Friendship between Wales and Birmingham, AL goes from strength to strength
Cyfeillgarwch rhwng Cymru a Birmingham, Alabama yn mynd o nerth i nerth
Representatives from Birmingham, Alabama have been visiting Wales this week, as part of an agreement to build on the historic friendship between the city and Wales.
The visit follows the signing of an International Friendship Pact between the Welsh Government and the City of Birmingham last year, which seeks to promote economic trade and cooperation across shared interests including Arts and Culture, Life Sciences, Healthcare and Education.
As part of the visit, the First Minister and the American guests presented the City of Birmingham Seal to pupils at St. Mary The Virgin Church in Wales Primary School, in Butetown, Cardiff today. The seal was a gift from the Mayor of Birmingham.
The relationship between Wales and Birmingham began in the wake of the tragic events of 15th September, 1963. On one of the darkest days in modern American history, four schoolgirls were killed in a racially-motivated bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church, which became a pivotal moment in the US civil rights movement.
Following the tragedy, people across Wales donated their pocket change through a campaign by the Western Mail to raise funds for a stained-glass window to replace one destroyed at the Church.
Designed by Welsh artist John Petts, the ‘Wales Window’ was gifted to the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1965. With its depiction of a black Christ on the crucifix, the window was a symbol to the congregation that people around the world knew of and cared about their suffering and sacrifice.
Last year, to mark the 60th anniversary of the bombing, the Welsh Government dedicated four trees, in memory of the four girls, at Kelly Ingram Park, across the street from the church. As a reciprocal gift, the Mayor of Birmingham presented the City Seal to the Welsh Government.
The delegation, led by Birmingham Sister Cities, includes sisters of the four girls, the church pastor, a child foot soldier of the civil rights movement, as well as state, local government and business leaders.
One of the delegation is Sarah Collins Rudolph, who survived the bombing, but her fourteen-year-old sister, Addie Mae, was killed. Sarah said:
"The bond between Birmingham and Wales has been a source of deep meaning and healing for me and so many others who lived through that terrible day in 1963. The gift of the Wales Window showed us that people from across the ocean cared about our pain and believed in a future of hope and unity.
“Now, standing here today, I feel that same spirit of solidarity, knowing our friendship is still growing strong. I am grateful to Birmingham Sister Cities and the Welsh Government for bringing us together in this way, helping us remember the past while we build a brighter future."
First Minister Eluned Morgan said:
“It’s a pleasure to welcome the delegation from Birmingham Alabama to Wales this week. It’s clear that the bond between us has grown stronger over time and is thriving today, with further opportunities for collaboration between us.
“I’m proud that the people of Wales came together to reach out to the Birmingham community in their darkest hour, collectively taking action against racism and offering a concrete and symbolic gesture of solidarity and peace.
“The Wales Window has been a foundation of our friendship and will be a reminder of unity and hope for generations to come.”
Notes to editors
Background:
The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
Organised in 1873 as the First Colored Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama. Sixteenth Street was the first black church in Birmingham. The present church was completed in 1911. Because of segregation, the church, and other black churches in Birmingham, served many purposes. It functioned as a meeting place, social center and lecture hall for a variety of activities important to the lives of the city’s black citizens. Due to Sixteenth Street’s prominence in the black community, and its central location to downtown Birmingham, the church served as headquarters for the civil rights mass meetings and rallies in the early 1960s.The oldest Black church in the city, it had also recently become the organizing center for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s Children’s Crusade, which saw children peacefully marching the streets in protest against the city’s segregation laws.
September 15, 1963, 10:22am
On the morning of September 15th, the church was filled with children attending Sunday School. At the time the bomb exploded most were finishing their classes in the church’s basement and preparing for the main service upstairs. The sermon scheduled was “A Love that Forgives”.At 10:22am, a call to the Church was placed. 14-year-old Carolyn Maull McKinstry answered and the caller said: “3 minutes,” and then hung up. In less than 60 seconds, the dynamite exploded.
The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was bombed as part of an act of white supremacist terrorism. Four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church. The explosion at the church killed four girls attending Sunday School and injured 22 other persons. The four girls killed in the bombing were Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Carol Denise McNair (11). The fifth girl, Sarah Collins Rudolph, survived and was 12 years old. She was the sister of Addie Mae Collins.
In the unrest that followed in the hours after the bombing, two Black teenagers were killed, 16 year old Johnny Robinson was shot in the back by police officers and 13 year old Virgil Ware was shot while riding handlebars of his brother’s bike in a residential suburb.The church itself suffered significant damage, a gaping hole was blown into its side and all the windows were shattered. The face of Jesus in the church’s main stained-glass window was blown clean out.
Although the bombers, a splinter group of the Ku Klux Klan, were identified in investigations following the bombing, it would be another 40 years until they were all brought to justice.
The bombing was a significant moment in US history, altering forever the course of the civil rights movement and became, according to many, a catalyst for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Response from Wales
The stained-glass artist John Petts heard of the tragedy while listening to the radio that evening. Resolving that something ought to be done, he telephoned his friend David Cole, the Editor of the Western Mail who immediately suggested a fundraising campaign to create the window for the church.
The campaign was launched in the paper two days later, with the headline: ‘Alabama: Chance for Wales to Show the Way.’ A picture featured later that week showing children in Tiger Bay donating their pocket money. Donations to the fund were capped at half a crown each to ensure it really was given as a gift by the people. John Petts contacted then-pastor of the church Reverend John Cross, announcing the plan.
Within weeks the target of £500 had reached £900 and the fund was closed. The Welsh public to paid for the construction of the structure in Wales, and its delivery and installation at the Church.A telegram was sent to Rev. John Cross of the Sixteenth Baptist detailing the ‘gesture of comfort and support.’ The reply: Wales was ‘the only country to offer such direct and material assistance.’
The Wales Window
The Wales Window bears the inscription, "Given by The People of Wales". The window is the first example of a depiction of a Black Jesus in stained glass form in the US. It was designed by Wales based artist John Petts and was made in his studio in the village of Llansteffan following a successful fundraising campaign organised by the Western Mail. The window is located in the rear center of the sanctuary at the balcony level.
The Dedication Service of the Wales Window at the Church was on June 6, 1965.