US House and Senate leaders have awarded Congress' highest civilian honour to four girls killed in the Alabama church bombing nearly 50 years ago that became a watershed moment in the civil rights movement.
The Congressional Gold Medal went to Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, who were all 14, and Denise McNair, who was 11.
The ceremony came five days before the 50th anniversary of their deaths inside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
"Their names remain seared in our hearts," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California.
The girls were killed in the explosion of a bomb planted outside the church by white supremacists.
The attack shocked the nation and helped spur passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Three Ku Klux Klan members were convicted of the bombing years after the attack and sentenced to prison. Two have since died; one remains in prison.
The four victims of the Birmingham bombing are not the only children to be honoured with the medal.
Earlier this year, the Senate approved the measure to posthumously honour the Birmingham girls on a voice vote. The House passed the bill by 420-0.
The legislation specifically recognised how the children's deaths marked a turning point in the years-long fight for equal rights for the nation's African American citizens.
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