10/12/2026
Today marks the anniversary of the 1958 bombing of The Temple in Atlanta.
At 3:30 a.m. on October 12, 1958, approximately 50 sticks of dynamite exploded at the Reform congregation’s building. In the aftermath, Mayor William Hartsfield and Rabbi Jacob Rothschild stood together in the rubble, and Atlanta’s civic and religious leaders publicly condemned the attack. Five men were arrested and brought before the Fulton County court.
What we find most meaningful in our archives is what came next: in May 1959, Shirley Krick and Henry Michalove held the first wedding in the repaired sanctuary. The reception took place in a hall with black tarps still covering the damaged walls. Life, community, and tradition continued while the rebuilding was still underway.
Our archives preserve these moments so that history, including its hardest chapters, is not forgotten, and so that the lessons of resilience and moral leadership endure.
Photo credits: AJC 176.001 and 176.002 courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; TBR 599.002 – courtesy of the Temple Bombing Records - Atlanta, Georgia collection; others from our archival collections.
