On September 15^th, 1963 at 10:24am, a terrorist attack occurred at the Birmingham Church located in Birmingham Alabama which targeted the black members of the community that attended the church. The nineteen sticks of dynamite bomb detonated in the early morning at in the basement of the church where there were four young girls helping to prepare for the Sunday service. Addie Mae Collins, 14 years old. Cynthia Wesley, 14 years old. Denise McNair, 11 years old. Carole Robertson, 14 years old. Several more were injured and maimed.

These four girls lost their lives in the attack which occurred as a result of hatred and fear of the black community. The individuals responsible were initially unknown while the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened a case on the bombing in conjunction with local police forces at 10:00pm that same day. Two years after the initial event there were four individuals who were strongly suspected of having perpetrated the terrorist attack. Robert E. Chambliss, Bobby Frank Cherry, Herman Frank Cash, and Thomas E. Blanton Jr. All of these individuals were part of the local KKK. Heavy pressure was exerted to question any and all affiliates and released documents from the “FBI Records: The Vault” show that numerous instances of wiretapping, polygraphing, and on ground surveillance were being used throughout the months of September and October in an attempt to find concrete evidence on the individuals responsible.

The case was initially closed by FBI director Edgar Hoover in 1968 with no charges filed but external pressure by the Alabama attorney general Bill Baxley caused the case to reopen in 2971. Eventually Robert Chambliss was incarcerated in 1977 for life as being responsible for the event. The case was closed due to lack of further evidence but reopened in the late 90’s when more witnesses came forward. Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry were sentenced to life in 2000 as a result.

The event rocked the community to the core due to the horrific and unhuman nature of the attack. Churches and residences had been attacked before but an event of this scale was one of the worst to ever occur in the public eye. The resulting protests and riots over these murders as well as the act of terrorism is considered one of the main reasons the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were implemented. It was confirmed that the primary reason the church was targeted was due to it being a gathering place where many civil rights groups would meet and discuss how to further fight for equality.

“Baptist Street Church Bombing.” Baptist Street Church Bombing, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 18 May 2016, https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/baptist-street-church-bombing.

Brown, DeNeen L. “Thomas Blanton's Role in the 1963 Church Bombing That Killed Four Black Girls.” Thomas Blanton’s Role in the 1963 Church Bombing That Killed Four Black Girls, WP Company, 27 June 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/06/26/thomas-blantons-role-1....

Gurrentz, B. T. (2008). Events: Birmingham Church Bombing: Timeline: The Association of Religion Data Archives. Events | Birmingham Church Bombing | Timeline | The Association of Religion Data Archives. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.thearda.com/timeline/events/event_376.asp.

“Sixteenth (16th) Street Church Bombing.” Sixteenth (16th) Street Church Bombing, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 6 Dec. 2010, https://vault.fbi.gov/16th%20Street%20Church%20Bombing%20/.