Sixteenth Street Baptist Church - Birmingham, Alabama
N 33° 31.006 W 086° 48.870
16S E 517226 N 3708593
The 16th Street Baptist Church was the scene of a racially motivated bombing in September 1963. The Bombing killed four young girls.
Waymark Code: WM3NMC
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 04/25/2008
Views: 90
The 16th Street Baptist Church was built in 1911 and through the years it has been the center of Birminghams African American Community. On September 15, 1963 members of the Ku Klux Klan bombed the church just as several children were walking into the basement of the church. The blast killed four young girls; 14-year old Addie Mae Collins, 11-year old Dense McNair, 14-year old Carole Robertson an 14-year old Cynthis Wesley. Twenty-Two other people were injured.
Robert Chambliss was initally charge with the murders, bue was only convicted of have 122-sticks of dynamite without a permit. In 1978, Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley prosecuted Chambliss for the murders. He was convicted and sentenced to four life terms in prison. Robert Chambliss died in prison in 1985.
In 2000, some 37-years after the bombing, Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton were arrested and charged with the murders of the four young ladied who died as a result of the bombin. In 2002 Both Cherry and Blanton were tried and convicted of the murders. Both were sentenced to four life terms in prison. Bobby Frank Cherry died at the Kilby Correctional Facility on November 18, 2004.
Today, the 16th Street Baptist Church remains a center of the African American community in Birmingham. It is also stands as a lasting memorial to the four young ladies who died on that Sunday Morning in 1963. The 16th Street Baptist Church remains home to an active congregation.
Tours are given 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and by appointment only on Saturdays
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