16th Street Baptist Church bombing

==Media and memorials==
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===Music===
* The song "[[Birmingham Sunday]]" is directly inspired by the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Written in 1964 by [[Richard Fariña]] and recorded by Fariña's sister-in-law, [[Joan Baez]], the song was included on Baez's 1964 album ''[[Joan Baez/5]]''. The song would also be covered by [[Rhiannon Giddens]], and is included on her 2017 album ''[[Freedom Highway (Rhiannon Giddens album)|Freedom Highway]]''.<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/freedom-highway-mw0003008277 |title=Freedom Highway – Rhiannon Giddens |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=February 1, 2021}}</ref>
* [[Nina Simone]]'s 1964 civil rights anthem "[[Mississippi Goddam]]" is partially inspired by the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. The lyric "Alabama's got me so upset" refers to this incident.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://longreads.com/2017/04/20/a-history-of-american-protest-music-when-nina-simone-sang-what-everyone-was-thinking/|title=A History of American Protest: When Nina Simone Sang what Everyone was Thinking|website=longreads.com|date=April 20, 2017|access-date=September 13, 2020}}</ref>
*  Jazz musician [[John Coltrane]]'s 1964 album ''[[Live at Birdland (John Coltrane album)|Live at Birdland]]'' includes the track "[[Alabama (John Coltrane song)|Alabama]]", recorded two months after the bombing. This song was written as a direct musical tribute to the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/john-coltrane-live-at-birdland|title=On John Coltrane's "Alabama"|website=allaboutjazz.com|date=August 10, 2005 |access-date=September 13, 2020}}</ref>
* African-American composer [[Adolphus Hailstork]]'s 1982 work for wind ensemble titled ''American Guernica'' was composed in memory of the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.action?itemid=40936|title=American Guernica, LKM Music - Hal Leonard Online|website=halleonard.com|access-date=December 8, 2017}}</ref>

===Film===
* A 1997 documentary, ''[[4 Little Girls]],'' exclusively focuses on the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Directed by [[Spike Lee]], this documentary includes interviews with family and friends of the victims and received an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Documentary|Best Documentary]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Still Reeling From the Day Death Came to Birmingham|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/09/movies/still-reeling-from-the-day-death-came-to-birmingham.html|access-date=September 13, 2020|work=The New York Times|date=July 9, 1997}}</ref>
* 2002 [[docudrama]], ''[[Sins of the Father (2002 film)|Sins of the Father]],'' directly focuses on the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Directed by [[Robert Dornhelm]], the film casts [[Richard Jenkins]] as Bobby Cherry and Bruce McFee as Robert Chambliss.<ref>{{cite news|title=Television Review: A Father's Guilt; A Son's Wrenching Decision |date=January 4, 2002 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/04/movies/television-review-a-father-s-guilt-a-son-s-wrenching-decision.html |work=The New York Times|access-date=September 15, 2020}}</ref>
* The 2014 American [[historical drama]], ''[[Selma (film)|Selma]],'' which focuses on the 1965 [[Selma to Montgomery marches]], also includes a scene which depicts the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. This film was directed by [[Ava DuVernay]].{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

===Television===
* The 1993 documentary, ''Angels of Change'', focuses on the events leading up to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing as well as the aftermath of the bombing. This documentary was produced by the Birmingham-based TV station [[WVTM-TV]] and subsequently received a [[Peabody Award]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/angels-of-change |title=The Peabody Awards: Angels of Change |work=peabodyawards.com |access-date=January 11, 2021 }}</ref>
* The [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]] has broadcast a documentary entitled ''Remembering the Birmingham Church Bombing.'' Broadcast to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombing, this documentary includes interviews with the head of education at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.<ref name=history.com />

