Shortly afterwards , a bomb goes off at a nearby church where Joetta is attending Sunday school . ( This was the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing , a real historical event . ) Kenny wanders into the still-smoking church in the immediate aftermath looking for his sister , but instead sees the Wool Pooh in the smoke clinging to a torn girl 's shoe that looks like Joetta 's . In shock , he walks back to Grandma Sands ' house without anyone noticing that he had been at the church , and he 's again shocked and confused to find Joetta already there . She claims that it was Kenny who had called her away from the church and led her home , and she does not even know that a bombing had taken place right after she 'd left Sunday school
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963