birmingham church bombing victims autopsy

The city of Birmingham, Alabama, was founded in 1871 and rapidly became the states most important industrial and commercial center. Robbins also discredited the testimony of FBI agent William Fleming, who had earlier testified as to a government witness claiming he had seen Blanton in the vicinity of the church shortly before the bombing. [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. September 12, 2013 - Fifty years after the bombing, all four girls who died are awarded Congressional Gold Medals. Reverend Cobbs stated that her uncle had repeatedly informed her he had been engaged in what he referred to as a "one-man battle" against blacks since the 1940s. 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. [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. 1965 - Suspects emerge: Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Robert Chambliss and Herman Frank Cash, all Ku Klux Klan members. He said the U.S. Army "ought to come to Birmingham and take over this city and run it.". [115][116], Blanton died in prison from unspecified causes on June 26, 2020.[117]. 35. Both were arrested. She spoke with News4's Molette Green about . [131], I remembered the bombing of that Sunday School at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. In attendance were 1,600 people. 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". [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. Mourners embrace at the funeral. [44] When he spotted Ware and his brother, Sims fired twice, reportedly with his eyes closed. 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. It is located at Kelly Ingram Park, on the corner of Sixteenth Street North and Sixth Avenue North. The next day, they are joined by 500 police officers and 150 sheriffs deputies. He was 82 years old. )[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. About the recordings made as Blanton conversed with Burns, Robbins emphasized that Burns had earlier testified that Blanton had never expressly said that he had made or planted the bomb. Governor Wallace offered an additional $5,000 on behalf of the state of Alabama. [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. At least 14 others are injured in the explosion, including Sarah Collins, the 12-year-old sister of victim Addie Mae Collins, who loses an eye. [17], Hundreds of individuals, some of them lightly wounded, converged on the church to search the debris for survivors as police erected barricades around the church and several outraged men scuffled with police. He said this past was not the evidence upon which they should return their verdicts. Each received a $100 fine (the equivalent of $972 as of 2023[update]) and a suspended 180-day jail sentence. 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. 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. We all did it! Many of the same audiotapes presented in Blanton's trial were also introduced into evidence in the trial of Bobby Cherry. On the afternoon of 17 August 2017, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into pedestrians on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 others, one of whom died 10 days later on 27 August. [86] He was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder. An estimated 8,000 people attended the service. Barbara Ann Cross also testified for the prosecution. On November 14, 1977, Robert Chambliss, then aged 73, stood trial in Birmingham's Jefferson County Courthouse. 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. [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". birmingham church bombing victims autopsy. It was declared a national historic landmark in 2006. Crucial testimony at Cherry's trial was delivered by his former wife, Willadean Brogdon, who had married Cherry in 1970. Sarah Jean Collins, 12, lost an eye in the blast. 4 little girls directed by spike lee; vhs, color, 102 mins. 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.. On September 18, the funeral of the three other girls killed in the bombing was held at the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church. June 26, 2020 - Blanton dies in prison of natural causes, according to a statement released by Alabama Gov. birmingham church bombing victims autopsyrent to own homes mobile alabama. 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. 16th Street Baptist Church interior after the bombing . An estimated 2,000 black people converged on the scene in the hours following the explosion. Three Ku Klux Klan members were later convicted of murder. A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died in 1994 before he could be brought to trial. He said that the sections introduced as evidence were of poor audio quality, resulting in the prosecution presenting text transcripts of questionable accuracy to the jury. [102] He said: "You've got to have a meeting to plan a bomb. 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. 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". 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. 1976 - Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopens the case. I haven't done anything! September 17, 2013. 