Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Denise McNair.
Four young martyrs from the civil rights movement, now recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal.
President Obama signed legislation Friday conferring posthumous medals on the young girls who died in a Sept. 15, 1963, bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala.
“Four little girls we lost 50 years ago,” Obama said while surrounded by relatives of the victims and Alabama officials.
Collins, Robertson and Wesley were 14 years old, and McNair was 11 — girls who gave their lives for “a more just and equal and fair America,” the president said.
White supremacists planned the bomb that injured more than 20 others, a galvanizing events in the civil rights movement.
The formal presentation ceremony will be held later this year at the U.S. Capitol.
“This is a great privilege for me,” said the nation’s first African-American president.
“What a special day this is.”
Read full story: USA Today
May 29, 2013 at 2:37 pm
Glad to see these sister’s memories being kept alive. There was one survivor of this attack who is still traumatized by her experience, her name escapes me, I know Rev Jackson has spoken with her and helping to gain compensation. Also, if you know of any intervention programs for young sisters to build self esteem and may be at risk can you please inform me, Thanx