Four young girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Carol Denise McNair (11), all of whom were preparing their singing attire, were killed in the blast. Several adolescent children, part of the church choir, were putting on their choir robes when, at 10:22 a.m., an anonymous caller phoned the church, simply advising the teenage secretary, “Three minutes.” Less than a minute later, a massive explosion ripped through the basement of the church, originating from underneath the front steps outside. The church had been a central rallying point for civil rights activities during the spring of that same year. 15th, 1963, key church members arrived at the 16th Street Baptist Church to prepare for that morning’s services. From 1955 until 1963, 21 bombings of black churches and institutions had rocked the city of Birmingham. Their methods of operation often included acts of arson and bombing. Violent white supremacy groups were constantly on the prowl, often terrorizing minorities and advocates for change. In 1963, there were no black police officers or firefighters.
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Birmingham, Alabama, considered to be one of the most segregated cities in the United States, was often the target of civil rights activists calling for desegregation, aggressive voter registration drives, and equal job opportunities. Freedom riders from the north flooded the south to join in organized marches, protests, and sit-ins. It’s the early 1960s, and several national leaders are stepping forward to advance the cause of equal rights, namely President John F. To enforce segregation and discrimination, the KKK and surrogate white supremacy groups terrorized minority churches, businesses, families, and individuals threatening to tilt the balance of equality in the direction of a level playing field for all.
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Schools, restrooms, movie theaters, water fountains, and just about every other social gathering place was segregated, with black Americans forced to enter the back door, sit in the back rows, and take on only menial jobs offering the lowest of pay. Nearly 100 years after the abolition of slavery in the United States, Jim Crow, racial segregation and discrimination were alive and well, especially in the south. Thank you to everyone who submitted a petition to help ensure he served his maximum sentence. UPDATE: Child killer Thomas Blanton died in prison on June 26, 2020. The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Story It took authorities 39 years to convict Blanton and, in 2001, he was convicted of four counts of murder and was sentenced to life in prison. A fifth girl, Sara Collins, who was Addie Mae’s sister, somehow survived and was found with 21 pieces of glass in her face. Among the rubble were the bodies of Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, and Cynthia Dianne Wesley, who were in the basement at the time of the explosion. The explosion shook the entire building, shattered all but one of the church’s windows, and blew a seven-foot hole in the church’s rear wall. At 10:22 AM, an anonymous caller phoned the church and said, “three minutes.” A minute later, the bomb exploded as five young children were changing into their choir robes in the basement of the church.
On September 16, 1963, Thomas Blanton and three accomplices, all of whom were well-known white supremacists, planted a bomb consisting of a minimum of 15 sticks of dynamite below the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
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