Archival Resources
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing
Investigation Files, 1963-1965, 1975-1977, 1980
Background:
On the
morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963 a bomb planted by members of the Ku Klux
Klan exploded outside the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, an African American
church, in Birmingham, Alabama. The blast did extensive damage to the church
building and killed four girls inside. Several other members of the congregation
also suffered injuries.
Sources:
Cobbs Elizabeth H./Petric J. Smith, Long Time Coming: An Insider's Story
of the Church Bombing that
Rocked the World. Birmingham: Crane Hill Publishers, 1994.
Sikora, Frank, Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing
Case.
Tuscaloosa:
The University of Alabama Press, 1991.
Scope and Content:
This
collection contains copies of reports and other material prepared by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation relating to the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street
Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama and to other bombings, racial incidents,
and the Ku Klux Klan. The reports dated October 4, 1963 to April 9, 1969 consist
primarily of interviews. Most reports contain a table of contents or index.
These reports are followed by files relating to individual suspects and one file
documenting other bombings in Birmingham during the years 1947 to 1956.
These copies
were acquired from the Alabama Attorney General's office. The material in this
collection represents only a small portion of the total FBI files on the case.
Subject Areas:
Bombing
investigation--Alabama--Birmingham.
Ku Klux Klan
(1915- )--Alabama--Birmingham.
Sixteenth
Street Baptist Church (Birmingham, Ala.).
United
States. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Size: 1.5 linear feet
Source: Alabama Attorney General's Office
Restrictions: Standard preservation and copyright restrictions. Access limited to microfilm copy.
Guide Prepared By: Stewart A. Davenport and Jim Baggett
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FILE NUMBER |
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DESCRIPTION |
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Microfilm Reel One: |
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1308.1.1 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 4, 1963.
Information on crime scene and interviews with neighbors regarding suspicious
activity in the area prior to the bombing.
Several pages are missing. Interviews with 26 church members regarding
suspicious activity prior to the bombing.
Interviews with four individuals regarding possible sources for
dynamite.
Pages 342-352 are missing. |
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1308.1.2 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 4, 1963 (continued).
Information relating to five members of the National States Rights
Party. |
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1308.1.3 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 16, 1963.
Interviews with 101 neighbors regarding suspicious activity before and
at the time of the bombing. Some report suspicious automobiles or
individuals. Four men report observing and chasing two white men
fleeing the scene.
Pages 1-21 are missing. |
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1308.1.4 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 16, 1963 (continued).
Interviews with 70 members of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
regarding suspicious activity before or at the time of the bombing. |
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1308.1.5 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 16, 1963 (continued).
Interviews with individuals regarding their whereabouts at the time of
the explosion and their access to dynamite.
Interviews with seven members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Interviews regarding 10 members of the National States Rights Party. |
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1308.1.6 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 16, 1963 (continued).
Interviews with 22 members of associates of the Nation of Islam.
Information on nine suspects. |
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1308.1.7 |
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F.B.I.
Report, October 16, 1963 (continued).
Interviews regarding suspicious automobiles and gossip relating to the
bombing.
Pages 457-470 are missing.
Information regarding Tommy E. Blanton, Jr. |
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1308.1.8 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 16, 1963 (continued).
Information regarding Herbert Frank Cash, William H. Cash, Robert
E. Chambliss, and Robert Charles Gafford.
Pages 615-627 and 664-685 are missing. |
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1308.1.9 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 16, 1963 (continued).
Statement by John Wesley Hall in which he confesses his past
possession of dynamite.
Information regarding Troy Ingram, William Ross Keith, George Lee Pickle, Herbert Eugene Reeves, Loel
Roosevelt Rogers, Robert Thomas, Ronald E. Tidwell, Arthur Howard
White, and Levi Sidney Yarbrough.
Pages 692-698 and 714-739 are missing. |
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1308.1.10 |
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F.B.I. Report, November 1, 1963.
Interviews with 21 neighbors of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
regarding suspicious activity on or before the day of the bombing.
Interviews with 21 church members regarding their observations at the
time of the bombing.
Information regarding possible sources of dynamite.
Two interviews regarding a meeting of Klan members at the Snow Sign
Company.
Pages 162-179 and 182-190 are missing. |
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1308.1.11 |
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F.B.I. Report, November 1, 1963 (continued).
Information regarding eight suspects including Tommy E. Blanton,
Jr., William H. Cash, Bobby Frank Cherry, and
Robert E. Chambliss. In most cases the reports include interviews with
the suspect, his family and associates, and various personal records
and files. |
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1308.1.12 |
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F.B.I. Report, November 1, 1963 (continued).
Information regarding 14 suspects, including Troy Ingram, William Ross Keith, and Levi Sidney Yarbrough. |
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Microfilm Reel Two: |
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1308.1.13 |
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F.B.I. Report, November 1, 1963 (continued).
Interviews with 16 individuals associated with the Ku Klux Klan and
two individuals associated with the National States Rights Party.
