Shotgun shell found outside the16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham
date: label: Date
content: September 1963
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Peters Cartridge Company, American, 1887 - 1944
label: Subject of
content: 16th Street Baptist Church, American, founded 1873
notes: label: Caption
content: On September 15, 1963, just two weeks after the August 28th March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, white supremacists (members of the Ku Klux Klan) planted a bomb under the steps of hte 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed four young girls attending Sunday school. Within hours, a crowd of over two thousand individuals gathered at the church. According to the donor, local police fired their shotguns into the air to disperse this crowd, leaving shells on the ground. In the face of such violence, the determination to continue organizing intensified.
label: Description
content: A shotgun shell collected from the ground outside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The shell is comprised of blue roll-crimp paper with a brass head. Embossed on the brass head is "Peters H.V. 12GA," and "Made in USA." There is a closed legged P around the primer headstamp.
place: label: Place collected
content: Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
label: Place made
content: Warren County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Baptist
label: Topic
content: Children
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Hate crimes
label: Topic
content: Religion
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1961-1969
label: Topic
content: Violence
label: Topic
content: White supremacy movements
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Weapons and Ammunition
label: Movement
content: Civil Rights Movement
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Trumpauer-Mulholland Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2010.71.1.11
objectType: label: Type
content: shells (ammunition)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: metal , brass (alloy) and cardboard
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 2 11/16 × 1 × 7/8 in. (6.8 × 2.5 × 2.2 cm)