The service honoring  Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley  and two young boys killed shortly after the  bombing, Johnny Robinson Jr. and Virgil Ware, recognized Birmingham as  the center of the Civil Rights movement and emphasized that the march to  justice and equality of all people is not over. Addie Mae Collins was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 18, 1949. Click to Read More (Tom Self/ Birmingham News), Original caption: Destruction is seen in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963. A day after the tragedy, President Kennedy spoke of his "outrage" and "grief" at the Birmingham church bombing. At left is Clara Pippen, mother of the two women. (Tom Self/ Birmingham News) ORG XMIT: ALBIN, Original caption: Negros weep after 16th Street church bombing. Gov. Rev. The man at right is unidentified. Today marks the 55th anniversary of the tragedy. Early Life and Death. At the time, she says, "The police was involved. "Such heinous acts have added to the already heavy burden of fighting for the right of people to govern themselves," the statement read. In fact, she remembers every detail of that Sept. 15, 1963. Rudolph recognizes the four girls did not die in vain: She says that horrific act of violence was among the catalysts for the creation of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Flying debris nearly demolishes vehicles and leaves cars dotted with large holes. "I started to get just like them. the 41st bombing in the city in the past 16 years, Virgil Ware, riding on the handlebars of a bicycle, outrage" and "grief" at the Birmingham church bombing, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. (Tom Self/ Birmingham News), Original caption: The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing kills four girls and also leaves a scene of devastation. Alvin and Alpha Robertson, parents of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing victim Carole Robertson at the funeral for their daughter; Sept. 17, 1963. I'm shot," he told his brother James with his dying breath. Meet the Bidens, the one family who made a fortune in the Obama economy, Every generation responsible for securing America’s freedom. Original caption:  Juanita Jones, center, comforts her sister, Maxine McNair, whose daughter Denise McNair died earlier that day in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing. "You know, you go into church to praise God, and you come out without your sister," Rudolph says. Her name is Sarah Collins Rudolph, Addie Mae's younger sister. People everywhere died.". Original caption: Alabama-Birmingham-bombings-Body being removed at 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Three day after the bombing, funeral services were held for Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, both 14, and 11-year-old Denise McNair. Rudolph admits that after being exposed to violent racism as a young child, she began to feel the same way. - She worries the political tone in the U.S. is setting the stage for more violence. "The way they treated me here in the city of Birmingham, they don't acknowledge me as being the fifth little girl," she says. "If these cruel and tragic events can only awaken that city and state -- if they can only awaken this entire nation -- to a realization of the folly of racial injustice and hatred and violence, then it is not too late for all concerned to unite in steps toward peaceful progress before more lives are lost," Kennedy said. You by your suffering have paid another installment in this great thing called freedom," said the Rev. and View Comments, Terms of Use / Privacy Policy / Manage Newsletters. The mayor, the governor. "Darkness will not last forever. She ended up losing an eye in the bombing. As Birmingham took on the appearance of a battle zone, with hundreds of police, troopers and guardsmen patrolling the streets, another black teen, Johnny Robinson, was shot to death by police. Noting that no timing device was found, he disputed the government's long-held theory the bomb was planted by KKK members hours before the explosion.Mr. Such a lack of evidence isn't unusual in powerful explosions, he said, because bomb components often are destroyed.However, defense attorney Mickey Johnson hammered at the lack of evidence. here for reprint permission, Hunter Biden’s business partner played key role in meeting between Chinese businessmen, Obama staff, Dianne Feinstein’s embrace of Lindsey Graham angers liberals. Quiz: US Citizenship Test - Could You Pass? From left to right:  Denise McNair, 11; Carole Robertson, 14; Addie Mae Collins, 14; and Cynthia Wesley, 14. "I never knew a good Ku Klux Klan, really," Rudolph says. 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Pictured here are Johnny Robinson (left), 16, and Virgil Ware, 13. After the blast, Christ's head was blown away. "Violence is not in our plans," the Rev. Sarah says it's hard to hear about the spate of recent church burnings and shootings, synagogue massacres and more. A fourth suspect died without being charged. So we were having a rough time.". "What my wife went through at 12 years old, she went through Vietnam. They just hated our color. The Washington Times The NAACP questioned the speed of the investigation and whether all resources available were being utilized. For more on the ceremony, please visit this story. Martin Luther King Jr. said he hoped the deaths "may well serve as the redemptive force that brings light to this dark city.". In Birmingham, attorney Charles Morgan, Jr. spoke before the Birmingham Young Men's Business Club, identifying the people responsible for the attack. (Tom Self/ Birmingham News), A newspaper clipping shows police officers in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963. Another 22 people were injured in the explosion. It was also the site of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963 that claimed the lives of four young girls: Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Denise McNair and Addie Mae Collins. In the rubble of the 16th Street Baptist Church were the bodies of Addie Mae Collins, 14, Denise McNair, 11, Carole Robertson, 14, and Cynthia Wesley, 14. She regrets not having gone to Addie Mae's funeral because she was in the hospital — and not having met Martin Luther King Jr., who eulogized her. Rudolph says she's not surprised that many have never heard of her. Birmingham "is synonymous to barbarism" and "needs to be protected against itself," said New York City Mayor Robert Wagner. Nothing. Here are photos from that day: Original caption: NEWS FILE/TOM SELF Firefighters sift through rubble and search for bodies in the basement of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church after a bomb killed four girls on Sunday, September 15, 1963. Please enable JavaScript and reload this page. The force crumbled a stone-and-masonry wall 30 inches thick and left a crater more than 2 feet deep.Retired FBI bomb specialist Charles Killion testified that agents never determined what kind of explosive was used or how the bomb was triggered. "It was calculated to produce death," Coroner Robert Brissie said of the bomb. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Jurors in the murder trial of a former Ku Klux Klansman were shown grisly morgue photos yesterday of the four black girls killed in a 1963 church bombing… Today, the church commemorates the 51st anniversary of the 1963 bombing. Robin Young Twitter Co-Host, Here & NowRobin Young brings more than 25 years of broadcast experience to her role as host of Here & Now. C.E. "This bombing of children was a dastardly act.". She calls herself the "fifth little girl," and has spent her life coming to terms with the physical — and mental — fallout from the attack. Like those people in New York, 9/11, [the] Boston Marathon [bombings.]". That same day,  news reports described the federal hunt for the bombers as rivaling the search for John Dillinger. But there was a survivor among the girls in the downstairs ladies' lounge. She was in an explosion, all that stuff raining down on her. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Jurors in the murder trial of a former Ku Klux Klansman were shown grisly morgue photos yesterday of the four black girls killed in a 1963 church bombing. "Wow. She says she thinks about it every day, and still sees the scars on her face every time she looks at her reflection in the mirror. A statement from Alabama's congressional delegation denounced the bombing. Mr. Cherry is the final surviving suspect, and prosecutors say his trial will be the last in the case.The bomb went off on a Sunday morning, killing Denise McNair, 11, and Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley, all 14.The girls were in a downstairs lounge primping for a youth-led worship service when the bomb exploded outside the building. . She says she had no idea that the photo had been taken, nor that it polarized a nation that suddenly turned its focus to the civil rights issues rocking the South. She says the group of girls arrived at the church late, heading right to the downstairs bathroom "to freshen up" after a long walk. "You go into church to praise God, and you come out without your sister.". Blinded by the shattered glass, Rudolph was rescued by a church deacon and hospitalized. ", 16th Street Baptist pastor John Cross said the bomber "did not only bomb the 16th Street Baptist Church, did not only kill these lovely, innocent girls, but somehow the world was shaken.