===Books (non-fiction)===
*{{cite book|first=Susan|last=Anderson|date=2008|title=The Past on Trial: The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing, Civil Rights Memory and the Remaking of Birmingham|publisher=Chapel Hill|isbn=978-0-54988-141-4}}
*{{cite book|first=Taylor|last=Branch|author-link=Taylor Branch|year=1988|title=Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–1963|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-68742-7|title-link=Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–1963}}
*{{cite book|first=David|last=Chalmers|date=2005|title=Backfire: How the Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement|publisher=Chapel Hill|isbn=978-0-7425-2311-1}}
*{{cite book|first=Elizabeth H.|last=Cobbs|author2=Smith, Petric J.|date=1994|title=Long Time Coming: An Insider's Story of the Birmingham Church Bombing that Rocked the World|publisher=Crane Hill Publishers|isbn=978-1-881548-10-2|url=https://archive.org/details/longtimecoming00petr}}
*{{cite book|first=Christopher M.|last=Hamlin|date=1998|title=Behind the Stained Glass: A History of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church|publisher=Crane Hill Publishers|isbn=978-1-57587-083-0}}
*{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Doug |author-link1= Doug Jones (politician) |title=Bending Toward Justice: The Birmingham Church Bombing that Changed the Course of Civil Rights |date=2019 |publisher=All Points Books |isbn=9781250201447}}
*{{cite book|first=Lisa|last=Klobuchar|date=2009|title=1963 Birmingham Church Bombing: The Ku Klux Klan's History of Terror|publisher=Compass Point Books|isbn=978-0-7565-4092-0}}
*{{cite book|first=Carolyn|last=McKinstry|author2=George, Denise|date=2011|title=While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers|isbn=978-1-4143-3636-7|url=https://archive.org/details/whileworldwatche00caro}}
*{{cite book|first=Diane|last=McWhorter|author-link=Diane McWhorter|date=2001|title=Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780743217729|url-access=registration|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-4767-0951-2}}
*{{cite book|first=Frank|last=Sikora|date=1991|title=Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing Case|url=https://archive.org/details/untiljusticeroll0000siko|url-access=registration|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-0520-8}}
*{{cite book|first=T. K.|last=Thorne|date=2013|title=Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers|publisher=Lawrence Books|isbn=978-1-61374-864-0}}

===Books (fiction)===
* [[Christopher Paul Curtis]]'s 1995 novel ''[[The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963]]'' conveys the events of the bombing.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Curtis|first=Christopher|year=1995|title=The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963|edition=1st|publisher=[[Dell Publishing|Delacorte Press]] |isbn=9780385382946 |title-link=The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963}}</ref> This fictional account of the bombing was later converted into a movie.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Watsons Go to Birmingham|url=https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/the-watsons-go-to-birmingham |url-status=live |work=[[Hallmark Channel]] |access-date=April 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623054054/https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/the-watsons-go-to-birmingham |archive-date=June 23, 2018}}</ref>
* The 2001 novel ''Bombingham'', written by [[Anthony Grooms]], is set in Birmingham in 1963. This novel portrays a fictional account of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and the shootings of Virgil Ware and Johnny Robinson.
* The [[American Girl]] book ''No Ordinary Sound'', set in 1963 and featuring the character of [[Melody Ellison]], has the bombing as a major plot point.

===In sculpture and symbolism===
[[File:Four Spirits Statue Kelly Ingram Park Alabama.jpg|thumb|The ''Four Spirits'' sculpture, unveiled at Birmingham's [[Kelly Ingram Park]], September 2013]]