Five interviews with suspects not associated with the Klan and with
four individuals who observed suspicious automobiles at the time of
the bombing.
Information regarding a 1960 Rambler Station Wagon and other
suspicious automobiles.
Pages 564-579 are missing. |
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1308.1.14 |
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F.B.I. Report, circa December 1, 1963.
Interviews with 26 neighbors of the church and four street sweepers
regarding suspicious activity prior to the bombing.
Information on 15 suspects, including information regarding Troy Ingram's past possession of explosives.
Interviews with 12 individuals associated with the Eastview Klan. |
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1308.1.15 |
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F.B.I. Report, circa December 1, 1963 (continued).
Interviews with 19 individuals regarding a 1958 bombing in which three
Klansmen were arrested and convicted.
Nine interviews with individuals associated with the Tuscaloosa Klan.
Twelve interviews regarding the August 10, 1963 burning of a church in
Warrior, Alabama. John Wesley Hall provides detailed
information on the incident and other acts of violence.
Information regarding 16 members of the Klan.
Two interviews with individuals associated with the National States
Rights Party.
Information relating to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church crime
scene, source of dynamite, and suspicious cars. File includes an
index. |
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1308.1.16 |
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F.B.I. Report, December 20, 1963.
Information regarding a 1940-1942 Hudson automobile clutch plate used
in a September 25, 1963 shrapnel bomb.
Information regarding 11 suspects.
Information relating to the Klan in four areas of Alabama.
Information relating to the National States Rights Party.
Statements of police officers regarding the September 15 and September
25, 1963 bombings.
Three interviews with witnesses. |
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1308.1.17 |
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F.B.I. Report, January 29, 1964.
Information regarding eight suspects.
Four interviews regarding a November 1963 bombing in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama.
Information from five individuals associated with the suspects and 11
miscellaneous interviews. |
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1308.1.18 |
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F.B.I. Report, February 7, 1964.
Information regarding the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church crime scene.
Investigation regarding Tommy E. Blanton.
Investigation regarding Robert E. Chambliss. An interview with John Wesley Hall and Charles Cable indicates
that Chambliss was in possession of dynamite at the time of the
September 5, 1963 bombing of Arthur Shores' home.
Investigation regarding Troy Ingram, including a report of a
conversation regarding dynamite and the "disciplining" of African
Americans.
Investigation regarding Charles Cagle, including information
relating to the September 5, 1963 bombing and the Warrior, Alabama
church burning.
Information relating to 16 other suspects, including individuals who
confess to participation in Klan-organized bombings. |
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1308.1.19 |
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F.B.I. Report, March 6, 1964.
Information regarding 11 suspects, interviews with 12 suspected
Klansmen, and miscellaneous information relating to suspicious
automobiles and individuals.
Investigation relating to the November 1963 Tuscaloosa, Alabama
bombing in which members of the National Guard confess to detonating a
bomb in order to remain on active duty.
Investigation relating to an incident in which police officer Noah Elridge Tate and members of his road gang allegedly
delivered a case of dynamite to a man known as "Buggywhip".
This occurred shortly before the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
bombing. Several inmates from the road gang report handling the
dynamite.
Investigation of a "dynamite Cache" found on January 26,1963 in a
Jefferson County, Alabama garbage dump.
File includes an index. |
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1308.1.20 |
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F.B.I. Report, April 27, 1964.
Information on five suspects.
Investigation regarding eight individuals associated with the Klan. Donald Everette Luna, a "Klan Investigator," reports that
John Wesley Hall, Charles
Cagle, and Robert E. Chambliss had previously possessed dynamite. He
also reports on Tommy E. Blanton's whereabouts on September
14, 1963.
Information relating to the Tuscaloosa bombing.
Miscellaneous interviews. Interviews with Austin Robinson, Jr. ("Buggywhip")
and his girlfriend.
Five interviews with William Sterling Rosecrans. In the second
and fourth interviews Rosecrans gives
detailed accounts of Klan acquisition of dynamite and plans for bombings during
the period September 1963 through March 1964. |
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1308.1.21 |
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F.B.I. Report, July 29, 1964.
Investigation regarding various Birmingham bombings and Klan violence.
Information relating to Tommy E. Blanton, Jr. and
William Ross Keith.
File includes an index. |
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Microfilm Reel Three: |
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1308.1.22 |
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F.B.I. Report, October 12, 1964.
Investigation relating to Klan members associated with the Cahaba
River Group." Information relating to John Alvin Lee.
Miscellaneous interviews with suspects and informants.
File includes an index. |
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1308.1.23 |
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F.B.I. Report, January 12, 1965.Investigation
regarding 13 suspects. Information relating to methods for detonating
a bomb. Interviews with neighbors.
Interviews with nine individuals associated with the Klan.
File includes an index. |
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1308.1.24 |
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F.B.I. Report, April 9, 1965.
