Four Little Girls

Sixty years ago, on September 15, 1963, four little girls were changing into choir robes and chatting in a church restroom as they prepared for the Youth Sunday services being held that morning at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

- Marian Wright Edelman

Instead, at 10:22 a.m., a bundle of dynamite that white supremacists had hidden under the church steps exploded. The bomb was attached to a timer that had been deliberately set to go off during worship services. Fourteen-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, and 11-year-old Denise McNair were all killed.

Carole was a straight-A student, a member of the science club and the Girl Scouts, and played clarinet in the school band.

Cynthia played clarinet too, along with piano, and dreamed of being a teacher.

Denise, the youngest, was excited about singing in the youth chorus; future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a childhood friend, remembered that they performed in musical skits and played dolls together.

Addie was one of seven siblings and loved softball and drawing. Her 12-year-old sister Sarah was with her in the church restroom and remembered that Denise had just asked Addie to help her tie the sash on the back of her dress when the bomb went off.