BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Maxine McNair, the last living parent of any of the four Black girls killed in a 1963 Alabama church bombing, died Sunday. Robinson, aged 16, was shot in the back by a policeman as he fled down an alley,[41] after ignoring police orders to halt. All Rights Reserved. [30] Another victim was killed by a piece of mortar embedded in her skull. Four young black girls-Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, and Cynthia Diane Wesley, and Carole Robe "[66], Bobby Frank Cherry died of cancer on November 18, 2004, at age 74, while incarcerated at the Kilby Correctional Facility. [96] The following day, both men surrendered to police. 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). [12] The city had no black police officers or firefighters[12] and most black residents could expect to find menial employment in professions such as cooks and cleaners. [109] When asked by the judge whether he had anything to say before sentence was imposed, Blanton said: "I guess the Lord will settle it on Judgment Day. 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. Blanton, however, hired a lawyer and refused to answer any questions. He referred to testimony given by her father, Chris McNair, about the family's loss, and requested that the jury return a verdict of guilty.[84]. (J. Edgar Hoover, then-head of the FBI, disapproved of the civil rights movement; he died in 1972.). She spoke with News4's Molette Green about . September 15, 1963 - Four girls are killed and 14 injured in a bomb blast at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.- Riots break out, and two African-American boys, Virgil Ware, 13, and Johnny Robinson, 16, are also killed. Four young girls were killed and many other people injured. [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. 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. [97]:ch. 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. [105], The trial lasted for one week. Discovery Company. 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.[17]. In this speech, Morgan lamented: "Who did it [the bombing]? Their deaths made all of us focus upon the ugliness of those who would punish people because of the color of their skin. 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. 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. No one ever really has known and no one will until this city becomes part of the United States. 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. [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. "[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. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the white supremacist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four young girls. More than 1,000 people were present at the unveiling of the memorial, including survivors of the bombing, friends of the victims and the parents of Denise McNair, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware. "[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. It was declared a national historic landmark in 2006. September 15, 1963 - A bomb blast at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, kills four African-American girls during church services. [59] Although he met with initial resistance from the FBI,[48]: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.[74]. Updated He was able to build trust with key witnesses, some of whom had been reluctant to testify in the first investigation. The current state death penalty law applied only to crimes committed after its passage. [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. Resulting in the injury of 14 people and the death of four girls, the attack garnered widespread national outrage. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama took place on Sept. 15, 1963 when four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite with a timer under the front . Cars parked beside the church were damaged by the blast. [4] Both named individuals were charged with four counts of first-degree murder, and four counts of universal malice. 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. The bomb that demolished the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church downstairs lounge, shattered the sanctuary's stained-glass windows, hurled large chunks of stone into nearby automobiles and. )[22]:63. I told the truth. [11] The intentional scope of these activities was to see the end of segregation across Birmingham and the South as a whole. 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 predominantly Black congregation that also served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. McNair's family announced her death. On January 20, 1961, the handsome and charismatic John F. Kennedy became president of the United States. The church's pastor, the Reverend John Cross Jr., attempted to placate the crowd by loudly reciting the 23rd Psalm through a bullhorn. In his closing argument, prosecuting attorney and future U.S. [101], 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. 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]. the 16th street baptist church bombing was an act of white supremacist terrorism which occurred at the african american 16th street baptist church in birmingham, alabama, on sunday,. The death of those four girls is what inspired the poem from Dudley Randall, "Ballad of Birmingham". 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. Martin Luther King Jr. holds a press conference in Birmingham the day after the attack. Firefighters and ambulance attendants remove a body from the church. [127] In this role, Rowe acted as an agent provocateur between 1961[128] and 1965. [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. In Birmingham, hundreds gathered at the church for a commemorative service and wreath-laying at the spot where the bomb went off. On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into effect the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Upon cross-examination by defense attorney Art Hanes Jr., Cantrell conceded that Chambliss had emphatically denied bombing the church. The girls' death and the long wait for justice raises important questions about civil rights, racism, and the nature of restorative justice. However, none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities. September 14, 2013 - A bronze and steel statue of the four girls is unveiled. 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. 1976 - Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopens the case. 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. birmingham church bombing victims autopsyrent to own homes mobile alabama. 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.[123]. "[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. 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. I don't know why I'm going to jail for nothing. It was meant to suck the hope out of young lives, bury their aspirations, and ensure that old fears would be propelled forward into the next generation. Immediately after the blast, church members. In the weeks following the September 4 integration of public schools, three additional bombs were detonated in Birmingham. On April 10, 2001, Judge James Garrett indefinitely postponed Cherry's trial, pending further medical analysis. At times as hard as crucible steel, but, today, you do not walk alone. September 15, 2013, marked the 50th anniversary of the bombing.