September 15th

A moment of memory for four children:

Cynthia Wesley, 14, the only child of Claude A. Wesley, principal of the Lewis Elementary School, Birmingham, Ala., and Mrs. Wesley, a teacher there.

Denise McNair, 11, also an only child.

Carol Robertson, 14.

Addie Mae Collins, 14.

These four girls were killed by a bomb thrown into the basement of their church in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15th, 1963, one the most grievous reactions in the fight for civil rights in the southern United States.

The bombing came five days after the desegregation of three previously all-white schools in Birmingham. The way had been cleared for the desegregation when President Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard and the Federal courts issued a sweeping order against Governor Wallace, thus ending his defiance toward the integration step.

The four girls killed in the blast had just heard Mrs. Ella C. Demand, their teacher, complete the Sunday school lesson for the day. The subject was "The Love That Forgives."

Regards,


A

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Birmingham Sunday