Bombingham

This article is about Birmingham nickname. For the 2002 novel, see Bombingham (novel).

Bombingham was a derisive nickname for Birmingham given because of numerous "unsolved" bombings of African American leaders' homes and meeting places during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and '60s.

The nickname was used predominantly by African Americans.¹ The name had been in use earlier, but by 1963, even before the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, the name was making the national press.¹ With the 16th Street Baptist bombing, there had been 50 bombings in Birmingham since 1947 linked to race issues, all of them officially unsolved at the time.²

Notable bomb incidents

1947

• The first bombing targeted Samuel Mathews, an African American who won a court judgment requiring the City of Birmingham to allow him to purchase a house in North Smithfield. The event touched off the "Battle of North Smithfield".

1949

• March 24: The home of Bishop S. L. Green at 1st Street and 11th Avenue West was destroyed by dynamite.
• July 28: Three sticks of dynamite were thrown into the home of Milton Curry, Jr at 1100 Center Street North, but did not explode.
• August 12: Curry's residence was again targeted by dynamite, this time damaging windows.
• August 12: The home of E. B. DeYampert at 1104 Center Street North was damaged by dynamite on the same evening.

1950

• April 22: Milton Curry, Jr's home was targeted a third time. The larger bomb nearly destroyed the house entirely. Two people inside escaped without injury.
• Mary Means Monk's home was targeted by the Klan after she won a court judgment nullifying Birmingham's revised segregated zoning laws.

1956

• December 25: 1956 Bethel Baptist Church bombing: Fred Shuttlesworth's residence in Collegeville bombed, collapsing the parsonage. The adjacent Bethel Baptist Church was also bombed, shattering windows.

1957

• April 10: Two days after George Dickerson, pastor of 1st Baptist Church Kingston, bought the house at 1143 12th Place North it was extensively damaged by a dynamite blast.
• April: Ashbury Howard residence in Bessemer.
• April 28: The Allen Temple AME Church at 9th Avenue and 22nd Street in Bessemer was bombed during a service, showering the choir with plaster debris.
• July: A home under construction on Dynamite Hill
• November: A home under construction in Bessemer
• December: One explosion damaged five houses on Dynamite Hill

1958

• April 28: Temple Beth-El, 54 sticks of dynamite were placed, but failed to go off after being doused by rain.
• May: Dora Muldin residence in Birmingham
• June 29: 1958 Bethel Baptist Church bombing: Bethel Baptist Church in Collegeville was targeted again. Guards managed to move a paint can full of dynamite from the church to a ditch before it exploded, but nearby windows were still blown out by the blast. J. B. Stoner was convicted on federal charges of conspiracy in the incident, and served 3½ years of a 10-year sentence before being paroled.
• July: William Blackwell residence

1962

• January 16: New Bethel Baptist Church at 13th Avenue and Sipsey Street was hit by two sticks of dynamite, causing minor damage.
• January 16: St Luke's AME Zion Church at 3937 12th Avenue North was damaged by two sticks of dynamite.
• January 16: Trinity Church and Kingdom of God in Christ at 2505 24th Street North was damaged by two sticks of dynamite.
• January: 4-unit apartment house under construction
• December 14: 1962 Bethel Baptist Church bombing: Bethel Baptist Church was bombed a third time, the explosion occurred across the street, but still shattered windows at the church and parsonage.

1963

Bomb damage at the Gaston Motel

• March: Howard Robinson residence in Birmingham
• May 11: A. D. King's residence at 721 12th Street in Ensley was hit by two bombs that exploded minutes apart. The home was destroyed.
• May 11: A. G. Gaston Motel
• August 10: St James United Methodist Church in Warrior was destroyed by arsonists.
• August: Loveman's department store
• mid August: Arthur Shores' residence
• September 4: Arthur Shores' residence. Bomb exploded while repairs were underway from previous blast. His wife, Theodora was injured.
• September 12: A. G. Gaston's residence in Robinwood
• September 15: 16th Street Baptist Church, 19 sticks of dynamite exploded on Sunday morning, killing 4 young girls.
• September 25: Two bombs exploded in Center Street South in Titusville, apparently intended to draw a crowd and then spray them with shrapnel. No one was hurt, but a deep crater was left in the street and shrapnel was sprayed into nearby walls.

1965

• March 21: Our Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic Church, at 10th Avenue North and Center Street was targeted during Mass by a bomb containing 50 sticks of dynamite. It was disarmed while the priest continued the liturgy.
• March 21: Another 50-stick bomb was left at A. D. King's residence in Ensley, but failed to explode.

References

1. "Freedom--Now." (May 17, 1963). Time. Accessed January 30, 2007.
2. Birnbaum, Jesse. (September 27, 1963). "Where the Stars Fall." Time. Accessed January 30, 2007.

• "20th Bombing Here Against Negroes" (September 16, 1963) Birmingham Post-Herald - accessed via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collection
• "Complain 18 Unsolved B'ham Bombings in 6 Years." (September 19, 1963) Jet magazine. Vol. 24, No. 22
• Temple, Chanda and Jeff Hansen (July 16, 2000) "Ministers' homes, churches among bomb targets." Birmingham News