Wales Window for Alabama
The Wales Window for Alabama is a stained-glass window by the artist John Petts created in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing which took place in 1963. Petts, who was based in Carmarthenshire, initiated a campaign in Wales to raise money to fund a stained-glass window to replace one of the windows destroyed in the bombing. The window was installed in the 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, in 1965.
History of the window
[edit]The appeal for funds was conducted through the Western Mail. Petts visited Alabama and opted to construct a stained-glass image of a Black Christ. The Welsh public paid for the construction of the art work in Wales, and its delivery and installation at the 16th Street Baptist Church.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Sixteenth_Street_Baptist_Church%2C_Birmingham%2C_Alabama_LCCN2010636939.jpg/220px-Sixteenth_Street_Baptist_Church%2C_Birmingham%2C_Alabama_LCCN2010636939.jpg)
In 2023 the Vaughan Gething, the first black minister in the Welsh Government, visited Birmingham for the 60th anniversary of the bombing.[2]
Conservation of the designs and the window
[edit]In 1970, the designs for the window were donated to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.[3] In 2013, to mark the 50th anniversary of the bombing, Petts's original designs were displayed at the National Library of Wales.[4] In September 2018, it was reported that the church was concerned that Alabama's stormy weather would destroy the window and appealed to the public to raise funds to preserve it.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "Welsh Launch Bombing Fund". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. September 19, 1963. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- ^ "Welsh Government marks 60th anniversary of 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and reaffirms historic friendship between Wales and Birmingham, Alabama".
- ^ "National Library of Wales Blog | The Wales window, Birmingham, Alabama". 12 September 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "Artist's designs for Alabama church bombing window on display". BBC News. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "The black Christ of Alabama, Heart and Soul Gathering, Heart and Soul". BBC World Service. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.