the Martyred Children', "The ghosts of Alabama: After 37 years, two men are indicted for a bombing that transfigured the civil rights movement", "Birmingham Klansman Guilty in Dynamite Case; Two Other Defendants Face Trial Today--Dr. King Gives City an Ultimatum on Jobs", "FBI: A Byte Out of History: The '63 Baptist Church Bombing", "Murderer Of 4 Birmingham Girls Found Guilty (38 yrs later)", "Former Klansman convicted in deadly 1963 bombing of Birmingham, Alabama church", "Cherry convicted: Jury verdict in bombing hailed as 'justice finally', "Birmingham Church Bombing Conviction Ended an Obsession of the Prosecutor", "Bill Baxley Reflects on 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing", "Former Prosecutor Says FBI Delayed Alabama Conviction", "Former Klansman Convicted In Bombing Death", "Another Redemption: Baxley in Birmingham", "Puzzle Pieces Put Together in Bombing Case", "Alabamian Guilty in '63 Blast that Killed Four Girls", "Robert E. Chambliss, Figure in '63 Bombing", "Former Klansman convicted of deadly Alabama church bombing 40 years on", "Klansman convicted of killing black girls", "As Church Bombing Trial Begins in Birmingham, the City's Past Is Very Much Present", "Former Klansman who was Key Witness at Bombing Trial Dies", "Church Bombing Verdict Hinges on how Jurors Understand Tapes", "Jury Hears More Old Tapes in Church Bombing Trial", "Birmingham church bomber guilty, gets four life terms", "Testimony Concludes in Trial On Birmingham Church Blast", "Former Klansman Convicted in 1963 Church Bombing", "Former Klansman faces prison in 1963 Killings", "1 Klansman survives Ala church bombing cases", "Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bomber up for parole next month", "16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton denied parole", "Thomas Blanton, Who Bombed a Birmingham Church, Dies at 82", "Witnesses Say Ex-Klansman Boasted of Church Bombing", "Design of Bomb Still Uncertain 38 Years Later", "Explosives Expert Testifies In Church Bombing Trial", "Prosecutor Says Justice 'Overdue' in '63 Bombing", "More Than Just a Racist? The bombings targeted African-American leaders of the Birmingham campaign. If you're looking for a beautiful place to travel to this summer, look no further than Spain. [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. 1994 - Cash dies without being charged in the bombing. [130] Nonetheless, a 1979 investigation cleared Rowe of any involvement in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. [7] Herman Cash had died in 1994, and was never charged with his alleged involvement in the bombing. Did you encounter any technical issues? Jihadism. 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. A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died in 1994 before he could be brought to trial. 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". birmingham church bombing victims autopsy. Relatives of the four victims openly wept in relief. In spite of the darkness of this hour, we must not become bitter We must not lose faith in our white brothers. 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. 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. Heres a look at the Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing that killed four African-American girls during church services in 1963. [11] The intentional scope of these activities was to see the end of segregation across Birmingham and the South as a whole. 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. [64] This information was relayed to the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover;[65] however, no prosecutions of the four suspects ensued. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. 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. (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. 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. In the early morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, four members of the United Klans of AmericaThomas Edwin Blanton Jr., Robert Edward Chambliss,[19] Bobby Frank Cherry, and (allegedly) Herman Frank Cashplanted a minimum of 15 sticks[20] of dynamite with a time delay under the steps of the church, close to the basement. In all, at least 20 people are injured from the initial bombing and the ensuing riots.- Alabama Governor George Wallace sends 500 National Guardsmen and 300 state troopers to the city. She spoke with News4's Molette Green about . Ware, aged 13, was shot in the cheek and chest with a revolver[16] in a residential suburb 15 miles (24km) north of the city. These instructions were relayed to the crowd present by a single youth with a bullhorn. Blanton, however, hired a lawyer and refused to answer any questions. "[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. [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. )[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. At approximately 10:22a.m., an anonymous man phoned the 16th Street Baptist Church. [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". Robinson died before reaching the hospital. But, he warned the jury: "Just because you don't like him, that doesn't make him responsible for the bombing. At that point, Black Americans were forced to read more, The Orangeburg Massacre occurred on the night of February 8, 1968, when a civil rights protest at South Carolina State University (SC State) turned deadly after highway patrolmen opened fire on about 200 unarmed black student protestors. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. [131], I remembered the bombing of that Sunday School at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. [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. 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. 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. [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. [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. [144], 1963 white supremacist terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 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), Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham Board of Education, Armstrong v. Birmingham Board of Education, Smith v. Young Men's Christian Association, University of Alabama desegregation crisis, Tuskegee High School desegregation crisis, 1963 Birmingham campaign's Children's Crusade, Mass racial violence in the United States, Racial segregation of churches in the United States, Timeline of terrorist attacks in the United States, "How Much Has Changed Since the Birmingham Church Bombing? [119] (A fishing float attached to a section of wire, which may have been part of a timing device, was found 20 feet (6.1m) from the explosion crater[85] following the bombing. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Maxine McNair, the last living parent of any of the four Black girls killed in a 1963 Alabama church bombing, died Sunday. 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. Did you know? Abouyaaqoub fled the attack on foot, then killed another person in order to steal the victim's car . Melanie Peeples reports. Kay Ivey. Other witnesses obtained identified Chambliss as the individual who had placed the bomb beneath the church. On 21 November 1974, two bombs ripped through the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs in Birmingham, killing 21 and injuring 220. The death of those four girls is what inspired the poem from Dudley Randall, "Ballad of Birmingham". Life is hard. Three Ku Klux Klan members were later convicted of murder. 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. [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. 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. 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. In his eulogy, Dr. King said, "These children -- unoffending, innocent and beautiful -- were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity. A Warner Bros. 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. 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. ), Both counsels delivered their closing arguments before the jury on May 1. By 1963, homemade bombs set off in Birmingham's Black homes and churches were such common occurrences that the city had earned the nickname "Bombingham.". An estimated 8,000 people attended the service. In this speech, Morgan lamented: "Who did it [the bombing]? The date and the story of the enslaved Africans have become symbolic of slaverys roots, read more, From February 13 to February 15, 1945, during the final months of World War II (1939-45), Allied forces bombed the historic city of Dresden, located in eastern Germany. However, none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities. NBC Universal, Inc. Four girls were killed when a bomb exploded at an Alabama church in 1963. (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. He was 82 years old. Both the church and the bereaved families received an estimated $23,000 in cash donations from members of the public. [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]. [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". [20], One of the key witnesses to testify on behalf of the prosecution was the Reverend Elizabeth Cobbs, Chambliss's niece. Firefighters and ambulance attendants remove a body from the church. June 26, 2020 - Blanton dies in prison of natural causes, according to a statement released by Alabama Gov. November 18, 1977 - Chambliss is convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the bombing and sentenced to life imprisonment. KKK members had routinely called in bomb threats intended to disrupt civil rights meetings as well as services at the church. 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). Sarah Collins Rudolph was the fifth girl and survived. appreciated. Officially, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing remained unsolved until after William Baxley was elected Attorney General of Alabama in January 1971. Following the bombing, the 16th Street Baptist Church remained closed for over eight months, as assessments and, later, repairs were conducted upon the property. The Birmingham City Council convened an emergency meeting to propose safety measures for the city, although proposals for a curfew were rejected. 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