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. (Upon cross-examination by defense attorney Art Hanes Jr., Cantrell conceded that Chambliss had emphatically denied bombing the church. [108], 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. 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. He became a paid FBI informant in 1961. [25] According to one survivor, the explosion shook the entire building and propelled the girls' bodies through the air "like rag dolls". Demonstrators present were given instructions to march to downtown Birmingham and discuss with the mayor their concerns about racial segregation in the city, and to integrate buildings and businesses currently segregated. Following the opening statements, the prosecution began presenting witnesses. [11], The three-story 16th Street Baptist Church was a rallying point for civil rights activities through the spring of 1963. 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". [131], I remembered the bombing of that Sunday School at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. Although the FBI had concluded in 1965 that the 16th Street . ", "Beauty from the Ashes of 16th Street Baptist Church", "The Speech That Shocked Birmingham the Day After the Church Bombing", "Ceremony recalls victim of civil rights violence", "First of 4 Birmingham Bomb Victims is Buried", "We Shall Overcome Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement", "Funeral Speakers Say Deaths Of Three Children Not In Vain", "Martin Luther King's 'Eulogy for the Martyred Children', "The ghosts of Alabama: After 37 years, two men are indicted for a bombing that transfigured the civil rights movement", "Birmingham Klansman Guilty in Dynamite Case; Two Other Defendants Face Trial Today--Dr. King Gives City an Ultimatum on Jobs", "FBI: A Byte Out of History: The '63 Baptist Church Bombing", "Murderer Of 4 Birmingham Girls Found Guilty (38 yrs later)", "Former Klansman convicted in deadly 1963 bombing of Birmingham, Alabama church", "Cherry convicted: Jury verdict in bombing hailed as 'justice finally', "Birmingham Church Bombing Conviction Ended an Obsession of the Prosecutor", "Bill Baxley Reflects on 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing", "Former Prosecutor Says FBI Delayed Alabama Conviction", "Former Klansman Convicted In Bombing Death", "Another Redemption: Baxley in Birmingham", "Puzzle Pieces Put Together in Bombing Case", "Alabamian Guilty in '63 Blast that Killed Four Girls", "Robert E. Chambliss, Figure in '63 Bombing", "Former Klansman convicted of deadly Alabama church bombing 40 years on", "Klansman convicted of killing black girls", "As Church Bombing Trial Begins in Birmingham, the City's Past Is Very Much Present", "Former Klansman who was Key Witness at Bombing Trial Dies", "Church Bombing Verdict Hinges on how Jurors Understand Tapes", "Jury Hears More Old Tapes in Church Bombing Trial", "Birmingham church bomber guilty, gets four life terms", "Testimony Concludes in Trial On Birmingham Church Blast", "Former Klansman Convicted in 1963 Church Bombing", "Former Klansman faces prison in 1963 Killings", "1 Klansman survives Ala church bombing cases", "Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bomber up for parole next month", "16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton denied parole", "Thomas Blanton, Who Bombed a Birmingham Church, Dies at 82", "Witnesses Say Ex-Klansman Boasted of Church Bombing", "Design of Bomb Still Uncertain 38 Years Later", "Explosives Expert Testifies In Church Bombing Trial", "Prosecutor Says Justice 'Overdue' in '63 Bombing", "More Than Just a Racist? However, none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities. 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. [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. Jihadism. Just before this the church had 292 Words 2 Pages Satisfactory Essays Read More. Crucial testimony at Cherry's trial was delivered by his former wife, Willadean Brogdon, who had married Cherry in 1970. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The remains of one of the four girls killed in the Birmingham, Ala., church bombing that galvanized the civil rights movement 51 years ago are missing and the victim's sister wants help locating . On May 15,[121] Cross testified that prior to the explosion, she and the four girls killed had each attended a Youth Day Sunday School lesson in which the theme taught was how to react to a physical injustice. Melanie Peeples reports. 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. Less than one minute later, the bomb exploded. Johnson warned the jurors they would have to distinguish between evidence and proof. 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.. As part of a revival effort by states and the federal government to prosecute cold cases from the civil rights era, the state conducted trials in the early 21st century of Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. and Bobby Cherry, who were each convicted of four counts of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 and 2002, respectively. 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. "[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. The girls' death and the long wait for justice raises important questions about civil rights, racism, and the nature of restorative justice. On April 10, 2001, Judge James Garrett indefinitely postponed Cherry's trial, pending further medical analysis. Witnesses are reluctant to talk and physical evidence is lacking, so charges are not filed. The deaths in a sense, are on the hands of each of us. November 8, 2004 - Cherry dies in prison. A policeman and a neighbor had each testified that Chambliss was at the home of a man named Clarence Dill on that day. Your irresponsible and misguided actions have created in Birmingham and Alabama the atmosphere that has induced continued violence and now murder. Herman Frank Cash died of cancer in February 1994. May 16, 2000 - A grand jury in Alabama indicts former Klansmen Cherry and Blanton with eight counts each of first-degree murder - four counts of intentional murder and four of murder with universal malice. 