Boys escape 16th Street Baptist Church bombing by playing Sunday School hooky
Mona Poole has a story to tell.
Sixty years ago, she remembers when bombings terrorized Birmingham's Black community.
鈥淲e lived right down the street where the Stallworth's, you know what, it was bombing, and we heard it all the time shaking our house and everything, you know. So, it was it was terrible,鈥� Poole said.
Then, on Sept. 15, 1963, the violence hit even closer to home.
Her grandmother was in the 16th Street Baptist Church choir that day.
鈥淭he choir stand was right up above where they had put the bomb. And so, my grandmother was up there when that happened,鈥� she said.
Poole鈥檚 three youngest brothers should have been in Sunday School that morning, possibly climbing the stairs that were bombed.
Instead, they were buying candy at a store across the street.
鈥淢y brothers were supposed to be in there. But, like we said, they was across the street at Sambo's,鈥� Poole said.
Poole herself was visiting a different church that Sunday.
If not, she likely would have been with bombing victims Addie Mae and Sarah Collins, her close friends.
鈥淚 would have been with the Collins girls. We were friends and, so I hung out with them. So, I probably would have been one of the victims,鈥� she said.
However, she and her brothers lived to tell others about a dark day in Birmingham's history, which sparked nationwide change.