Existing comment:
September 15, 1963
Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
These selections from the Library of Congress's collections memorialize a traumatic event that took place fifty-five years ago. On September 25, 1963, four young girls, at Sunday school, were murdered by bombs planted by Ku Klux Klan members. The victims were Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Diane Wesley.
The items on display document the climate before the bombing, the involvement of black churches, the role of children in the civil rights movement, the terror of the Ku Klux Klan, the suffering and sorrow of the community, and the courtroom drama that ensued. |