By Victoria Mejicanos
AFRO Staff Writer
On Sept. 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., was bombed, killing four girls in the church’s basement and shocking the nation. Sixty-two years later, the attack is remembered as a turning point in the civil rights movement and a reminder of the role Black churches continue to play in the fight for justice.
Fourteen-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair and Carole Robertson, and 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley were dressed in their Sunday best, ready to sing and serve as ushers at the adult service that day. They had been together in the ladies room mere moments when an explosion ripped through the building.
Addie’s younger sister, Sarah, had been with her when the bomb exploded. Though she survived, she lost her right eye in the aftermath.
In honor of the tragic anniversary, Bernice A. King took to social media, calling on people to remember the girls.
“Sixty-two years ago, the 16th Street Baptist Church (Birmingham) bombing shook this nation. The deaths of #FourLittleGirls, killed by the bombing at the hands of vicious White supremacists, further fueled the civil rights movement,” she said, via her X (Twitter) account. “In his eulogy for the girls, my father spoke of the need for concern about ‘the systems, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers.’ That concern, translated into compassionate, strategic work, is still necessary.”
In June 1996, the then managing editor of the AFRO wrote about the children through interviews with two mothers. Addie Mae was one of eight children, according to the article, and her other siblings either walked 20 blocks to church or took the bus regularly.
Carole Robertson, like many young people, still was not set on a career path, but had interest in becoming a stewardess at the time of her death. The article stated “Sunday was to be a big day for Carole. She was to serve her first time as an usher at the church.” the article also stated she wore a white dress just for the occasion
Sarah Collins Rudolph still regularly shares her story of survival. According to previous AFRO coverage by Zenitha Prince in 2013, Collins Rudolph did not want to accept the Congressional Gold Medal that at the time was being considered, but instead wanted restitution, which to this day she has never received.