16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivor To Speak In Fort Worth Tomorrow
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A survivor of the September 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama will speak in Fort Worth on Jan 13 about his experience and relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dale Long, a long-time City of Dallas employee who is now retired, was just 11-years-old when the bombing happened. He and his late brother Kenneth survived the Ku Klux Klan's terror attack on the church, which took the lives of four of his friends.
The following week was spent visiting grieving families and attending funerals, where Dr. King eulogized Dale's friends.
The bombing marked an important turning point in the civil rights movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was blocked in the Senate when first proposed in June 1963 by a filibuster, was pushed forward again by President Lyndon B Johnson in November and passed the following year.
Long went on after the bombing to become an accomplished musician, community leader, and advocate for civil rights. He currently lives in Garland.
In February 2021, Long spoke at a virtual presentation at the Dallas Holocaust Museum as part of their exhibit about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
The chat will be held at the Central Library in downtown Fort Worth on Thursday, Jan 13 at 6:30 p.m. More events can be found on the Fort Worth Library's website.
