Born: 1951 (circa), United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Sarah Collins Rudolph
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Sarah J. Rudolph lost her right eye and her little sister, Addie Mae Collins, in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
“Addie was standing by the window. Denise McNair asked Addie to tie the sash on her dress. I started to look toward them just to see them, but by the time I went to turn my head that way there was a loud noise. I didn’t know what it was. I called out Addie’s name about three or four times, but she didn’t answer. All of a sudden, I heard a man outside holler, “Someone just bombed the 16th Street church.” He came in, picked me up in his arms, and carried me out of the church. They took me over to the hospital. . . . The doctor told me after they operated on my face that I had about 22 shards of glass in my face. When it was all over with, they took the patches off my eye and I had lost my right eye, and I could barely see out of my left eye. I stayed in the hospital about two and a half months.”