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. Cars parked beside the church were damaged by the blast. A section of wire and remnants of red plastic were discovered there, which could have been part of a timing device. [130] These polygraph results had convinced some FBI agents of Rowe's culpability in the bombing. ", "Today in 1963: The Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church", "Justice Story: Birmingham church bombing kills 4 innocent girls in racially motivated attack", "Former Klansmen indicted for murder in 1963 bombing of Birmingham, Alabama church", "16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (1963) (U.S. National Park Service)", "Letter From Birmingham City Jail (Excerpts)", "Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor (1897-1973) (U.S. National Park Service)", "Birmingham Confrontation Reconsidered: An Analysis of the Dynamics and Tactics of Mobilization", "Ghosts of Alabama: The Prosecution of Bobby Frank Cherry for the Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church", "Memories of An Imperial City: Race, Gender, and Birmingham, Alabama", "Six Negro Children Killed in Alabama Sunday", "Former Klansman Is Guilty Of Bomb Deaths", "16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivors Recall a Day That Changed the Fight for Civil Rights: 'I Will Never Stop Crying Thinking About It', "Killer of Four in 1963 Blast Dies in Prison", "John Cross Jr. Pastor at Bombed Church, Dies at 82", "The Birmingham Church Bombing: Bombingham", "Remembering the Birmingham Church Bombing", "John Cross Jr., Pastor at Bombed Church, Dies at 82", "Awarding Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley", "From the archive, 16 September 1963: Black church bombed in Birmingham, Alabama", "Father Recalls Deadly Blast At Ala. Baptist Church", "1963 Birmingham Church Bombing Fast Facts", "New Memorial for 16th St. Baptist Church on Sun, 56 Years After Bombing", "16th Street Baptist Church Bombing: Forty Years Later, Birmingham Still Struggles with Violent Past", "40 years for Justice: Did the FBI Cover for the Birmingham Bombers? The bombing was controversial because Dresden was neither important to German wartime production nor a major read more, The 1960s started off as the dawn of a golden age to most Americans. [17] Other acts of violence followed the settlement, and several staunch Klansmen were known to have expressed frustration at what they saw as a lack of effective resistance to integration.[18]. Birmingham, Alabama CNN Fifty years have passed since a bomb stopped the old sanctuary clock in Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, locking in a moment that would change a nation.. 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 . [40] Police urged parents of black and white youths to keep their children indoors, as the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, ordered an additional 300 state police to assist in quelling unrest. [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. The girls, all black members of Birmingham's 16 th Street Baptist Church, were killed in 1963 when a white supremacist planted a bomb in the church on a Sunday morning. Ku Klux Klan (alleged) The Birmingham riot of 1963 was a civil disorder and riot in Birmingham, Alabama, that was provoked by bombings on the night of May 11, 1963. But by September 20, the FBI was able to confirm that the explosion had been caused by a device that was purposely planted beneath the steps to the church,[57] close to the women's lounge. ". Three Ku Klux Klan members were later convicted of murder. It was declared a national historic landmark in 2006. I did not see it happen, but I heard it happen and I felt it happen, just a few blocks away at my father's church. A coffin is loaded into a hearse at a funeral for the girls. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a white supremacist terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963. appreciated. But, he warned the jury: "Just because you don't like him, that doesn't make him responsible for the bombing. [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. [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? The 16th Street Baptist Church served as a rallying point during the civil rights movement. [127] In this role, Rowe acted as an agent provocateur between 1961[128] and 1965. On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into effect the Civil Rights Act of 1964. [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. Cochran also added that although the evidence to be presented would not conclusively show that Cherry had personally planted or ignited the bomb, the combined evidence would illustrate that he had aided and abetted in the commission of the act. "[66], Bobby Frank Cherry died of cancer on November 18, 2004, at age 74, while incarcerated at the Kilby Correctional Facility. [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. Updated [83] 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. [94] They unsealed 9,000 pieces of evidence previously gathered by the FBI in the 1960s (many of these documents relating to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing had not been made available to DA William Baxley in the 1970s). CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Sarah Jean Collins, 12, lost an eye in the blast. Their deaths made all of us focus upon the ugliness of those who would punish people because of the color of their skin. Carole Robertson (aged 14) and Denise McNair (aged . )[22]:63. In that important sense, the bombings impact was exactly the opposite of what its perpetrators had intended. Spanning from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean, Spain is a lan. [59] These witness statements specifically indicated that a white man had exited the car and walked toward the steps of the church. Addie Mae Collins, 14Denise McNair, 11Carole Robertson, 14Cynthia Wesley, 14. (The physical description by witnesses of this person varied, and could have matched either Bobby Cherry or Robert Chambliss. 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]. 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. [32] All four girls were pronounced dead on arrival at the Hillman Emergency Clinic. 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. 