The Bombing
On September 15, 1963, tragedy struck in Birmingham, Alabama. Four African American girls were killed in a bombing that happened at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Denise McNair (11), Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), were all attending Sunday school along with others that morning. The blast that killed the girls came from a bomb that was planted underneath the church in the basement. Not only did the bomb kill these four innocent little girls, but it also injured 23 others that were upstairs. The four girls were in the basement when the explosion occurred at 10:22 a.m.
Before the Incident
Before the explosion occurred, the church received numerous phone calls threatening death from an unidentified caller. A 14 year old girl named Carolyn McKinstry, who also attended the church's Sunday school, answered one of the calls. She hung up the phone and walked from the church's office to the Sunday school room. Moments later, the bomb that was planted by a Ku Klux Klan member exploded where the four girls were getting ready. Carolyn McKinstry had just spoken with those four girls.