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The Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple bombing occurred on October 12, 1958 in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple, on
Peachtree Street Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points (Atlanta), Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown Atlanta, Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead ...
, housed a
Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...
congregation. The building was damaged extensively by the dynamite-fueled explosion, although no one was injured. Five suspects were arrested almost immediately after the bombing. One of them, George Bright, was tried twice. His first trial ended with a hung jury and his second with an acquittal. As a result of Bright's acquittal, the other suspects were not tried, and no one was ever convicted of the bombing.


Background

The day after the bombing, ''
Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Con ...
'' editor and outspoken voice of moderation on civil rights issues
Ralph McGill Ralph Emerson McGill (February 5, 1898 – February 3, 1969) was an American journalist and editorialist. An anti-segregationist editor he published the ''Atlanta Constitution'' newspaper. He was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Juror ...
tied the bombing to the ongoing
civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
in a
Pulitzer prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning editorial, " A Church, A School..." Jacob Rothschild, the temple's
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
since 1946, was a highly visible and early advocate of civil rights and integration, supporter of the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
's decision ending school segregation in ''
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...
'', and friend of
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
In 1957, he helped author the
Ministers' Manifesto The Ministers' Manifesto refers to a series of manifestos written and endorsed by religious leaders in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, during the 1950s. The first manifesto was published in 1957 and was followed by another the following year. T ...
, a statement signed by 80 clergy members in Atlanta that offered several key tenets that they proposed should shape the discussion over school integration, which included communication between white and African American leaders. Rothschild not only took an activist role in the struggle for racial equality, but, unlike some other pro-integration southern rabbis, was supported in his stance by a significant number of his congregants. The bombing ripped the delicate social fabric of Atlanta, which called itself the "city too busy to hate," although it also elicited widespread support for Rothschild and the Temple from Jewish and non-Jewish Atlantans alike. For instance, by early November 1958, the Temple had received over $12,000 in donations to its rebuilding fund.


Explosion

The explosion occurred just after 3:30 AM Eastern Standard Time on October 12, 1958. Those who heard the blast reported a "loud explosion" to police and newspapers. A
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
(UPI) staff member had received a call earlier that night warning that a bombing would occur, but did not take the call seriously. At about 3:50 AM, shortly after the bombing, UPI staff received a call from "General Gordon of the Confederate Underground" who said "We have just blown up the temple. This is the last empty building I'll blow up in Atlanta." The explosion caused damage to the building estimated at between $100,000 and $200,000. By October 13, over 75 policemen and a number of
Georgia Bureau of Investigation The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is an independent, statewide agency that provides assistance to Georgia's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investiga ...
agents were working on the case. They were joined by
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agents, involved by direct order of President
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
. US army experts had by then already determined that
dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...
was the explosive agent used.


Investigation, arrests, and indictments

By October 13, five suspects were in custody. One of them, Kenneth Chester Griffin, confessed almost immediately. He accused another one of the men arrested, George Bright, of masterminding the crime and of building the bomb. Griffin also told Atlanta detectives that the dynamite had been supplied by
J. B. Stoner Jesse Benjamin Stoner Jr. (April 13, 1924 – April 23, 2005) was an American lawyer, white supremacist, neo-nazi, segregationist politician, and a domestic terrorist who perpetrated the 1958 bombing of the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingh ...
, founder and chairman of the
National States Rights Party The National States' Rights Party was a white supremacist political party that briefly played a minor role in the politics of the United States. Foundation Founded in 1958 in Knoxville, Tennessee, by Edward Reed Fields, a 26-year-old chiropracto ...
(NSRP), who, according to Griffin, left Atlanta before the explosion in order to establish an
alibi An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...
. By October 16, the
Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
of
B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...
(ADL) had released a report publicly linking the suspects to the NSRP. All five were also members of the
Knights of the White Camelia The Knights of the White Camelia was an American political terrorist organization that operated in the Southern United States in the late 19th century. Similar to and associated with the Ku Klux Klan, it supported white supremacy and opposed free ...
. Police had by then searched nineteen Atlanta-area houses associated with the suspects and had uncovered large caches of anti-Semitic propaganda, some of which was attributed to the Christian Anti-Jewish Party. On October 17, one of the five suspects, Luther King Corley, was released and the other four, Wallace Allen, Bright, Griffin, and Robert A. Bolling, had been indicted by a Georgia state
grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
on a
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
charge of bombing The Temple. The grand jury also indicted a fifth suspect, Richard Bolling (Robert's brother), who was being sought by police. ''The New York Times'' reported on October 17 that
American Nazi Party The American Nazi Party (ANP) is an American far-right and neo-Nazi political party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization was originally named the World Union of Free Enterprise National ...
founder
George Lincoln Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was an American far-right political activist and founder of the American Nazi Party. He later became a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs, st ...
had written to Allen in July 1958 and mentioned a "big blast." Rockwell told reporters that he had been referring to "a picketing demonstration and not to a bombing." Material found during the investigation also linked future NSRP vice-presidential candidate and former naval officer
John G. Crommelin Rear Admiral (United States), Rear Admiral John Geraerdt Crommelin Jr. (2 October 1902 – 2 November 1996) was a prominent United States Navy, American naval officer and later a frequent politician, political candidate who championed white su ...
with the suspects. Crommelin went on to organize a legal defense fund for the accused bombers. Richard Bowling was arrested by Atlanta police on October 18 and, by October 22, all five suspects had been denied bail.


