Ku Klux Klan members bomb the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing four Black girls preparing for Sunday service.
At a Glance
- Date
- 15 September 1963
- Location
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Key people
- Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Carol Denise McNair
- Category
- Civil Unrest & Racial Violence
- Source
- FBI investigative records; later convictions · Britannica
What It Meant Then
The murders of the children galvanized national support for civil rights legislation.
What It Means Now
The bombing is memorialized as one of the movement's gravest atrocities.
Cite this page
- MLA
- “The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing/.
- APA
- Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing/
- Chicago
- Black-History.com Editors. “The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing/.
Editorial Note
By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.