16th Street Baptist Church bombing girls — Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain
In the early morning of September 15, 1963, members of a Ku Klux Klan splinter group known as the "Cahaba Boys" planted dynamite beneath the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, a church that served as a rallying point for civil rights organizing during the Birmingham campaign. At approximately 10:22 a.m., an anonymous caller told the church's acting Sunday School secretary, 15-year-old Carolyn Maull, "Three minutes." Less than a minute later, the bomb exploded, killing Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Rosamond Robertson, and Cynthia Dionne Wesley, and injuring between 14 and 22 other people. The explosion destroyed the rear of the church, blew out nearly every stained-glass window, and damaged buildings and vehicles blocks away.
The bombing occurred against a backdrop of intense racial violence in Birmingham, a city where at least 21 bombings of Black homes and institutions had occurred in the preceding eight years without fatalities. It followed the Birmingham campaign's Children's Crusade and the desegregation of the city's public schools weeks earlier. In the hours after the bombing, unrest spread through the city, and two more Black teenagers, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware, were killed in separate incidents.
The FBI's 1965 investigation identified four Ku Klux Klan members and segregationists — Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., Herman Frank Cash, Robert Edward Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry — as the perpetrators, but Director J. Edgar Hoover blocked federal prosecution, and the case was formally closed without charges in 1968. Alabama Attorney General William Baxley reopened the case in 1971 and, after obtaining new witness testimony and evidence, prosecuted Robert Chambliss, who was convicted in 1977 of the first-degree murder of 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 1985, having maintained his innocence.
The investigation was reopened again in 1995 as part of a broader effort to revisit civil-rights-era cold cases. In 2000, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry were indicted on charges including first-degree murder. Blanton was convicted in 2001 and Cherry in 2002; both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Future U.S. Senator Doug Jones led the prosecutions. Herman Cash died in 1994 and was never charged. Blanton died in prison in 2020.
The bombing is widely regarded as a turning point in the American civil rights movement and contributed to public and congressional support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Cynthia Dionne Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Rosamond Robertson
Date
1963
Location
16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama
Case status
solved
Case timeline
1963-05-02
More than 1,000 students gather at the 16th Street Baptist Church to begin the Birmingham campaign's Children's Crusade.
1963-05-08
Birmingham business leaders and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference reach an agreement to integrate public facilities within 90 days.
1963-09-04
First schools in Birmingham are integrated; additional bombs are detonated in the city in the following weeks.
1963-09-15
A bomb planted under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church explodes, killing four girls and injuring 14 to 22 others.
1963-09-17
Carole Rosamond Robertson is buried in a private family funeral.
1963-09-18
Funeral held for Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, and Cynthia Dionne Wesley, attended by Martin Luther King Jr.
1963-09-26
Robert Chambliss is questioned by the FBI.
1963-09-29
Chambliss is indicted on charges of illegally purchasing and transporting dynamite.
1963-10-08
Chambliss and two acquaintances are convicted in state court of illegally possessing and transporting dynamite; each fined and given a suspended sentence.
1964-06-07
The 16th Street Baptist Church reopens to the public after repairs.
1964-07-02
President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
1965-05-13
Local investigators and the FBI formally name Blanton, Cash, Chambliss, and Cherry as perpetrators, though no prosecutions follow.
1968
The FBI formally closes its investigation without filing charges; files are sealed by order of J. Edgar Hoover.
1971-01
William Baxley is elected Alabama Attorney General and reopens the case.
1977-09-24
A grand jury indicts Robert Chambliss on four counts of murder.
1977-11-14
Chambliss's trial begins in Birmingham.
1977-11-18
Chambliss is convicted of the murder of Carol Denise McNair and sentenced to life imprisonment.
1979-05-22
Chambliss's appeal is dismissed.
1985-10-29
Robert Chambliss dies in prison.
1994
Herman Frank Cash dies without ever being charged.
1995
The FBI reopens its investigation into the bombing.
2000-05
The FBI publicly announces findings naming Blanton, Cash, Chambliss, and Cherry as the bombers.
2000-05-16
A grand jury indicts Thomas Edwin Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry on charges including first-degree murder.
2001-04-24
Blanton's trial begins in Birmingham.
2001-05-01
Blanton is convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and later sentenced to life imprisonment.
2002-05-06
Bobby Cherry's trial begins in Birmingham.
2016-08-03
Blanton's first parole hearing is held and parole is denied.
2020-06-26
Thomas Edwin Blanton dies in prison.
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Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
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Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr.
CONVICTED
Convicted in 2001 of four counts of first-degree murder; sentenced to life imprisonment; died in prison in 2020.
Bobby Frank Cherry
CONVICTED
Convicted of four counts of first-degree murder; sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002.
Robert Edward Chambliss
CONVICTED
Convicted in 1977 of the first-degree murder of Carol Denise McNair; sentenced to life imprisonment; died in prison in 1985.
William Baxley
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Alabama Attorney General who reopened the case in 1971 and prosecuted Robert Chambliss in 1977.
Herman Frank Cash
CHARGED
Named by the FBI as a suspect in the bombing but died in 1994 without ever being charged.
Cynthia Dionne Wesley
VICTIM
Killed in the bombing at age 14.
Addie Mae Collins
VICTIM
Killed in the bombing at age 14.
Carol Denise McNair
VICTIM
Killed in the bombing at age 11.
Carole Rosamond Robertson
VICTIM
Killed in the bombing at age 14.
Doug Jones
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Prosecutor who led the successful 2001 and 2002 trials of Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry; later elected U.S. Senator.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
On September 15, 1963, Ku Klux Klan members bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four Black girls and injuring more than a dozen others, in one of the era's most notorious civil-rights-era terror attacks.
Where did the bombing happen?
16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama.
Who was convicted?
Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. (Convicted in 2001 of four counts of first-degree murder; sentenced to life imprisonment; died in prison in 2020.), Bobby Frank Cherry (Convicted of four counts of first-degree murder; sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002.), and Robert Edward Chambliss (Convicted in 1977 of the first-degree murder of Carol Denise McNair; sentenced to life imprisonment; died in prison in 1985.).
