Sarah Collins Rudolph, one of the survivors of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, said she wants young people to know they must continue to fight for freedom and equality by understanding the history of the civil rights movement.
2023 marks the 60th anniversary of Birmingham’s summer of change and a turning point in the civil rights movement. Throughout the year, the City of Birmingham and other groups are hosting events and tours of the Civil Rights District so people can learn and honor the area’s legacy. Residents who remember the struggle firsthand say it’s important to continue to tell stories.
Collins Rudolph, known to many as the fifth little girl, shared her traumatic experience of losing her sister, and the sight in her right eye after the Ku Klux Klan bombed her church and killed four girls on Sept. 15, 1963.
“I just wish young people would understand that these girls didn’t die in vain,” Collins said. “It’s time for them to realize and know that it’s time to stop killing each other because we had to march to get these rights we have today.”
Tucked between a café and a barbershop sits the Civil Rights Activist Committee Headquarters, a space created to document the stories of foot soldiers and convene for activism projects.
Collins said she, her sister Addie Mae Collins and their two friends skipped and laughed all the way to church, excited for the youth day program. They all made their way to the ladies’ lounge where she remembers Denise McNair asking her sister to tie the sash on her dress.
Smiling, Collins described her sister as quiet and sweet. “Every time I would try to go places and try to get away from her she would be right behind me saying, ‘Sarah, wait on me.’”
Collins said the next thing they knew, the bomb had gone off, killing Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley.
She laid under the debris of the explosion, shards of glass embedded in her body, until someone rescued her. She was rushed to the hospital where she asked where her sister was. She was the only survivor among the girls in the lounge.
“All I could do was wonder, why did they kill those girls. They were sweet girls, never did any harm to anyone,” Collins said.
In the aftermath of the bombing, Collins was constantly nervous and stopped playing with other children at school because she was so fearful. She said she never received counseling and remained angry for a long time.
“It took me a while to really come out and talk about my story,” Collins said. “I was about 40 before I really talked about it. I know that God spared my life to tell the story because so many people was telling it but they weren’t telling nothing but lies.”
Collins said years after the bombing, she went to a church where the pastor prayed for her. After that day, she knew she was healed, no longer having to rely on alcohol or marijuana.
Today, she and her husband both said they wish the city would compensate her for her loss. To this day, Collins still has to go to the eye doctor, paying out of pocket for her visits.
Collins is no longer a member of the 16th St. Baptist Church, which is still active after being restored. In the lower lever of the church is a wall dedicated to telling the story of the bombing. In the corner is a large photo of Collins, at age 12, in the hospital with patches covering both her eyes with captions detailing the horrific events.
In the upper level of the building sits red pews, gold adornments and warm stained-glass windows. The 16th St. Baptist Church is the picture of peace.
There, Carolyn McKinstry, who was also in the church the day of the bombing, also told visitors her story of being involved in the civil rights movement.
She said her parents joined the church when she was two years old where she had played and explored all over the building. She was also very involved as a child, working as a secretary for the Sunday school when she was only a preteen.
When she was in the seventh grade, she sat in on Martin Luther King’s first mass meeting in Birmingham with Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, whose home had been bombed three times, and other community activists. The reverends spoke about segregation, love, forgiveness and God.
McKinstry said she remembers the church was packed with young people, some sitting on the floor as they were encouraged to get involved in nonviolent action. Later that week, when the youth were called to action, McKinstry walked out of A.H. Parker High School to march.
Cynthia Wesley was one of her best friends. On the day of the bombing, she heard the explosion, ducking under a pew, hearing people screaming, parents looking for their children and the sound of footsteps as people ran.
“For the next 20 years, I was 15. I was stuck there,” McKinstry said. “I think a lot of me was afraid because nothing had been done so there’s no reason it wouldn’t happen again.”
She said over the years her pain manifested in rashes, sleeplessness, illness and weight loss.
“I was disappointed no one was arrested. It was strange to me that this was okay that these four girls were gone, they were dead,” McKinstry said. “And it had to be okay because life had just gone on as usual. Nothing had stopped. Nothing had changed.”
Decades after the bombing, she was subpoenaed by the attorney of Bobby Frank Cherry, one of the men who had bombed the church. McKinstry said she felt mocked, like Cherry was still able to make her life miserable years later. During the court case, she sat in the same room as Cherry’s family and character witnesses. She said for weeks she felt sick, and it set her back emotionally.
Today, she is still a believer in God and forgiveness as she now travels the world telling her story. She has visited 43 states and nine countries. She said when she visited Palestine, citizens sang the songs of the American civil rights movement – showing how Birmingham’s events impacted the world.
Brenda Wright, 78, was born and raised in Birmingham, worked in politics and is currently an active member of her church. She said though she is retired, she has not retired from fighting for others because it will always be her job to make a difference.
Throughout a tour of Birmingham’s civil rights sites, Wright pointed out the buildings she remembered going to as a young girl and recalled conversations with people who had to experience the atrocities of Jim Crow.
Embedded in almost every building and every step you take in Birmingham is an integral piece of history.
When riding past Phillips High School, Wright pointed out where Shuttlesworth was beaten for advocating for school integration.
In the wall of A.G. Gaston Motel, home of King’s famous war room, are two markings from a bomb.
The historic Bethel Church, which served as headquarters for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, now is a historic landmark.
In Kelly Ingram Park, the site of civil rights rallies, demonstrations and confrontations, there are statues that remind residents and visitors of the horrors of the movement, the children who were involved, the police dogs that attacked people just for being Black and the faces of those who led the movement.
In the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, memorabilia depicts other reminders of racism and segregation. Here, Wright recalled having to sit at the back of the bus.
“We want to tell the next generation not to forget what we have accomplished and are still accomplishing and realize what they can do,” Wright said. “We cannot be turned around or defeated. We have got to keep going.”
