“God still has a way of wringing good out of evil. And history has proven over and over again that unmerited suffering is redemptive.”
-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
We have experienced the Oklahoma City bombing and others, up to the Boston Marathon bombing. We never cease to be shocked, horrified and angry. Who does these types of acts? Next month, September 15th, is the 50th anniversary of a heinous attack of terror inflicted: the killing of four innocent girls attending church.
In the spacious basement meeting rooms of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14), Cynthia Wesley (14) and Denise McNair (11) were finishing up after Sunday school. Just minutes before that a white man driving a white and turquoise Chevrolet placed a box under the steps of the church.
The bomb seemed to go off in an unoccupied room in the basement. It blew down a wall sending stone, concrete and related debris into the room where the girls were. One girl was reportedly decapitated by the blast.
People in other parts of the church stampeded out the doors, some injured, and some in a daze. Twenty people were transported to hospitals for treatment, and minor injuries were reported by several others.
The service sermon that day was to be “Love That Forgives.”
When the blanket covered forms were carried out from the basement, the full realization of what had happened fell upon the crowd and the nation.
This was the 21st bombing in eight years in what was reported to be the most segregated city in America. This was the first fatal bombing. “BoomingHAM” as it was called, was home to an especially pernicious cluster of the Ku Klux Klan.
This was less than one month after the “I Have A Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King in Washington, DC.
Fires and violence followed the bombing. Black businesses were burned and whites were targeted by black youths.
Crowds appeared at the church demanding justice. Shots were fired in the air to keep the crowd calm.
Birmingham Mayor Albert Boutwell, a Caucasian, appeared before the press with tears streaming down his face.
“It is a tragic event. It is just sickening that a few individuals could commit such a horrible atrocity.”
The pastor of the church, Rev. John H. Cross, sobbed into a megaphone as he implored the crowd to go home.
“The Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want.”
Sarah Collins Cox, sister to Addie Mae Collins was with the other girls and injured in the blast. Her older sister Junie had to identify Addie Mae. She could not tell by her disfigured face but she instantly recognized her brown shoe.
Nineteen sticks of dynamite took the lives of four girls. It changed the face of desegregation protest. Innocent blood had been spilled.
Addie Mae Collins sold her mother’s handmade aprons and pot holders. She drew pictures and sang in the church choir. Her outgoing personality is still remembered. The Addie Mae Collins Youth Center was established to help encourage talent and learning in children with adversity
Cynthia Wesley did well in math, reading and being in the band. She had a joyous spirit and kept all of her friends laughing. She traded a class ring for a gold band with a clear stone. She was wearing that ring on September 15th. Her father was able to identify her because of it.
Denise McNair had a special place in her heart for muscular dystrophy. She put on musical productions to raise coins for this cause. Her outward personality made many think of great potential in her horizon.
Carole Robertson enjoyed dance. Ballet and the shuffle were two she worked hard at. She was a straight A student and active in many groups. In 1976, residents of Chicago established the Carole Robertson Center for Learning to serve children and their families.
A joint funeral was held on September 18 for Addie Mae, Denise and Cynthia. Eight thousand people attended.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was present and gave the eulogy.
“This afternoon we gather in the quiet of this sanctuary to pay our last tribute of respect to the beautiful children of God.
“These children, unoffending, innocent and beautiful, were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.
“Death comes to every individual. There is an amazing democracy about death. Kings die and beggars die; rich men and poor men die; old people die and young people die. Death comes to the innocent as it comes to guilty. Death is the irreducible denominator of all men.
“No greater tribute can be paid to you as parents, and no greater epitaph can come to them as children, than where they died and what they were doing when they died.”
A separate funeral service was held for Carole Robertson on September 17.
Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson were buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Birmingham. Denise McNair was buried in Shadow Lawn Memorial Park and later moved to Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.
Witnesses placed Robert Chambliss at the church planting the bomb. He was arrested and had 122 sticks of dynamite in his possession. He was found innocent of murder and received a fine and six month jail sentence for the dynamite.
On May 13, 1965, the FBI announced the bombing was done by a KKK splinter group: Robert Chambliss, Herman Cash, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry. In 1968 the FBI closed the file without filing charges. Director Hoover, the FBI later discovered had blocked prosecution.
In October 1977, Chambliss was again tried for the bombing. This time he was found guilty and was convicted to life imprisonment. He died in 1985.
In the 1990’s, the case was reopened in Birmingham. Later, Herman Cash died, Cherry had extensive medical problems, and in May 2001 Blanton was convicted.
In April 2013, the House of Representatives in Washington voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the four young Birmingham bombing victims. Other recipients include Arnold Palmer and both Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his wife Coretta Scott King.
Lisa McNair was not even born when her older sister Denise was killed.
“There was always a picture of Denise in the den; it’s been there all my life. As we grew up, I asked about her. My mother would go to the cemetery quite often when I was little.” Grieve, remember, grow and learn.
Sarah Collins Rudolph was sister to Addie Mae Collins and was with the girls that morning. She was almost fully blinded by the bombing.
“Being bitter won’t bring the girls back, won’t bring my sight back. So I had to forgive because it was what God wanted me to do.”
Sarah and the others, never heard the intended sermon, “Love That Forgives” but they did receive its message.
“On Birmingham Sunday a noise shook the ground.
And people all over the earth turned around.
For no one recalled a more cowardly sound.
And the choirs kept singing of freedom.”
-Richard Farina, “Birmingham Sunday”