Information relating to nine bombing incidents during the period March
and April 1965.
suspects.
Investigation relating to four suspects.
Interviews with employees of the Sayreton Mines regarding possible
sources of dynamite.
Information relating to clocks possibly used in a time bomb.
Investigation relating to the sale of dynamite and blasting caps.
Results of experiments with explosives and inventories of eight
bombsites.
Miscellaneous interviews.
Pages 368-373 and 390-407 are missing. |
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1308.1.25 |
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F.B.I. Report, April 16, 1965.
Investigation of bombs found on March 21,March 22, and April 1, 1965. |
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1308.2.1 |
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F.B.I. Report, May 20, 1965.
Information relating to five principle suspects and 19 other suspects.
Results of chemical detonation experiments.
Files includes an index. |
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1308.2.2 |
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F.B.I. Report, August 4, 1965.
Information relating to six suspects. Investigation of Leon Negron regarding the sale of
dynamite and moonshine equipment.
Interviews with 20 individuals associated with the Klan.
Information on characteristics and properties of explosives.
Statements relating to the October 25, 1963 shrapnel bombing.
File includes an index. |
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1308.2.3 |
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F.B.I. Report, December 22, 1965.
Correspondence with the Jefferson County, Alabama coroner regarding
the deaths of the four victims in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
bombing.
Information relating to seven primary suspects and eight other
suspects.
File includes an index. |
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1308.2.4 |
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F.B.I. Report, April 22, 1966.
Information relating to nine suspects.
Investigation of previous acts of Klan violence including bombings in
the Birmingham neighborhood of Smithfield and the 1949 flogging of
three people.
Interviews with 11 individuals associated with the Klan.
File includes an index. |
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1308.2.5 |
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F.B.I. Report, April 9, 1969.
Information relating to Robert E. Chambliss, Durance Mathus, and George Lee
Pickle.
Information relating to suspects and dynamite.
Additional information relating to
Durance Mathus.
Interviews with, and information about, various individuals associated
with the Klan.
Information relating to stolen dynamite.
Information relating to William Otis
Lee.
Information relating to various suspects.
File includes an index. |
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1308.2.6 |
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F.B.I. Interviews, October 4, 1964 to May 8, 1964.
Nine interviews with Tommy E. Blanton, Jr., two interviews
with Blanton's half-sister, and other
miscellaneous information. |
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1308.2.7 |
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F.B.I. Interviews, October 29 and October 30, 1963.
Two interviews with Robert E. Chambliss. |
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1308.2.8 |
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F.B.I. Interviews, October 9, 1963 to March 24, 1965.
Seventeen interviews with Bobby Frank Cherry. |
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1308.2.9 |
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F.B.I. Interviews, October 25, 1963 to November 12, 1963.
Three interviews with John Wesley Hall. |
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1308.2.10 |
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F.B.I. Interviews, September 25, 1963 to December 15, 1964.
Twenty-two interviews with Troy Ingram plus miscellaneous
information. |
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1308.2.11 |
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F.B.I. Interviews, September 16, 1963 to June 21, 1966.
Four interviews with William Hugh Morris, former Emperor of
the Ku Klux Klan. Morris discusses his cooperation with former
Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor to implicate
J.B.
Stoner for bombings in Birmingham. Morris also gives his opinions regarding the
involvement of
Stoner and
Robert E. Chambliss in the Birmingham bombings. |
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1308.3.1 |
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F.B.I. Interviews and Memoranda, December 24, 1957,
September 27, 1963 to October 25, 1965 and December 3, 1975 to March
24, 1977.
Twelve memorandums relating to Gary Thomas Rowe and nine
interviews with associates of
Rowe. |
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1308.3.2 |
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F.B.I. Report, July 16, 1964 and undated.
Two reports summarizing bombings in Birmingham during the years 1947
to 1956. |
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1308.3.3 |
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Correspondence, February 23, 1976 to August 31, 1976.
Correspondence between Birmingham Mayor David Vann, Alabama Attorney General
Bill Baxley, and the F.B.I. relating to the 1976 reopening of the
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing case. |
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1308.3.4 |
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F.B.I. Interview, October 29, 1963.
Interview with Birmingham radio personality Paul D. "Tall Paul" White regarding a suspicious automobile
observed in the area of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
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1308.3.5 |
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F.B.I. Interviews, October 20, 1963, October 26, 1963, and
undated.
Four incomplete interviews with Waylene Vaugn, girlfriend of Tommy E. Blanton, Jr. |
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1308.3.6 |
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F.B.I. Interviews and Newspaper Clipping, May 5, 1963 to
November 25, 1963, July 24, 1980, and undated.
Interviews (some incomplete) with witnesses to the Sixteenth Street
Baptist Church bombing, the bombing of the Gaston Motel, and the
bombing of the home of
A. D. King.
Clipping from the Birmingham Times reporting on the
alleged involvement of Alabama state legislator
Robert
Gamble in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing. |
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