The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing Quiz

Answer: Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley.

Denise McNair was involved deeply in community service. She also was the friend and schoolmate of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She was 11 when she died.

Cynthia Wesley was the first adopted daughter of Claude and Gertrude Wesley. She was very petite and was 14 at the time of the bombing. She was identified by her father by the ring she was wearing.

Carole Robertson was also 14 years old at the time of the bombing. She was a straight-A student and a member a Girl Scouts. The Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Chicago (a social service agency that serves children and their families) was created in her legacy.

Addie Mae Collins was also 14 at the time of the bombing. She played softball frequently and a youth center has been created for her in Birmingham.

22 people were injured, including Addie Mae's sister, Sarah, who lost an eye.

Answer: September 15, 1963

The bomb exploded on Sept. 15, 1963 at 10:25 am; children were attending Sunday School.

Answer: Under the stairs

The dynamite was placed under the steps on the east side of the church. Five girls were changing into their choir robes for the mass in the nearby basement when the bomb exploded. Four of the girls were killed in the explosion.

Answer: Robert Chambliss

Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. He was first arrested for having the 122 sticks of dynamite without a permit. Then, in 1977, he was tried for the murder of the four girls and was found guilty with help by his niece Elizabeth Cobbs. He was sentenced to life in jail. He died in jail in 1985 without ever admitting that he was responsible.

In 2000, Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton were also convicted for the bombing and murders. A fourth suspect, Herman Cash died in 1994 without being convicted.

Answer: The Ballad of Birmingham

"Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"
"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."

"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.

But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"
~Dudley Randall

This is a ironic and lovely poem.

Answer: True

I haven't been able to find out whether he got the nickname "Dynamite Bob" before or after the bombing.

Answer: 16th Street and 6th Avenue North

The Church was rebuilt. 3rd Avenue North between 19th and 20th Street and 12th Street and Fourth Avenue North are actual places where the Church was voted on to be. More the $300,000 were given to the church and repairs started. On June 7, 1964, the 16th Street Baptist Church opened its doors again.
STATUS:
National Register of Historic Places (1980)
Historic American Buildings Survey (1993)
National Historic Landmark (2/20/2006)

The Church has about 200 members but about a 2000 weekly attendance. About 200,000 people visit the church in a year. The current pastor is Reverend Arthur Price.

Answer: False

The Church was built in 1911 by Wallace A. Rayfield of Windham Bros. Construction Co. in the Romanesque style. It was reopened in 1964.

Answer: False

One of the families wanted a privite funeral. More than 8,000 people of all colors showed up. 800 of them were clergymen. However, no city officals showed.

Answer: True

Two more people were kiled: -

16-year-old Johnnie Robinson was throwing rocks at cars that had white people in them; a white police officer shot and killed him.

13-year-old Virgil Ware was riding a bike with his brother and two white teenagers shot him from a motor scooter.