Sixteenth Street Church Bombing

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan on September 15, 1963, killing four African American girls. The tragedy incited local riots and national outrage and was a central moment leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Ruins of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church after the 1963 bombing in Birmingham, Alabama
Courtesy of the Birmingham Public Library Archives
Ruins of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church after the 1963 bombing in Birmingham, Alabama