Birmingham Attractions: 16th Street Baptist Church

Located in the center of Birmingham's Civil Rights District, the 16^th Street Baptist Church is an important landmark in Birmingham. In September 1963, a bomb exploded in the church, killing four young girls and injuring 22 others. The church bombing brought the Civil Rights movement to the front page of newspapers across the country.

On September 15, 1963, just a few months after the mayhem at Kelly Ingram park shocked America, the 16^th Street Baptist church became the scene of another shocking racial event. On this day, the 16^th Street Baptist Church was bombed by the Ku Klux, killing four young girls and wounding 22 others. The event set the stage for the final turning point in the American Civil Rights movement.

Since it's construction in 1911, the 16^th Street Baptist Church had been the primary church for the African American community. The 11:00am service was a standing part of the community, and the morning of September 15, 1963 was not unusual in any way to those who began to gather inside the church in preparation of the morning service.

Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley were the four girls killed in the 16^th Street Baptist Church bombing. Minutes before the explosion they had been in the church basement, dressed in their best attire, excitedly talking about the start of the school year. Their optimistic outlook was cut short as the explosion tore through the building.

Three of the young girls had a shared public funeral. The service drew a crowd of 8,000 mourners, including as many as 800 clergymen of both races. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the mourners, giving a powerful speech in which he spoke of life being as strong as crucible steel. Perhaps for the first time in the history of Birmingham, white citizens visited the African American families to express their sorrow over the tragic event.

Images of the event filled the national media and horrified the entire country. The evening news showed images such as the 16^th Street Baptist Church's clock stopped at exactly 10:22am, or the historic stained glass windows featuring a hole where the face of Christ should be.