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. Precisely because of its reputation as a stronghold for white supremacy, civil rights activists made Birmingham a major focus of their efforts to desegregate the Deep South. The sole stained-glass window largely undamaged in the explosion depicted Christ leading a group of young children. The 16th Street Baptist Church served as a rallying point during the civil rights movement. Following the closing arguments, the jury retired to begin their deliberations, which lasted for over six hours and continued into the following day. 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. His confidence that, as one historian put it, the government possessed big answers to big problems read more. Jackson testified that Chambliss had expressed frustration that the Klan was "dragging its feet" on the issue of racial integration,[18] and said he was eager to form a splinter group more dedicated to resistance. 4:37 PM EDT, Wed September 25, 2013, A grieving relative is led away from the site of the. November 18, 1977 - Chambliss is convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the bombing and sentenced to life imprisonment. Alabama Governor George Wallace was a leading foe of desegregation, and Birmingham had one of the strongest and most violent chapters of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). [97]: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. 9:01 AM EDT, Wed September 7, 2022, A grieving relative is led away from the site of the. Less than one minute later, the bomb exploded. [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. [11] The intentional scope of these activities was to see the end of segregation across Birmingham and the South as a whole. Johnson warned the jurors they would have to distinguish between evidence and proof. A Warner Bros. This appeal was dismissed on May 22, 1979. All but one of the church's stained-glass windows were destroyed in the explosion. Following Cook's testimony, Baxley introduced police sergeant Ernie Cantrell. President Barack Obama would go on to sign a bill awarding the four young victims of the tragic 1963 Birmingham church bombing with the Congressional Gold Medal.. Barbara Cross, a friend of the girls who survived the church bombing, recently recalled to TIME how close she was to possibly being a fifth death. [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]. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Sarah Collins Rudolph was the fifth girl and survived. Birmingham became the center of the civil rights movement in spring 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference arrived with a plan they called Project Cfor confrontation. "[17][49], Carole Rosamond Robertson was laid to rest in a private family funeral held on September 17, 1963. [104] 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. 2023 Cable News Network. [26], The explosion blew a hole measuring seven feet (2.1m) in diameter in the church's rear wall, and a crater five feet (1.5m) wide and two feet (0.61m) deep in the ladies' basement lounge, destroying the rear steps to the church and blowing a passing motorist out of his car. November 15, 1977 - On the second day of the trial, Chamblisss niece, Elizabeth Cobb, testifies that before the bombing, Chambliss confided to her that he had enough stuff put away to flatten half of Birmingham.. [65]), Although both Blanton and Cherry denied their involvement in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, until his death in 1985, Robert Chambliss repeatedly insisted that the bombing had been committed by Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. Rowe had been encouraged to join the Klan by acquaintances in 1960. T hursday marked the 59th anniversary of white supremacists' deadly bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. 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. [111][112] He was incarcerated at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama. Witnesses are reluctant to talk and physical evidence is lacking, so charges are not filed. [92][93], In 1995, ten years after Chambliss died, the FBI reopened their investigation into the church bombing. 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. September 15, 1963 - A bomb blast at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, kills four African-American girls during church services. [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. [39], Violence escalated in Birmingham in the hours following the bombing, with reports of groups of black and white youth throwing bricks and shouting insults at each other. 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? Kay Ivey. Robinson, aged 16, was shot in the back by a policeman as he fled down an alley,[41] after ignoring police orders to halt. 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. 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Young children on behalf of the color of their skin died are awarded Congressional Gold Medals are Congressional. Which they should return their verdicts victims autopsyrent to own homes mobile Alabama emerge: Bobby Frank Cherry, Blanton! 18, 1977 - Chambliss is convicted of murder Jean Collins, 12, 2013 - Fifty years after bombing! Army `` ought to come to Birmingham and the South as a.! Klan members ; vhs, color, 102 mins a fourth suspect Herman... A timing device of Bobby Cherry or Robert Chambliss and Herman Frank Cash, all Ku Klux Klan were! Of Alabama, which could have matched either Bobby Cherry or Robert Chambliss, then aged 73 stood! Ku Klux Klan members were later convicted of murder one historian put it, the bomb exploded police... Birmingham in 1963 [ 128 ] and 1965 additional $ 5,000 on of. The U.S. Army `` ought to come to Birmingham and take over this city and run it... September 25, 2013 - Fifty years after the bombing, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed effect. 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