February 9, 2018

Sunday, September, 15, 1963 was supposed to begin like any other Sunday at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. But on this day, it would not.

As members of 16th Street Baptist Church, a predominately black church, were preparing for their morning worship service, a bomb detonated—killing four and injuring many more.

Birmingham, with one of the strongest and most violent KKK chapters, was a major focus of desegregation among civil rights activists. But with the KKK running rampant, a governor (George Wallace) who was strongly in favor of segregation, and a police commissioner (Eugene Connor) who was more than willing to use brutality on demonstrations, union members, and black people, activists had their work cut out for them.

Bombings at Black churches and homes were so common, Birmingham earned the nickname “Bombingham” by 1963.

The steps of 16th Street Baptist was where many civil right protest marches began as the church was a significant religious space for the black population in the city, as well as a regular meeting place for civil rights organizers, including Martin Luther King, Jr.

It was for this reason that bomb threats were often called in to the church to disrupt services and meetings.

The morning of September 15, 1963, at around 10:22 am, approximately 200 church members were attending Sunday School and preparing for church when a bomb went off on the east side of the church. Mortar and bricks collapsed from the front of the church, and the interior walls caved in.

While many people were able to evacuate, Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Denise McNair (11) were found buried beneath the rubble in a restroom in the basement. Sarah Collins (10) was also in the restroom at the time and lost her eye.

16 Street Baptist church marked the third bombing in 11 days after a federal court order had been made mandating the integration of Alabama’s school system.

While white supremacists were suspected in the case immediately, calls for justice that the bombers be arrested were ignored for more than 10 years. (It also came out later that the FBI had information regarding the identity of the bombers by 1965 and did still did nothing.

The case was reopened in 1977 and a klan leader was brought to trial for the bombing and convicted of murder. The case was then reopened again in 1980, 1988 ,and 1997 where two other klansmen were brought to trial and convicted. Another suspect died before reaching his trial date. (I included no names because they deserve to have their names used.)

While the bombing was and will always be a true tragedy, the outrage that came after the death of these young girls led to an outpouring of support to end segregation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed in large part due to the bombing, which was exactly the opposite of what the klan wanted.

Since the bombings, the church has been renovated and declared a Landmark both in the state of Alabama and nationally.