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. On January 20, 1961, the handsome and charismatic John F. Kennedy became president of the United States. Mauldin testified on April 30 that he had observed two men in a Rambler station wagon adorned with a Confederate flag repeatedly drive past the church immediately before the blast, and that, seconds after the bomb had exploded, the car had "burned rubber" as it drove away. The day of the bombing, the church was full of its members as well as children who were attending Sunday school. On September 15, 1963, in Birmingham, a bomb exploded on 16th street Baptist Church at 10:22 A.M. During a Sunday school session the ground floor of the church collapsed, four girls out of nearly 200 people died, some. (The plastic remnants were later lost by investigators. Thursday, May 16, 2002 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. He wont be eligible for parole again until 2021. Chambliss had been indicted by a grand jury on September 24, 1977, charged with four counts of murder, for each dead child in the 1963 church bombing. [55], Initially, investigators theorized that a bomb thrown from a passing car had caused the explosion at the 16th Street Baptist church. 4 little girls directed by spike lee; vhs, color, 102 mins. 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. In the weeks following the September 4 integration of public schools, three additional bombs were detonated in Birmingham. 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]. 2023 Cable News Network. Don Cochran disputed this position, arguing that Alabama law provides for "conspiracies to conceal evidence" to be proven by both inference and circumstantial evidence. The bombings targeted African-American leaders of the Birmingham campaign. That bomb took the lives of four young girls, including my friend and playmate [Carol] Denise McNair. 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. city of san diego street classification map; blackrock russell 2000 index fund g1; 3610 atlantic ave, long beach, ca 90807; eternal water heater lawsuit; A series of fortunate events July 20, 2020. I haven't done anything! 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. Birmingham Public Library. 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. Baxley acknowledged that typical juries in 1960s Alabama would have likely leaned in favor of both defendants, even if these recordings had been presented as evidence,[126] but said that he could have prosecuted Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry in 1977 if he had been granted access to these tapes. [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. 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). [115][116], Blanton died in prison from unspecified causes on June 26, 2020.[117]. 35. "[51] Carole Robertson was buried in a blue casket at Shadow Lawn Cemetery.[52]. [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. An estimated 8,000 people attended the service. [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. [1] [2] [3] Four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted 19 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church. 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. 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963, on the predominantly African American 16th Street Baptist Church by local members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). [11] Their demands included that public amenities such as lunch counters and parks be desegregated, the criminal charges against demonstrators and protestors should be removed, and an end to overt discrimination with regards to employment opportunities. She is the daughter of the Reverend John Cross and was aged 13 in 1963. Sims and Farley had been riding home from an anti-integration rally which had denounced the church bombing. Bobby Frank Cherry was tried in Birmingham, Alabama, before Judge James Garrett, on May 6, 2002. [111][112] He was incarcerated at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama. Now 86, he had asked the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles to let him die as a free man. He had repeatedly proclaimed his innocence, insisting Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. was the actual perpetrator. [79] He testified that Chambliss had visited his headquarters in 1976 and that he had attempted to affix the blame for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing upon an altogether different member of the KKK. The police were reportedly responding to black youths throwing rocks at cars driven by white people. The Board of Pardons and Paroles debated for less than 90 seconds before denying parole to Blanton. 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 . All Rights Reserved. 1965 - Suspects emerge: Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Robert Chambliss and Herman Frank Cash, all Ku Klux Klan members. )[22]:63. [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). "[110], Blanton was sentenced to life imprisonment. This group had previously been linked to several bomb attacks at black-owned businesses and the homes of black community leaders throughout the spring and summer of 1963. [47], The city of Birmingham initially offered a $52,000 reward for the arrest of the bombers. Resulting in the injury of 14 people and the death of four girls, the attack garnered widespread national outrage. 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. This appeal was dismissed on May 22, 1979. [92][93], In 1995, ten years after Chambliss died, the FBI reopened their investigation into the church bombing. A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died in 1994 before he could be brought to trial. As late as the 1960s, however, it was also one of Americas most racially discriminatory and segregated cities. 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". 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