BLACK IN TIME: A Moment In OUR History

Four Little Girls Killed In Church Bombing

On September 15, 1963, The Ku Klux Klan Bombed The 16th Street Baptist Church In Birmingham, Alabama.

Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carol Robertson And Cynthia Wesley Were The Four Young Black Girls Killed When The Church Exploded.

A Witness Identified Robert Chambliss As The Man Who Placed The Bomb Under The Church Steps. He Was Arrested And Charged With Murder And For Being In Possession Of 122 Sticks Of Dynamite Without A Permit. On October 8, 1963, He Was Found Not Guilty Of Murder, But Received A $100 Fine And Six Month Jail Sentence For The Dynamite Charge.

More Than A Decade Later, Alabama Attorney General, Bill Baxley, Re-Opened The Case And In November, 1977, Chambliss Was Re-Tried. At Age 73. He Was Found Guilty And Sentenced To Life In Prison. Chambliss Died In An Alabama Prison On October 29, 1985.

In 2000, It Was Announced That Three Other Men Had Acted With Chambliss, In 1963. One Of The Men Was Dead, But Two Others Were Arrested. In May 2002, 71 Year-Old, Bobby Cherry, Was Convicted Of Murder In The 16TH Street Baptist Church Bombing.

"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into it." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.

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