George Bright's trials


First trial

The first suspect to be tried, George Bright, initially appeared before the court on December 1, 1958 represented by, among others, James R. Venable,
Imperial Wizard The Grand Wizard (later the Grand and Imperial Wizard simplified as the Imperial Wizard and eventually, the National Director) referred to the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States and abroad. The t ...
of the
National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan The National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is a List of Ku Klux Klan organizations, Klan faction that has been in existence since November 1963. In the sixties, the National Knights were the main competitors against Robert Shelton (Ku Klux Klan), Rob ...
. Bright's attorneys filed a motion arguing that the law Bright had been charged under, which allowed for the death penalty in cases of bombings of dwellings, did not include "houses of worship." This argument was dismissed by the judge, who ordered Bright bound over for trial in
Fulton County Fulton County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. Most are named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the first practical steamboat: *Fulton County, Arkansas, named after Governor William Savin Fulton *Fulton County, Georgia *F ...
Superior Court. Bright's trial began on December 2 with the prosecutor promising to show that Bright had been present when The Temple was bombed. He also said that Bright had gone to a meeting in May 1958 at which Temple rabbi Jacob Rothschild had been invited to speak and that, in reference to this meeting, had told his neighbors that "we should go out there and string the rabbi up." On December 3, the state of Georgia produced a note that Bright (admittedly) had written to Rothschild after the May meeting informing him that "You are going to experience the most terrifying thing in your life." On December 4, a witness testified that Bright had been friendly with noted segregationist
John Kasper John Kasper (October 21, 1929 – April 7, 1998), born Frederick John Kasper, Jr., was a Ku Klux Klan member and segregationist who took a militant stand against racial integration during the civil rights movement. Life Educated at Columbia Un ...
and had regularly attended meetings of the
National States Rights Party The National States' Rights Party was a white supremacist political party that briefly played a minor role in the politics of the United States. Foundation Founded in 1958 in Knoxville, Tennessee, by Edward Reed Fields, a 26-year-old chiropracto ...
. Bright's case was handed over to the jury on December 6 after he made a statement protesting his innocence and denying that he was an anti-Semite. On December 9 ''The New York Times'' reported that the jury was deadlocked 9 to 3, but did not report which way the jurors were split; the trial judge ordered them to continue their deliberations. On December 10, the judge declared a mistrial as the jurors remained "hopelessly deadlocked." The jury foreman told reporters that the panel had been split with 9 in favor of convicting Bright and 3 in favor of acquittal. One of the jurors in favor of acquittal told reporters that "You can't send a man to the penitentiary for life just because he's a Jew-hater."


Second trial

George Bright's second trial began on January 12, 1959, with the state of Georgia waiving the possibility of asking for the death penalty. The trial ended on January 22, 1959, with George Bright again testifying to his innocence. The jury deliberated for two hours and eight minutes before returning a verdict of "not guilty." Immediately after the trial ended, the presiding judge jailed Bright's lawyer, Reuben Garland, for
contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
. Garland was freed after five days pending appeal to the
Georgia Court of Appeals The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia. History Founding of the court The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, suggesting that the G ...
, which, in June 1959, overturned Garland's contempt sentence. In November, 1959, George Bright sued Atlanta chief of police Herbert T. Jenkins for
false arrest False arrest, Unlawful arrest or Wrongful arrest is a common law tort, where a plaintiff alleges they were held in custody without probable cause, or without an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. Although it is possible to sue ...
.


The other defendants

Georgia solicitor general Paul Webb announced during Bright's trial that his prosecution of the remaining defendants would be guided by its result. After Bright's acquittal, Webb was unsure whether his office would proceed with the prosecution of Allen, Griffin, and Richard Bolling, the three defendants remaining under indictment. The prosecutor's office eventually dropped the charges against the remaining defendants and they were never convicted of any crime in connection with the bombing.


Historiography and legacy

About three weeks after the bombing, 311 clergy members published a follow-up to the Ministers' Manifesto entitled "'Out of Conviction': A Second Statement on the South's Racial Crisis", which reiterated the tenets of the first manifesto and urged the governor of Georgia to form a citizens' committee to help with Atlanta's eventual school integration. In 1996, Georgia author
Melissa Fay Greene Melissa Fay Greene (born December 30, 1952) is an American nonfiction author. A 1975 graduate of Oberlin College, Greene is the author of six books of nonfiction, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a 2011 inductee into the Georgia Writers H ...
published an account of the incident and its aftermath titled ''The Temple Bombing''. She managed to interview George Bright for her book, although three of the other suspects had died before she could talk to them and the fourth hung up on her on learning that she was Jewish. Greene said "I wanted a deathbed confession," but she ended up being convinced of Bright's innocence by his denials of his involvement. The bombing figures prominently in the play and adaptations of ''
Driving Miss Daisy '' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his ...
''.


References


Further reading

*Greene, Melissa Faye, ''The Temple Bombing'', (1996). *Rosenberg, Adolph,
Dynamite Bomb Damages Atlanta Temple; Shocks City, State, and Nation into Action
''Southern Israelite'', October 17, 1958. *Webb, Clive.
Counterblast: How the Atlanta Temple Bombing Strengthened the Civil Rights Cause
" ''Southern Spaces'' 22 June 2009.


External links


Temple Bombing (Atlanta, Ga.)
Civil Rights Digital Library.
FBI file on the Atlanta Temple Bombing
at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Wallace Allen's FBI file
at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

George Bright's FBI
at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple bombing 1958 crimes in the United States 1958 in Georgia (U.S. state) 1958 in Judaism 20th-century attacks on synagogues and Jewish communal organizations in the United States 20th century in Atlanta Attacks on religious buildings and structures in the United States Crimes in Georgia (U.S. state) History of African-American civil rights Jews and Judaism in Atlanta October 1958 events in the United States Terrorist incidents by unknown perpetrators Terrorist incidents in the United States in 1958 Building bombings in the United States