By Zoe Blair, Brittany Decker, Mya Caleb

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (WVTM) -- Birmingham commemorated the lives of Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Denise McNair, who were killed 62 years ago when a Ku Klux Klan bomb exploded in the basement of 16th Street Baptist Church.

A special ceremony was held Monday at the church to honor their memory.

Bells tolled at 10:22 a.m., the exact moment the bomb detonated, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony.

The Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir performed, and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley spoke. Baxley reopened the cold case in 1971 and prosecuted one of the Ku Klux Klan members involved in the bombing.

"The tragedy is that four girls that were full with promise, possibility, potential lost their lives," said Rev. Arthur Price Jr. of 16th Street Baptist Church.

He added, "People were angry and their anger turned into activism. The activism turned into action. And that action made people agents of change. Because in 1964, we get the Civil Rights Act passed. In '65, the Voting Rights Act passed."

A visual reminder of the day is also present at Kelly Ingram Park across the street, where figures representing the four girls stand in tribute.

To honor those lives, Birmingham Black Lives Matter and state representatives held a commemoration ceremony Tuesday evening.

State Rep. Mary Moore spoke at the ceremony, detailing how she was supposed to be at the church that day.

"I always ask people, does anybody ask the significance of that Sunday? That was Youth Day at 16th Street," she said. "They had sent out a message to all of us that had participated in the marches to be here for Youth Day all day from Sunday school through the 11:00 hour"

But, Representative Moore didn't make it before the bomb went off.

"We had a lot of cars coming," she said. "Our car stopped so the men got out to repair the car. Then when they did that, by that time, one of the deacons came out, running out the church, telling us that we couldn't make it to 16th Street."

Though they were blocks away, they still heard the blast.

"Not only could people hear it, but it shook the houses."

Moore says she's proud of the nationwide change the bombing sparked, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but she's disappointed in where the country stands now.

"As a 14 year old, I thought that what me and my friends was doing by marching in this park and doing our part to get freedoms for ourselves, that we would be the one that changed America," Moore said. "We did for a little bit, but I don't know if it was a true change, especially in today's climate when you see the level of hate."

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