07 - Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore. cover art

07 - Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore.

07 - Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore.

Listen for free

View show details
Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore. Harry T. Moore and his wife, Harriette V. S. Moore, were pioneer activists and leaders of the early Civil Rights Movement in the United States and became the first martyrs of the movement. On the night of Christmas, December 25, 1951, a bomb that had been planted under the bedroom floor of the Moores' home in Mims, Florida, exploded. They had celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary earlier that day. Harry died in the ambulance in transit from the attack, and Harriette died from her injuries nine days later, on January 3, 1952. Their deaths were the first assassination of any activist to occur during the Civil Rights Movement and the only time that a husband and wife were killed during the history of the movement. Background. Harry Moore and Harriette Simms married on December 25, 1926, and moved into the Simms' family home the following fall. Harry was an educator, and Harriette was a former teacher turned insurance broker. In 1927, Harry was promoted to the position of principal at the local Titusville Colored School. The city's school system was racially segregated, like many others in the country at the time. Harry taught the school's ninth grade (the school taught grades one to nine), and he also supervised the team of teachers at the school. The school was closed early his first year by the local school board just six months into the year, as part of the local school system's systemic discrimination against black children. The Moores had their first daughter in 1928 and moved into their own home with an acre of land given to them by Harriette's parents. They gave birth to their second daughter in 1930. Harriette returned to her career in education the following year and later began working as a teacher for the same school as Harry. In 1934, Harry founded the Brevard County, Florida, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter. He later served as the NAACP's first Executive Secretary in the state of Florida. The NAACP chapter worked towards achieving equal pay for equal work for teachers of any race, fought to get lynchings prosecuted, and attempted to register black voters in the region. Moore's activism was highly controversial in the local white-dominated county. In 1946, it resulted in the firings of Harry and Harriette from their teaching jobs by state authorities. Harry then became a full-time employee of the NAACP. Murder. On the night of December 25, 1951, the Moores finished celebrating Christmas and their 25th wedding anniversary. When they later retired to their bedroom for the evening, a bomb exploded, injuring Harry and Harriette but leaving their daughter (who was at home at the time, the other being in a different location) unharmed. The improvised explosive device, which was made from dynamite, had been placed directly under the Moores' bedroom floor. The Moores were rushed to the nearest hospital that would treat African-Americans in Sanford, Florida, a 29.8 miles (48.0 km) drive by car. Harry died while being transported; his wife, Harriette, lived to see her husband buried before she died nine days later from her injuries. Investigations and motive. Over the years, a number of motives have been suggested for the Moores' deaths. All of them share a common theme — retribution against Harry Moore for his civil rights activities. — Charlie Crist, 35th Attorney General of the State of Florida. Since the night of the explosion in 1951, five separate criminal investigations have been initiated and completed. The first investigation was headed by the FBI, began on the night of the explosion, and concluded in 1955. The second investigation was a joint investigation by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and Brevard County State Attorney's Office in 1978. The third investigation took place in 1991 by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). In 2004, a fourth investigation was commenced by the Florida Attorney General's Office of Civil Rights. In 2008, the FBI again investigated the Moore homicides as part of the Department of Justice's "Cold Case Initiative". In total, the five criminal investigations revealed evidence implicating four subjects in the bombing. The four subjects were known to be high-ranking members within the Ku Klux Klan in the central region of Florida. The first of the four, Earl J. Brooklyn, was a Klansman with a reputation for being exceedingly violent and described as "a renegade" after being expelled from a Klavern of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia for engaging in unsanctioned acts of violence. Brooklyn reportedly was in possession of floor plans of the Moore home and was said to be recruiting volunteers to assist in the bombing. The second subject, Tillman H. "Curley" Belvin, was also reported to be a violent member of the Klan and a close friend of Brooklyn. Joseph N. Cox, another Klansman, was implicated in the bombing by a fourth co-conspirator, Edward L. ...
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet