Birmingham...Children of the Morning
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JOHN BIGGERS
American, 1924 – 2001
Birmingham…Children of the Morning, 1964
Linoleum cut on paper, 10/12
© John T. Biggers Estate / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY, Estate Represented by Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
Acquired with funds from the Board of Visitors Muscarelle Museum of Art Endowment
2019.004
This linoleum print by John Biggers depicts the four little girls (Cynthia Wesley, Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, and Carole Robinson) who were victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing on the morning of September 15, 1963. This tragic event drew international attention to the violent struggle for civil rights, galvanizing support for the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Biggers positions the figures between a cemetery in the distance and a flight of doves, evoking Martin Luther King’s eulogy for the girls: “The innocent blood of these little girls may well serve as the redemptive force that will bring new light to this dark city,” and in parting saying: “And may the flight of angels take thee to thy eternal rest. God bless you.”
Savannah Singleton ‘21
Click on the image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to hear his 'Eulogy for the Martyred Children' on September 18, 1963. Click here for a text version instead.
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