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. May 10, 2019 at 11:37 p.m. EDT. 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. She died Sunday at 93. 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. Although Cash is known to have passed a polygraph test in which he was questioned as to his potential involvement in the bombing, 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. 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. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! [46][48]), Some civil rights activists blamed George Wallace, Governor of Alabama and an outspoken segregationist, for creating the climate that had led to the killings. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. In the film, Lee interviews witnesses to the bombing and family members of the victims while at the same time exploring the backdrop of segregation and white harassment that were central to the time period. The NAACP questioned the speed of the investigation and whether all resources available were being utilized. Farrell Griswold, pastor of Minor Heights Baptist, told the crowd. 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. (Tom Self/ Birmingham News), Original caption: Destruction is seen in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963. Gov. 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. 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: Photos of the tragedy The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing marked a turning point in the Civil Rights movement and contributed to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I'm shot," he told his brother James with his dying breath. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. T hursday marked the 59th anniversary of white supremacists' deadly bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Wallace and Birmingham, meanwhile, faced growing criticism nationwide. A day after the tragedy, President Kennedy spoke of his "outrage" and "grief" at the Birmingham church bombing. In October 1963, Chambliss was cleared of the murder charge and received a six-month jail sentence and a $100 fine for the dynamite. [107], The trial lasted for one week. "It would have given the extremists an opportunity to reconsider," Cross said. Long-delayed trial of former Ku Klux Klansman Thomas Blanton Jr in fatal 1963 bombing of black Birmingham, Ala, church opens; another of 4 original suspects, Robert Chambliss, was convicted in . The last living parent of one of the four children killed in the terrorist bombing of an African American church in 1963 has died at 93. However, none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities. 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. [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. Vigilance And Victory: How The Birmingham Church Bombing - HuffPost 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. No one ever really has known and no one will until this city becomes part of the United States. [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. He said this past was not the evidence upon which they should return their verdicts. As Birmingham took on the appearance of a battle zone, with hundreds of police, troopers and guardsmen patrolling the streets, another black teen, Johnny Robinson, was shot to death by police. The Birmingham church bombing occurred on September 15, 1963, when a bomb exploded before Sunday morning services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabamaa church with a. [97], 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 Blanton, however, hired a lawyer and refused to answer any questions. Fifty-seven years after the Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., murdering four Black girls and stunning the nation, a victim of the notorious hate crime sought a public . Mr. Cherry, a 71-year-old retired truck driver, is accused of being part of a group of Klansmen who planted a bomb outside the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a rallying place for civil rights. 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. Original caption: Alabama-Birmingham-bombings-Body removed from 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. But perhaps most notably, four little girls -- three 14-year-olds and one 11-year-old -- were killed, putting the bombing among the most well-known and heartbreaking tragedies in the fight for civil rights in America's Deep South. Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement, https://www.britannica.com/event/16th-Street-Baptist-Church-bombing, History Learning Site - 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing, Spartacus Educational - 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, Encyclopedia of Alabama - Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, BlackPast.org - Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing, Birmingham, National Park Service - 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (1963), 16th Street Baptist Church bombing - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Before his trial, Chambliss remained free upon a $200,000 bond raised by family and supporters and posted October 18. The four individuals named in the FBI report were Blanton, Cash, Chambliss, and Cherry. C.E. [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. In Birmingham, attorney Charles Morgan, Jr. spoke before the Birmingham Young Men's Business Club, identifying the people responsible for the attack. Within 24 hours of the bombing, a minimum of five businesses and properties had been firebombed and numerous carsmost of which were driven by whiteshad been stoned by rioting youths. 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. As Church Bombing Trial Begins in Birmingham, the City's Past Is Very A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died in 1994 before he could be brought to trial. 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. Thomas told those gathered "The greatest tribute you can pay to Carole is to be calm, be loving, be kind, be innocent. The case was again reopened in 1980, 1988 and 1997, when two other former Klan members, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry, were finally brought to trial; Blanton was convicted in 2001 and Cherry in 2002. 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. [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. While in jail, King wrote a letter to local white ministers justifying his decision not to call off the demonstrations in the face of continued bloodshed at the hands of local law enforcement officials. Or, continue scrolling for the photos of the historic event. 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing Fast Facts | CNN 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. "[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. 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. Both named individuals were charged with four counts of first-degree murder, and four counts of universal malice. 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. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963 by white supremacist terrorists. [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. [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. On April 10, 2001, Judge James Garrett indefinitely postponed Cherry's trial, pending further medical analysis. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. 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. 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.". "[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. Martin Luther King Jr. said he hoped the deaths "may well serve as the redemptive force that brings light to this dark city.". 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. 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. Following the closing arguments, the jury retired to begin their deliberations, which lasted for over six hours and continued into the following day. The Robertsons made funeral arrangements before learning that the other families were planning a combined service with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, delivering the eulogy. Yet the men. KKK members had routinely called in bomb threats intended to disrupt civil rights meetings as well as services at the church. At left is Clara Pippen, mother of the two women. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Current one is: September 15. Missing remains of 1963 church bombing victim believed to be found An anti-integration demonstration planned in Midfield for that night was cancelled, but not before someone hanged President Kennedy in effigy before a cheering crowd. This page was last edited on 20 April 2023, at 15:09. 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. Of the nearly 200 congregants inside, attending Sunday school classes and preparing for the 11 a.m. service, about 22 were injured. Original caption: NEWS FILE/TOM SELF A stained glass window bears testament to a bomb's damage; Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, September 15, 1963. [77] But at a pre-trial hearing on October 18,[78] Judge Wallace Gibson ruled that the defendant would be tried upon one count of murderthat of Carol Denise McNair[78]and that the remaining three counts of murder would remain, but that he would not be charged in relation to these three deaths. Johnson warned the jurors they would have to distinguish between evidence and proof. They forever changed the face of this state and the history of this state. 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 four girls between the ages of 11 and 14 became innocent victims and emblems of the racist hatred. [117][118], Blanton died in prison from unspecified causes on June 26, 2020.[119]. [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. [61] Although he met with initial resistance from the FBI,[50]: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.[76]. The Rev. The tragic 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, helped set America on a course toward passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.. And despite the personal tragedy the bombing caused the McNair family, it set them on a path of spreading love, understanding and racial unity to people across the country. terrorist attack, Birmingham, Alabama, United States [1963]. Fifteen sticks of dynamite were planted in the church basement, underneath what turned out to be the girls restroom. An unidentified man digs grave for one of the four victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Birmingham, Alabama, late September 1963. Forty-seven years ago this week, on Sept. 15, 1963, a bomb exploded at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. His testimony was restricted to the areas of the recordings permitted into evidence. 1963 terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama, 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? [75]:497 This testimony of witnesses and evidence was used to formally construct a case against Robert Chambliss. [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. 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. [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. 4 Little Girls - Wikipedia Outrage over the death of the four young girls helped build increased support behind the continuing struggle to end segregationsupport that would help lead to the passage of both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 1963 Birmingham church bombing survivor asks Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey for Birmingham Public Library. 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. [129] In this role, Rowe acted as an agent provocateur between 1961[130] and 1965. 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. Also present was Martin Luther King Jr. The Birmingham News. 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. We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Each received a $100 fine (the equivalent of $972 as of 2023[update]) and a suspended 180-day jail sentence. 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. Terms of Use / Privacy Policy / Manage Newsletters, Click AP While the FBI concluded in 1965 that the. 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. Another 22 people were injured in the explosion. Following the bombing, the 16th Street Baptist Church remained closed for over eight months, as assessments and, later, repairs were conducted upon the property.
Cunningham And Nelson Funeral Home Obituaries, Gojet Airlines Flight Attendant Requirements, Westchester High School Basketball Coach, Howard Nevison Cantor Death, Articles B