Top » Law & Legal Issues

JUSTICE FOR A HEINOUS CRIME

On September 15, 1963, an explosion ripped through the basement of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, instantly killing four teenage girls as they prepared for morning services. The deaths of Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie May Collins were perhaps the single most shocking crime of the Civil Rights era, and the struggle to convict the alleged killers has continued throughout the last 37 years. Recently, a state grand jury handed down murder indictments against former Klansmen Thomas Blanton Jr., and Bobby Frank Cherry, who surrendered to authorities last week. This outstanding website (at least part of it authored by Addie May's sister) gives an overview of the bombing and its place in Civil Rights history, including transcripts of news articles published in the bombings' aftermath. Don't miss this comprehensive, moving online resource

Wed, 17 May 2000 05:41:05 -0700

Submitted by: Heather Peake