The Birmingham, Alabama Church Bombing That Killed Four Black Schoolgirls
- dthholland
- Jun 8
- 6 min read
On the morning of Sunday 15 September 1963, an anonymous phone call to the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, delivered a chilling warning: "Three minutes." The call was answered by 15-year-old Sunday School secretary Carolyn Maull. Less than sixty seconds later, a bomb, rigged with at least 15 sticks of dynamite, exploded under the church’s east side steps. It was Youth Day. In the basement, five girls were changing into choir robes for the morning’s sermon titled A Rock That Will Not Roll. Four of them would never walk out alive. This calculated act of domestic terrorism, perpetrated by members of a white supremacist group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, became one of the most infamous atrocities of the American Civil Rights era.
The victims—Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Carol Denise McNair (11)—were killed instantly or died shortly after from their injuries. The explosion hurled the girls through the basement lounge with such force that one was decapitated, and others suffered horrific trauma. Addie Mae’s sister Sarah survived but was left permanently blinded in one eye and had over 20 shards of glass embedded in her face.
Birmingham: A City on the Edge
Birmingham in the early 1960s was regarded as one of the most violently segregated cities in the United States. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. called it "the most thoroughly segregated city" in the country. Racial segregation permeated every aspect of public life—schools, restaurants, water fountains, public transportation, cinemas, and parks. There were no Black police officers or firefighters, and most Black residents were employed in menial roles. Voter suppression had disenfranchised the majority of Black citizens through discriminatory registration laws.
The city’s Commissioner of Public Safety, Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor, was notorious for his ruthless enforcement of segregation using fire hoses, dogs, and police violence. The violence extended beyond official repression: Birmingham experienced at least 21 bombings targeting Black homes, churches, and businesses between 1955 and 1963. The city became so infamous for these attacks it earned the nickname “Bombingham.”
The Role of the 16th Street Baptist Church
The 16th Street Baptist Church was central to the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. It served as a key organisational hub for leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth, and James Bevel. In the spring of 1963, the church was a staging ground for the Birmingham campaign, especially the Children's Crusade, which saw more than 1,000 schoolchildren march to protest segregation.
From May 2 to 5, 1963, hundreds of children were arrested; the images of them being blasted with fire hoses and attacked by dogs shocked the world. These events helped bring about an agreement to desegregate public facilities within 90 days. However, many white residents, particularly the Ku Klux Klan, saw these gains as humiliations. The church, a symbol of Black resilience and activism, became an obvious target.
The Bombing and Immediate Aftermath
In the early hours of 15 September 1963, Thomas Blanton Jr., Bobby Frank Cherry, Robert Chambliss, and allegedly Herman Frank Cash, members of the United Klans of America, planted a timed explosive under the east steps of the church. Witnesses later reported seeing a turquoise Chevrolet, from which one man exited and approached the steps.
When the bomb exploded at 10:22 a.m., it blasted a crater five feet wide in the basement lounge and a seven-foot hole in the rear wall. The force threw one motorist from his car and destroyed nearby vehicles and windows two blocks away. All but one stained-glass window in the church were destroyed. The lone survivor, depicting Christ leading children, remained intact.
As crowds gathered outside the ruined church, Reverend John Cross used a bullhorn to read Psalm 23 in an effort to pacify the outraged onlookers. Some scuffled with police. An estimated 2,000 people, mostly Black, congregated near the church, many joining the search for survivors.
Violence and National Reaction
The hours following the bombing saw widespread unrest. Black and white youths threw bricks and shouted insults at each other. Governor George Wallace called in 800 National Guardsmen and state troopers. Within 24 hours, multiple businesses had been firebombed, and several cars attacked by rioters.
That same day, two Black teenagers were killed. Sixteen-year-old Johnny Robinson was shot in the back by a police officer after throwing rocks at a car displaying Confederate flags. Thirteen-year-old Virgil Ware was shot by white teenagers returning from a segregationist rally. Though both killers were convicted of manslaughter, their sentences were suspended.
Attorney General Robert Kennedy dispatched 25 FBI agents, including explosives specialists, to Birmingham. But initial FBI investigations were thwarted. Though suspects were quickly identified, including Chambliss, Blanton, Cherry, and Cash, no charges were filed. J. Edgar Hoover sealed the files in 1968 and blocked prosecutions.
Delayed Justice
The bombing case remained dormant until 1971, when Alabama Attorney General William Baxley reopened it. Baxley, then just 29, had been a student in 1963 and was deeply moved by the bombing. He obtained new evidence, including witness testimony that Chambliss had boasted about possessing enough dynamite to "flatten half of Birmingham."
On 14 November 1977, Robert Chambliss was tried for the murder of Carol Denise McNair. His niece, Reverend Elizabeth Cobbs, testified against him. Chambliss was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 1985.
In 1995, the case was reopened again as part of a federal review of unsolved Civil Rights-era crimes. New FBI audio recordings surfaced, capturing Blanton discussing plans to bomb a church. In 2001, he was convicted of four counts of murder. In 2002, Bobby Frank Cherry was also convicted, based in part on his ex-wife’s testimony that he had confessed to planting the bomb and later lighting the fuse. Both men received life sentences. Herman Frank Cash had died in 1994, uncharged.
Legislation and Legacy
The horror of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing fuelled national and international calls for civil rights reforms. Less than a year later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1965, the Selma to Montgomery marches, led by James Bevel among others, helped secure the Voting Rights Act.
Charles Morgan Jr., who gave a searing speech in the wake of the bombing, was forced to flee Birmingham after receiving death threats. Yet his words still resonate: “We all did it,” he said, condemning the complicity of those who had remained silent.
Condoleezza Rice, future Secretary of State and childhood friend of Carol Denise McNair, recalled hearing the explosion from her father's church just blocks away. “It is a sound that I will never forget,” she said in 2004. “That bomb was meant to suck the hope out of young lives.”
Memorials and the Wales Window
In 1965, Welsh artist John Petts designed a new stained-glass window for the church, funded by public donations from Wales. The Wales Window for Alabama features a Black Christ with outstretched arms—one hand pushing away hatred, the other offering forgiveness. It remains a powerful symbol of international solidarity.
The church was closed for over eight months after the bombing. It reopened in June 1964, supported by more than $186,000 in global donations. The four girls are now memorialised in statues, plaques, and historical markers across Birmingham.
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was not an isolated event but a symbol of the violent resistance to racial equality. The deaths of four children focused the world’s attention on the urgent need for civil rights reform. Justice came late—but not too late to be meaningful.
As Senator Roger Bedford said in 1990, “Their deaths made all of us focus upon the ugliness of those who would punish people because of the colour of their skin.” The lessons of that day remain as relevant now as ever.
