Four Little Girls

On September 16th, 1963, the lives of four little girls were taken by the Ku Klux Klan because of a bombing. This event occurred at the African American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham is known as one of the most segregated cities in the country and has suffered from other explosions in the past. The church itself had become a rallying point for civil rights activities and became a place where kids would go if they were arrested during the Children’s Crusade. Four members of the KKK planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite with a timing device attached to it underneath the steps on the side of the church. At around 10:22 the church got anonymous call. A fourteen-year-old secretary answered the phone and the person said, “three minutes”. Less than a minute later, the bombs went off and it shook the entire building and immediately killed the four girls. The one secretary survived. This explosion not only killed the four little girls but also injured 22 other people. Martin Luther King Jr. described this bombing as “one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity”. The four little girls that lost their lives were named Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise McNair. This event resulted in major conflict between blacks and whites.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing