The bomb went off on a Sunday morning, killing Denise McNair, 11, and Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley, all 14. . Meanwhile, public outrage over the bombing continued to grow, drawing international attention to Birmingham. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. Marchers at a civil rights demonstration in Washington, D.C.,on Sept. 22, 1963, hold posters reading No More Birminghams, in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Later that day, 13-year-old Virgil Ware, riding on the handlebars of a bicycle in Docena, was shot by two young white men. The family had had plans to move her body because Greenwood Cemetary had become run down and was a playground for vandals. To this day, the location of Addie Mae's body remains a mystery. She also played baseball and was a member of the Brownies. Addie Mae was helping Denise tie the sash on her dress. The deaths of the four girls followed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy two months later gave birth to a tide of grief and anger--a surge of emotional momentum that galvanized the civil rights movement and ensured the passage of the1964 Civil Rights Act. They were nervous and anxious for the event to begin. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. The Birmingham News. On Sunday morning, September 15, 1963, several members of the KKK tunneled under the church and planted 122 sticks of dynamite near what was the girls' basement rest room. Herman Frank Cash, a fourth suspect, died in 1994 before ever being tried. He means they may not have physically planted the bomb, but by contributing in other small or large ways to the racist and hatred-filled climate in that city, they, too, should be considered guilty for harming those girls. Failed to remove flower. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Death Year: 1963, Death date: September 15, 1963, Death State: Alabama, Death City: Birmingham, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Addie Mae Collins Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/crime/addie-mae-collins, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: September 4, 2019, Original Published Date: April 3, 2014. The Rev. The song "Birmingham Sunday," recorded by Joan Baez memorialized the victims of the bombing. For more on the ceremony, please visit this story. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Year should not be greater than current year. A statement from Alabama's congressional delegation denounced the bombing. of ChrisMcNair was an accomplished photographer and one of the first Black members of the Alabama Legislature. English With the force of 19 pieces of dynamite hidden under the stairs, the blast from the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham left a large crater at the base of the church and blew out the windows of the building on the other side of the street. Thanks for your help! Theyre just little niggers and if theres four less niggers tonight, then I say, Good for whoever planted the bomb!. Verify and try again. In 1977, a 73-year-old Chambliss was convicted of the murder of Collins and sentenced to life in prison. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, and Cynthia Wesley were interred during joint funeral attended by over 8,000 mourners. A 73-year-old Klansman named Robert Chambliss was charged with first-degree murder, and the jury found him guilty. Sorry! If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. The bomb detonated at 10:19 a.m., killing Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collinsall 14 years oldand 11-year-old Denise McNair. Boing Boing uses cookies and analytics trackers, and is supported by advertising, merchandise After Hitlers accession to the offices of president and chancellor of Germany, he set about the task of remaking his adopted country (Hitler had to pull some read more. The blood of four little children is on your hands, he wrote in a telegraph to Wallace. Before this day was over, the whole world would mourn. Civil rights leader the Rev. Thanks for your help! Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. The murders touched off nationwide . The murders touched off nationwide outrage. Addie Mae Collins, 14, was preparing to sing in the choir for Sunday services at the 16th Street Baptist Church when a bomb took her life and that of three other girls. At left is Clara Pippen, mother of the two women. In Birmingham, attorney Charles Morgan, Jr. spoke before the Birmingham Young Men's Business Club, identifying the people responsible for the attack. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Then, 14 years later, Alabama Attorney General William Baxley reopened the case. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. This account has been disabled. Or, continue scrolling for the photos of the historic event. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Resend Activation Email. I had no idea how leafcutter ants did their job, but this "Ant Lab" clip (below) explains it well in just 41 seconds, and the close-up photography is outstanding. Addie Mae's sister) The Collins family appears in the 1997 Spike Lee film 4 Little Girls, a documentary on the bombing and its political significance. ). Despite the outrage and an FBI investigation, however, no one was charged with the crime. The murders touched off nationwide outrage. And this isn't just an old story from Victorian times. One of them was Addie Mae Collins sister Sarah, who was blinded in one eye. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Four girlsAddie Mae Collins (age 14, born April 18, 1949), Carol Denise McNair (age 11, born November 17, 1951), Carole Rosamond Robertson (age 14, born April 24, 1949), and Cynthia Dionne Wesley (age 14, born April 30, 1949)were killed in the attack. All of this is important background to understand why Washington thinks that the body of Addie Mae Collins may have ended up on a dissection table. Oops, something didn't work. When the debris was searched for survivors, the bodies of four young girls were found: Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, and Carole Robertson. 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. Verify and try again. Two young Black men were killed that night, one by police and another by racist thugs. Try again later. Collins' murder remained officially unsolved until the 1970s. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). This year, relatives of Addie Mae Collins, one of the girls that was killed, wanted to move her body to another burial site and found that it wasn't there. On Sept. 15, 1963, four Black girls, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair, were killed in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, after a . Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. Service, a Creative Commons Her family says someone is responsible for the disappearance of her remains. The girls had been dressed in their Sunday best, ready to sing and act as ushers at the adult service, and only a few minutes before the explosion they had been together in the basement women's . Condoleezza Rice,who would later become U.S. secretary of state,was among her elementary school friends. At 10:19 AM the bomb exploded, blowing a hole in the east side of the church, shattering windows, walls, and doors and injuring or killing 24 people. God still has a way of wringing good out of evil, he told the mourners. "Darkness will not last forever. For more on the ceremony, please visit this story. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. The church bombing was the third in Birmingham in 11 days after a federal order came down to integrate Alabamas school system. George Wallace, however, repeated his call that the feds buried evidence in bombings because it pointed to "the wrong people" -- meaning civil rights groups. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. The notion that they were wearing fancy dresses highlights the idea that the service was important and something they dressed up for. This decision was later reversed. When the debris was searched for survivors, the bodies of four young girls were found: ; Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, and Carole Robertson. There was a problem getting your location. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. Another 22 people were injured in. But there had been nothing so evil as the dynamiting of children during Sunday School.. At Flers Courcelette, some of the 40 or so primitive tanks advanced over a mile into enemy lines but were too slow to hold their positions read more, During the Korean War, U.S. Marines land at Inchon on the west coast of Korea, 100 miles south of the 38th parallel and just 25 miles from Seoul. Inicio; Servicios. Murder Victim. Login or create an account to save resources to your bookmark collection. A youth center dedicated to her was established in Birmingham. After Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the case, Chambliss was convicted in 1977 and sentenced to life in prison. Whether you need a laptop for READ THE REST. A stretcher waits to carry away any more victims found. The federal Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, passed in 1968, effectively led to the end of grave robbing and the deliberate bias that went with it. Cynthia Wesley was raised by a single mother but stayed with her adoptive parents so she could attend a better school, where she excelled in math, reading and band. This is how we can honor Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and the countless others who have lost their lives to the hands of hate. She was a member of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham which was, due to the spacious basement auditorium, the center for meetings of the civil rights movement. Photo by AP Images. Collins was killed in the blast along with Denise McNair, 11, and Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, both 14. Learn more about merges. "Such heinous acts have added to the already heavy burden of fighting for the right of people to govern themselves," the statement read. The service honoring Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley and two young boys killed shortly after the bombing, Johnny Robinson Jr. and Virgil Ware, recognized Birmingham as the center of the Civil Rights movement and emphasized that the march to justice and equality of all people is not over. In the rubble of the 16th Street Baptist Church were the bodies of Addie Mae Collins, 14, Denise McNair, 11, Carole Robertson, 14, and Cynthia Wesley, 14. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Photo by Horace Cort/AP Images. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. On the morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, 14-year-old Collins was in the church basement room with a group of other children. The news spread quickly, and it sickened people of all races and all political allegiances throughout the world. When the crew dug up the grave there was nothing in it. In a later statement, the FBI stated that their investigation had been impeded by the lack of witness cooperation in Birmingham. Despite an FBI investigation, however, no one was immediately charged with the crime. Ten months later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which legally ended more than 70 years of Jim Crow segregation. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Cynthia Dionne Wesley I found on Findagrave.com. Download the official NPS app before your next visit. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. There had been many bombings in Birmingham designed to stop the black struggle for equality. Addie Mae's body, like so many buried in black cemeteries throughout the South, is missing. Indeed, this tragic event may cause the white South to come to terms with its conscience.. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Another two suspects were charged and convicted in 2001 and 2002, a fourth suspect died before charges were brought. The thirteen-year-old was a martyr of the civil rights movement, one of four girls who were murdered in the 1963 bombing of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church a few days after the city's schools were integrated. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Cynthia Wesley (6433296)? It didnt matter what race they were. In October 1963, Chambliss was cleared of the murder charge and received a six-month jail sentence and a $100 fine for the dynamite. The Klansmen who planted the bomb wanted to terrorize the Black community when they targeted the church the Rev. The whole world had watched in awe as the children in Birmingham made history. Following his victory, Ali retired from boxing, only to make a read more. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Janie Gaines and Sarah Cox know from experience that black cadavers tend to disappear. Failed to report flower. Four girls, Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14), were killed in the bomb blast. Raised and educated at Ashfield, her parents comfortable home, Christie began making up stories as a child. In the months leading up to the church bombing, the Civil Rights Movement had made strides in the city of Birmingham. In 2013, the United States Congress awarded each girl the Congressional Gold Medal. The Birmingham News reported it was the 41st bombing in the city in the past 16 years. The location had been criticized as too risky, but U.N. Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur insisted on carrying out the landing. Plaster and debris fell around the people in Sunday School upstairs. Ten months later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Try again later. Now lunch counters were no longer closed to blacks, and a federal court had just ordered white schools in the city to admit black children. That spring, their own church had been the center of a campaign against segregation. Those disparities stem from laws that allow for medical schools to take possession of bodies of the homeless (who are more likely to be black than white) and "presumed consent" laws, which allow hospitals and coroners to assume that a dead person would want to donate their body parts. And we must hold our leaders accountable for their words because those words inspire others to act, sometimes with deadly consequences. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. A project of the Southern Poverty Law Center1991-2023. In the basement ladies lounge of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, four girls were chatting nervously and straightening their fancy white dresses. All Rights Reserved. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Please reset your password. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. There is a problem with your email/password. She was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Birmingham, but her body has been. Addie Mae Collins. Fred Shuttlesworth. The bomb went off on a Sunday morning, killing Denise McNair, 11, and Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley, all 14. . The costly raid convinced the German high command that the Luftwaffe could not achieve air supremacy over Britain, and the next read more, During the Battle of the Somme, the British launch a major offensive against the Germans, employing tanks for the first time in history. Three day after the bombing, funeral services were held for Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, both 14, and 11-year-old Denise McNair. In September 1963 when legal segregation was dying white supremacists responded with violence to Americas reckoning on racial injustice. Why did the author include the details about the girls chatting nervously, straightening their fancy white dresses and participating in the choir and as ushers? Birmingham "is synonymous to barbarism" and "needs to be protected against itself," said New York City Mayor Robert Wagner. Martin Luther King Jr. is followed by Revs. cemeteries found in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. The Memorial, commissioned by the SPLC, records the names of 40 civil rights martyrs and chronicles their deaths and other major events of the movement in lines that radiate like the hands of a clock. On September 15, 1963, Collins and three other African-American girls were killed in a terrorist attack perpetrated by members of the Ku Klux Klan. That same day, news reports described the federal hunt for the bombers as rivaling the search for John Dillinger. But the result is that minorities still end up representing a disproportionate percentage of bodies used in research and medicine, and those bodies are still often being used without consent. This is a carousel with slides. He then attended read more, On September 15, 1858, the new Overland Mail Company sends out its first two stages, inaugurating government mail service between the eastern and western regions of the nation. The 17-year-old charged in the incident, which also left a person wounded by an AR-15 assault-style rifle, has claimed self-defense. Who will be eaten first? Chambliss was sent to prison, where he died. The Sixteenth Street bombing, perhaps more than any other event of the period, brought national attention to the evil of racism. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. At 10:22, it exploded. license except where otherwise noted. This browser does not support getting your location. In promoting diversity and fighting racism, inclusive education programs forged pathways toward building equitable societies. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. When thousands of Black protesters assembled at the crime scene, Wallace sent hundreds of police and state troopers to the area to break up the crowd. First off, Medical Apartheid is a must-read, detailing the disturbing history of how medical science has used black Americans, living and dead, as part of experimentation and training. The right computer monitor canmake or READ THE REST, We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Try again later. Trivia (1) In 1998, it was revealed to the horror of the Collins family that her grave was empty. 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. Alabama, U.S., Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974, U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current, Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. The tragedy sparked a surge of support for federal civil rights legislation, and it led to an intensive voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, & Cynthia Wesley, Includes text, author, text categories, vocabulary terms, text dependent questions with answers, Includes text, author, vocabulary terms, text dependent questions. Choose one sentence from the text that illustrates why this bombing was so different from the other acts of hatred. Addie Mae Collins (born April 18th, 1949 age 14) The daughter of Julius and Alice Collins, Addie was one of seven children and was described as a sweet girl who enjoyed attending church and . Photo by AP Images. A box of dynamite with a timer was placed under the front steps steps of the church, near the basement, and was set to go off during Sunday prayers. "For the past several weeks, Gov. Addie Mae Collins' younger sister, Sarah, was the last person to see the girls alive. Shortly after the church bombing, white supremacist leader Connie Lynch told a group of Klansmen that those responsible for the bombing deserved medals. Lynch said the four young girls who died there werent children. The man at right is unidentified. 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 year, relatives of Addie Mae Collins, one of the girls that was killed, wanted to move her body to another burial site and found that it wasn't there. Addie Mae Collins' younger sister, Sarah, had been with the four girls when the bomb exploded, but survived the attack as did the other 22 children in the basement. (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. In 1998, the Collins family requested that Addie Mae's body be exhumed and moved to another cemetery. The Collins family appears in the 1997 Spike Lee film 4 Little Girls, a documentary on the bombing and its political significance. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. This is a carousel with slides. license. Please reset your password. The song "Birmingham Sunday," recorded by Joan Baez memorialized the victims of the bombing. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. The second sentence shows that the girls were involved in their church and contributing to this important service. Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, both 14, had been chosen to serve as ushers. Gov. Addie Mae Collins was 14 when she became one of the civil rights movement's most lamented victims. A well-known Klan member, Robert Chambliss, was charged with murder and with buying 122 sticks of dynamite. That part of the story is pretty well-known. She attended Ullman High School where she excelled in math, reading, and band.