Murder Book: 09. Digital and Documentary Evidence

Printed page from the NPR web feature “Johnny’s Death: The Untold Tragedy in Birmingham,” concerning the death of Johnnie Robinson during the unrest following the September 15, 1963 bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. The surviving page contains a portrait photograph of Robinson and a caption identifying him as 16 years old when he was killed. The photograph is credited to Diane Robinson Samuels.

The preserved document appears to be an excerpt from the larger NPR article rather than a complete copy of the feature. It is therefore best described as a digital documentary and biographical reference source, not as a contemporaneous investigative record.

September 22, 1963 article from The Huntsville Times presenting a chronological summary of several deaths associated with racial violence and the civil-rights struggle during 1963. The article references the killing of civil-rights leader Medgar Evers, other racially motivated shootings, the September 4 death of John D. Coley in Birmingham, the four girls killed in the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and the deaths of Johnnie Robinson and Virgil Ware on September 15.

The Robinson entry states that he died from a shotgun wound inflicted by a police officer after allegedly failing to obey an order to stop during unrest following the church bombing. The clipping uses the spelling “Johnny Robinson” and appears to give his age as 15, both of which differ from official records identifying him as Johnnie Brown Robinson, age 16. The article is therefore valuable primarily as contemporary documentary evidence of how Robinson’s death was publicly contextualized alongside other incidents of racial violence, rather than as an authoritative factual account of the shooting.

September 22, 1963 article from the Daily Northwest Alabamian reporting on the fatal police shooting of 16-year-old Johnnie Robinson and the separate killing of 13-year-old Virgil Ware. The article states that Coroner J. O. Butler intended to request a grand-jury investigation into Robinson’s death and that his preliminary investigation indicated Robinson died from a shotgun blast fired by Birmingham police officer Jack Parker.

The article also reports that some testimony indicated Parker fired while performing his duties as a city police officer and includes criticism from the Rev. A. D. King questioning the necessity of shooting Robinson in the back during an alleged rock-throwing incident. The clipping is valuable as a contemporaneous account of the developing legal inquiry and public response to Robinson’s death, but statements concerning the circumstances of the shooting should be understood as newspaper reporting rather than independently established findings of the repository.

September 23, 1963 article from The Birmingham News reporting on the funerals of Johnnie Robinson and Virgil Ware, both killed during the racial violence that followed the September 15 bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The article states that Robinson, age 16, was buried following services at New Pilgrim Baptist Church and reports that approximately 500 people attended. It records remarks by the Rev. A. L. Woods criticizing what he described as a history of police brutality in Birmingham and expressing hope that Robinson’s death would prompt action concerning police conduct.

The article also reports that Coroner J. O. Butler planned to request a grand-jury investigation and that the investigation determined Robinson had been struck by pellets from a police officer’s shotgun. It presents the contemporaneous police account that Robinson had been throwing rocks and that officers fired toward the ground. The clipping uses the spelling “Johnny Robinson,” a contemporary variant of the name established in official records as Johnnie Brown Robinson.

September 21, 1963 front page of The Huntsville Mirror reporting on funeral services and public mourning following the September 15 bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The principal article, “Bomb Victims Funeralized,” describes the large community response to funeral services for victims of the bombing and the participation of civil-rights, religious, and community leaders.

The page also contains a separate item titled “Rites Set for Victim of Police Gun,” accompanied by a portrait of Johnnie Robinson. That article reports funeral arrangements and biographical information concerning Robinson and recounts his fatal shooting by a Birmingham police officer on September 15, 1963. The page is significant to the Robinson file because it documents both the public commemoration of his death and the way his killing was understood contemporaneously alongside the other deaths associated with the racial violence of that day.

September 16, 1963 United Press International article published in the Daily Mountain Eagle of Jasper, Alabama, reporting on the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the integration of Birmingham public schools, and the violence that followed the bombing. The article reports that four girls were killed and at least twenty people injured in the church bombing and describes the substantial police, state trooper, and National Guard presence in Birmingham during the ensuing unrest.

The article identifies 16-year-old Johnnie Robinson as one of two Black youths killed during the subsequent violence and reports an early account that police shot Robinson after he fled into an alley and failed to halt. It also reports the killing of 13-year-old Virgil Ware later that day. The clipping uses the spelling “Johnny Robinson” and presents assertions concerning Robinson’s conduct before the shooting as contemporaneous news reporting rather than independently established findings of the repository.

September 23, 1963 Associated Press article published in The Montgomery Advertiser reporting on the funeral of 16-year-old Johnnie Robinson, who had been fatally shot by Birmingham police on September 15, 1963. The article reports that the Rev. A. L. Woods, speaking before approximately 500 mourners, criticized what he characterized as a history of police brutality in Birmingham and expressed hope that Robinson’s death would prompt action concerning police conduct.

The article further reports that Jefferson County Coroner J. O. Butler intended to seek a grand-jury investigation and that the investigation determined Robinson had been struck by gunfire from Officer Jack Parker’s shotgun. It also presents the contemporaneous police account that Robinson had been throwing rocks and that officers fired toward the ground. The article additionally discusses the funeral of 13-year-old Virgil Ware and the detention of two white youths charged in Ware’s death.

September 16, 1963 article from The Anniston Star reporting on violence in Birmingham during the hours following the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The article states that 16-year-old Johnnie Robinson was fatally shot by police during one of the disturbances and reports an early police account that he had been throwing rocks at passing vehicles and failed to stop when ordered.

The article also reports the killing of 13-year-old Virgil Ware, who was shot while riding a bicycle with his brother, and describes additional arrests and police mobilization during the unrest. The clipping uses the spelling “Johnny Robinson,” a contemporary variant of the name established in official records as Johnnie Brown Robinson. Statements concerning Robinson’s conduct immediately before the shooting should be understood as contemporaneous newspaper reporting rather than independently established findings of the repository.

September 16, 1963 article from The Birmingham News reporting the deaths of Johnnie Robinson and Virgil Ware during the hours following the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The article recounts an early police version of Robinson’s shooting, stating that officers responded to reports of rocks being thrown at passing vehicles, pursued several youths into Eighth Alley North, ordered them to stop, and fired shotgun rounds loaded with buckshot toward their feet. It reports that Robinson was struck in the back and subsequently pronounced dead.

The article also reports the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Virgil Ware by two white youths in Sandusky at approximately the same time. The clipping refers to Robinson as “James Robinson,” an erroneous contemporary identification; official records establish his name as Johnnie Brown Robinson. It also identifies University Hospital as the hospital where he was pronounced dead, a detail that differs from other surviving official records and should be preserved as part of the contemporary newspaper account rather than silently corrected.

September 16, 1963 article from The Birmingham News reporting on the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, including local and federal investigative activity, additional fires and reported violence, and governmental responses to the bombing. The article notes the arrival of a U.S. Department of Justice civil-rights task force and FBI personnel and describes continuing law-enforcement activity throughout Birmingham.

Within its broader account of the day’s violence, the article reports that two young Black residents were killed after the bombing, one by police and another reportedly by two white youths. It describes Robinson as having been struck by buckshot fired during an attempt by police to stop fleeing youths and also discusses the killing of 13-year-old Virgil Ware. The article refers to Robinson as “James Robinson,” an erroneous contemporary newspaper identification; other surviving official records establish his name as Johnnie Brown Robinson. The clipping therefore provides important contemporaneous context for Robinson’s death while preserving inaccuracies present in the original reporting.