* Welsh craftsman and artist John Petts was inspired to construct and deliver the iconic stained-glass ''Welsh Window'' to the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1965. The ''Welsh Window'' is a large stained-glass edifice depicting a black Jesus, with arms outstretched, reminiscent of the [[Crucifixion of Jesus]]. Erected at the church in 1965,<ref name=younge/> the Welsh Window stands over the front door of the sanctuary.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uivtCqOlpTsC&pg=PA1029 |section=Sixteenth Street Baptist Church |title=Encyclopedia of African-American History |page=1029 |isbn=9780195167795 |last1=Alexander |first1=Leslie M |author2=Walter C Rucker JR |date=February 9, 2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO }}</ref>
* The American sculptor [[John Henry Waddell]] has created a memorial symbolizing those killed in the bombing. Entitled ''That Which Might Have Been: Birmingham 1963'', the sculpture—depicting four adult women in differing postures—was created over a period of 15 months.<ref name=waddell /> The four women in the sculpture are each depicted in symbolic terms; representing the four victims of the bombing, had they been allowed to mature to womanhood.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artbyjohnwaddell.com/JHW/That_which_might_have_been.html |title=That which might have been |publisher=Artbyjohnwaddell.com |access-date=September 16, 2013 }}</ref> The sculpture was originally displayed at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] in 1969. A second casting of the sculpture was intended for display in Birmingham; however, due to controversy over the nudity of the women depicted in the sculpture, this second casting is now on display at the George Washington Carver Museum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8ZFV_That_Which_Might_Have_Been_Birmingham_1963_Phoenix_Arizona |website=Waymarking.com |title=That Which Might Have Been, Birmingham 1963 - Phoenix, Arizona - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref>
* The names of the four girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing are engraved upon the [[Civil Rights Memorial]]. Erected in [[Montgomery, Alabama]] in 1989.<ref name=splcenter>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/civil-rights-memorial |title=Civil Rights Memorial |work=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |access-date=April 11, 2015 }}</ref> The Civil Rights Memorial is an inverted, [[cone|conical]] granite fountain and is dedicated to 41 people who died in the struggle for the equal rights and integrated treatment of all people between the years 1954 and 1968. The names of the 41 individuals themselves are chronologically engrained upon the surface of this fountain. Creator [[Maya Lin]] has described this sculpture as a "contemplative area; a place to remember the Civil Rights Movement, to honour those killed during the struggle, to appreciate how far the country has come in its quest for equality".<ref name=splcenter/>
* The ''Four Spirits'' sculpture was unveiled at Birmingham's [[Kelly Ingram Park]] in September 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombing. Crafted in [[Berkeley, California]] by Birmingham-born sculptor Elizabeth MacQueen<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/09/memorial_project_for_16th_stre.html |title=Memorial project for 16th Street Baptist Church bombing raises $200,000 of $250,000 goal |work=al.com |date=September 2, 2013 |access-date=May 28, 2019 |first=Jeremy |last=Gray }}</ref> and designed as a memorial to the four children killed on September 15, 1963, the bronze and steel life-size sculpture depicts the four girls in preparation for the church sermon at the 16th Street Baptist Church in the moments immediately before the explosion. The youngest girl killed in the explosion (Carol Denise McNair) is depicted releasing six doves into the air as she stands tiptoed and [[barefoot]]ed upon a bench as another barefooted girl (Addie Mae Collins) is depicted kneeling upon the bench, affixing a dress sash to McNair; a third girl (Cynthia Wesley) is sat upon the bench alongside McNair and Collins with a Bible in her lap.<ref>{{cite news |title=Four Spirits unveiled across from Sixteenth Street Baptist Church |url=https://weldbham.com/blog/2013/09/14/four-spirits-unveiled-across-from-sixteenth-street-baptist-church/ |first=Tom |last=Gordon |work=Weld: Birmingham's Newspaper |date=September 14, 2013 |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref> The fourth girl (Carole Robertson) is depicted standing and smiling as she motions the other three girls to attend their church sermon.<ref name=fourspirits>{{cite news |url=https://www.wbrc.com/story/23436446/four-spirits-statue-unveiled-to-the-public/ |work=[[WBRC]] |date=September 15, 2013 |title='Four Spirits' Sculpture Unveiled to the Public |first=Alan |last=Collins |access-date=May 28, 2019 }}</ref>
* At the base of the sculpture is an inscription of the title of the sermon the four girls were to attend before the bombing—"A Love That Forgives". Oval photographs and brief biographies of the four girls killed in the explosion, the most seriously injured survivor (Sarah Collins), and the two teenage boys who were shot to death later that day also adorn the base of the sculpture. More than 1,000 people were present at the unveiling of the memorial, including survivors of the bombing, friends of the victims and the parents of Denise McNair, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware.<ref name=fourspirits/> Among those to speak at the unveiling was [[Joseph Lowery|the Reverend Joseph Lowery]], who informed those present: "Don't let anybody tell you these children [[died in vain]]. We wouldn't be here right now, had they not gone home before our eyes."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://wbhm.org/feature/2013/four-spirits-statue-memorial-to-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing-victims-unveiled/ |work=[[WBHM]] |date=September 15, 2013 |first=Andrew |last=Yeager |access-date=May 28, 2019 |title=Four Spirits Statue, Memorial to 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Victims, Unveiled }}</ref>
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