Indiana University East will host a virtual event, “Sisters in the Struggle: Reflections on the 59th Anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing,” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 24 via Zoom.

Registration for the virtual event is available at Eventbrite, and the Zoom link will be provided after registration. The event is free and open to the public.

The event is sponsored by IU East, Earlham College and The Reid Center.

Sarah Collins Rudolph and Janie Collins Simpkins will share their experiences about surviving the horrific Birmingham bombing in 1963 that killed their sister, Addie Mae Collins and three others. They will be joined by Tracy Snipe, author of The 5th Little Girl: Soul Survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.

Chief Diversity Officer and Special Assistant to the Chancellor Yemi Mahoney encourages everyone to attend this event.

“I welcome you to join us to listen to Sarah and Janie as they share in the memory of their sister, Addie Mae Collins, and to remember the three additional victims Cynthia Wesley; Carole Robertson; Carol Denise McNair; as we near the 59th anniversary of this horrific event and the tragic loss of these young lives,” Mahoney said.

Rudolph was the “Fifth Little Girl” inside the lounge when a bomb detonated at the 16th Street Church. She valiantly tried to rescue her sister Addie, and decades later would receive the Harmony Award from the Congress of Racial Equality for demonstrating bravery. The Birmingham native is married to George C. Rudolph.

From the stages of the Madame Walker Theatre Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the civil rights icon shares her views on forgiveness, reconciliation, and racial justice.

Simpkins is a member of the More than Conquerors congregation but attended the 16th Street Baptist Church as a youth. She was at church the day her sister Addie and three other youths lost their lives. She appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show in June 2002 in an episode dealing with this tragedy and the topic of forgiveness.

Simpkins was also featured in Spike Lee’s documentary, 4 Little Girls. She was also a panelist at The Gathering: Civil Rights Justice Remembered. Currently, Simpkins is self-employed; this talented seamstress operates under the label CallJanie.

Snipe is an associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at Wright State University where he teaches Politics and Film, Black Women and Politics, French Politics and has co-led several civil rights pilgrimages.

He has published in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and lectured nationally with Sarah Collins Rudolph, Janie Collins Simpkins, and Junie Collins Williams. He is now writing Saving the Best Wine for Last: Remembrances of the 16th Street Church Bombing, along with Williams.