Sarah Collins Rudolph, a survivor of the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, will be visiting Columbus on Jan. 9 to share her story at Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
The free event starts at 5 p.m. and is open to the public. Lowndes County District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks will introduce Rudolph, according to organizer Keith Worshaim.
Rudolph was 12 when the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing her 14-year-old sister, Addie Mae Collins, and their friends Denise McNair, Carole Roberts — both also 14 — and 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley. Shattered glass from the blast resulted in Rudolph losing one eye, according to her website.
As the only survivor of the five girls, Rudolph co-authored the 2020 book “The 5th Little Girl: Soul Survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing” as a way to tell her story and preserve the legacy of the bombing.
The 16th Street Baptist Church is a prominent church in Birmingham that served as a headquarters for civil rights meetings and rallies in the early 1960s, according to The National Parks Service. The bombing resulted in an outpouring of national grief and was a catalyst for the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Local civil rights pioneer Laverne Greene-Leech said the event will be a great opportunity to hear Rudolph’s story and learn the history behind it.
“I just think that it would be nice that people could hear her story — to hear that she has survived, and she’s been making it.” Greene-Leech said. “For the longest time, we didn’t even know that there was another child, and she has had to face all of this by herself.”
Greene-Leech had wanted to organize a time for Rudolph to speak back in February for Black History Month but said now is as good a time as ever.
“I think anytime we can tell a story, it’s a good time to tell it,” she said.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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