Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, Sept 13 (Reuters) - When a church bombing killed four young black girls on a quiet Sunday morning in 1963, life for a young Condoleezza Rice changed forever. In the weeks following the September 4 integration of public schools, three additional bombs were detonated in Birmingham. Don Cochran disputed this position, arguing that Alabama law provides for "conspiracies to conceal evidence" to be proven by both inference and circumstantial evidence. 1963 terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Part of the Civil Rights movementand 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) Location Birmingham, Alabama Coordinates (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. Original caption: The damaged interior of the church is shown in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963. Robinson died before reaching the hospital. 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. 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". 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. Did you know? The Birmingham News. Original caption: NEWS FILE/TOM SELF A stained glass window bears testament to a bomb's damage; Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, September 15, 1963. "[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. [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. ), Both counsels delivered their closing arguments before the jury on May 1. The other victims were Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson. Many of the civil rights protest marches that took place in Birmingham during the 1960s began at the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which had long been a significant religious center for the citys Black population and a routine meeting place for civil rights organizers like King. Less than one minute later, the bomb exploded. Nearby buildings are left without glass in windows. [110], 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. 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. The files were sealed by order of J. Edgar Hoover. A stretcher waits to carry away any more victims found. Two more young African Americans died, and the National Guard was called in to restore order. A policeman and a neighbor had each testified that Chambliss was at the home of a man named Clarence Dill on that day. 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. Four girls were killed when a bomb exploded at an Alabama church in 1963. "We've been expecting this all along.". Birmingham church bombing case was FBI triumph 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". Farrell Griswold, pastor of Minor Heights Baptist, told the crowd. [103], 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. 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. Your irresponsible and misguided actions have created in Birmingham and Alabama the atmosphere that has induced continued violence and now murder. Several dozen people were present at the unveiling, presided over by state Senator. 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. (J. Edgar Hoover, then-head of the FBI, disapproved of the civil rights movement; he died in 1972.). [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. 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. After the blast, Christ's head was blown away. A fifth girl who had been with them, Sarah Collins (the younger sister of Addie Mae Collins), lost her right eye in the explosion, and several other people were injured. 16th Street Baptist Church interior after the bombing . "It would have given the extremists an opportunity to reconsider," Cross said. Although a subsequent FBI investigation identified three other menBobby Frank Cherry, Herman Cash and Thomas E. Blanton, Jr.as having helped Chambliss commit the crime, it was later revealed that FBI chairman J. Edgar Hoover blocked their prosecution and shut down the investigation without filing charges in 1968. Both the church and the bereaved families received an estimated $23,000 in cash donations from members of the public. A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died in 1994 before he could be tried. She is the daughter of the Reverend John Cross and was aged 13 in 1963. The NAACP questioned the speed of the investigation and whether all resources available were being utilized. The intention was to fill the jail with protesters. We all did it. Every person in this community who has in any way contributed during the past several years to the popularity of hatred is at least as guilty, or more so, than the demented fool who threw that bomb," Morgan said. Sarah Collins Rudolph, Birmingham church bombing survivor, wants . The blast killed four little girls and became a tragic marker in civil rights history.. Shortly thereafter, she had heard "the most horrible noise", before being struck on the head by debris. "It was just a matter of time," said Pastor John H. Cross of the bombing. The explosion sprayed mortar and bricks from the front of the building, caved in walls, and filled the interior with smoke, and horrified parishioners quickly evacuated. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The bombing occurred on Sept. 15, 1963, a Sunday, at the 16th Street Baptist Church, which had been a center of civil rights activity in Birmingham. Denise, was among four girls killed in the bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church nearly 60 years ago. He had repeatedly proclaimed his innocence, insisting Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. was the actual perpetrator. Blanton, however, hired a lawyer and refused to answer any questions. Upon learning of the bombing at the Church, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. sent a telegram to Alabama Governor George Wallace, a staunch and vocal segregationist, stating bluntly: 'The blood of our little children is on your hands." The brutal attack and the deaths of the four little girls . Or, continue scrolling for the photos of the historic event. These deliberations continued until the following day. 