Maxine McNair was a teacher whose daughter, Denise McNair, was killed in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
- Died: January 2, 2022 (Who else died on January 2?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 93.
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Last surviving parent
The bombing that killed McNair’s 11-year-old daughter, along with the 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Carole Rosamond Robertson, and Cynthia Dionne Wesley, threw the city into turmoil and galvanized leaders to act. The following year, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in part because of the support of those horrified by the bombing. McNair was a teacher who worked for 33 years in the Birmingham public schools. After her retirement, she continued working with children as a volunteer. The last of the four girls’ parents to survive, McNair lost her husband, Chris McNair (1926–2019), just a few years ago. The McNairs attended a 2013 ceremony at the White House in which their daughter and the other girls were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Barack Obama.
McNair on the bombing
“I couldn’t stop screaming for several days. They had to give me an injection to calm my nerves.” —as quoted in a 2013 CNN article
Tributes to Maxine McNair
Full obituary: NPR
