Prayers, songs and lessons as Alabama church marks 50th anniversary of bombing that killed 4

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Hundreds of people black and white, many holding hands, filled an Alabama church that was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan 50 years ago Sunday to mark the anniversary of the blast that killed four little girls and became a landmark moment in the civil rights struggle.

The Rev. Arthur Price taught the same Sunday school lesson that members of 16th Street Baptist Church heard the morning of the bombing — “A Love That Forgives.” Then, the rusty old church bell was tolled four times as the girls’ names were read....