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (1963) - National Park Service Alabama's governor apologizes to Sarah Collins Rudolph - CNN 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. A local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan placed bombs at the 16th Street Baptist Church and set them off as Sunday services prepared to commence on the morning of September 15, 1963. 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.[125]. He became a paid FBI informant in 1961. 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. [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. [106] 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. [67] Blanton pleaded not guilty to the charges and chose not to testify on his behalf throughout the trial. [11] The intentional scope of these activities was to see the end of segregation across Birmingham and the South as a whole. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. [99]: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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [14] These attacks earned the city the nickname "Bombingham". Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The bomb exploded on the east side of the building, where five girls were getting ready for church in a basement restroom. "[90][91], 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. Birmingham pub bombings: Who were the victims? - BBC News In spite of the darkness of this hour, we must not become bitter We must not lose faith in our white brothers. Seven witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution, and two for the defense. The current state death penalty law applied only to crimes committed after its passage. [75]:497 This testimony of witnesses and evidence was used to formally construct a case against Robert Chambliss. FILE - Sarah Collins Rudolph and her husband, George Rudolph, talk in their . Maxine McNair died on Sunday, Birmingham Mayor Randall . [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]. (The plastic remnants were later lost by investigators. [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. 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 1968, the FBI formally closed their investigation into the bombing without filing charges against any of their named suspects. 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. 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. You by your suffering have paid another installment in this great thing called freedom," said the Rev. King later spoke before 8,000 people at the funeral for three of the girls (the family of the fourth girl held a smaller private service), fueling the public outrage now mounting across the country. [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. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Jurors in the murder trial of a former Ku Klux Klansman were shown grisly morgue photos yesterday of the four black girls killed in a 1963 church bombing.It was calculated to produce death, Coroner Robert Brissie said of the bomb. Now the Jury Must Decide", "Bobby Frank Cherry, 74, Klansman in Bombing, Dies", "Gary T. Rowe Jr., 64, Who Informed on Klan In Civil Rights Killing, Is Dead", "Long Fight Predicted In Case Against Rowe", "Paid FBI Informer Tells Of Murder, Silence", "Memorial Dedicated For Church Bombing Victims On Anniversary", "Siblings of the bombing: Remembering Birmingham church blast 50 years on", "Girl Living in Darkness After Church Bombing", "Alabama church bombing victims honoured by Welsh window", "American civil rights: the Welsh connection", "Death spares scrutiny of Cash in bomb probe", "Pastor Was At Church When Bomb Killed Four", United States Government Publishing Office, "A History of American Protest: When Nina Simone Sang what Everyone was Thinking", "American Guernica, LKM Music - Hal Leonard Online", "Still Reeling From the Day Death Came to Birmingham", "Television Review: A Father's Guilt; A Son's Wrenching Decision", "That Which Might Have Been, Birmingham 1963 - Phoenix, Arizona - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com", "Memorial project for 16th Street Baptist Church bombing raises $200,000 of $250,000 goal", "Four Spirits unveiled across from Sixteenth Street Baptist Church", "Four Spirits Statue, Memorial to 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Victims, Unveiled", Details of Robert Chambliss's 1979 appeal against his conviction, John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights, Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)", List of lynching victims in the United States, Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, African American founding fathers of the United States, Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing&oldid=1150872665, African-American history in Birmingham, Alabama, Attacks on religious buildings and structures in the United States, Massacres in religious buildings and structures, Racially motivated violence against African Americans, September 1963 events in the United States, Terrorist incidents in the United States in 1963, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2023, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. [22]:57 Although the Cahaba Boys had fewer than 30 active members,[60] among them were Thomas Blanton Jr., Herman Cash, Robert Chambliss, and Bobby Cherry. A well-known Klan member, Robert Chambliss, was charged with murder and with buying 122 sticks of dynamite. Last parent of a child killed in the Birmingham 16th Street - CNN [83], In his closing argument before the jury on November 17,[84] Baxley acknowledged that Chambliss was not the sole perpetrator of the bombing. On May 22, 2002, Cherry was convicted and sentenced to life, bringing a long-awaited victory to the friends and families of the four young victims. [85] 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. In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. had been arrested there while leading supporters of his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in a nonviolent campaign of demonstrations against segregation.
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