They were just little girls when they were killed in what came to be known as the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing. And now Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley have been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, nearly 50 years after the attack in Birmingham, Ala.

Several high schools had to cancel their proms in 1963, during a time of tumultuous civil rights protests across the South, and in Birmingham, Ala., particularly. Fifty years later, some of those African-American students finally got the chance to dance the night away. Gigi Douban reports.

Despite being buffeted by high unemployment and the recession in recent years, African-Americans expressed high levels of life satisfaction and optimism for the future.