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Pain of B'ham church bombing lingers 40 years later

By Associated Press

Birmingham, AL – Forty years have passed since a bomb killed
four black girls on a Sunday morning at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and a chapter was closed with the recent convictions of two one-time Ku Klux Klansmen long suspected in the crime.

But the tragedy remains painfully fresh in Birmingham. The church walls still bear cracks caused by the explosion on September 15th, 1963.

Church members will remember the girls' deaths with a three-day commemoration that began yesterday (Sunday). The Reverend Arthur Price Junior said a memorial service will be held tonight at 7 p-m,
and a revival service looking forward is set for tomorrow (Tuesday).

The explosion killed Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Wesley, all 14, and 11-year-old Denise McNair.

Kenneth Robbins, who wrote "City of Churches," one of two bombing-related books that are being released around the 40th anniversary, said the case continues to resonate with the public because of its senselessness.

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