Children of Birmingham Face Attack Dogs and Fire Hoses
On May 2, 1963, thousands of young people left their classrooms and gathered at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, where they spilled out in groups of 50 to march downtown. The next day, the police, led by the infamous Bull Connor, brought out fire hoses and attack dogs and turned them on the children, according to an account on The Daily Beast. It was a scene that caused headlines across the nation and around the world — and which many historians believe turned the national tide of public opinion in support of the civil rights movement.
Four Little Girls — and Two Little Boys
In the early morning of Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963, Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Herman Frank Cash and Robert Chambliss, members of United Klans of America, a Ku Klux Klan group, planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite with a time delay under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church, close to the basement. Four girls — Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carol Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14) and Cynthia Wesley (age 14) — were killed in the bombing, and more than 20 additional people were injured. About seven hours later, two Black boys were shot to death — 16-year-old Johnny Robinson was shot by police, reportedly after they caught him throwing rocks at cars driven by white people; 13-year-old Virgil Ware was shot twice with a revolver as he sat upon the handlebars of a bicycle ridden by his brother in a residential suburb, 15 miles north of the city.
