Harry T. Moore helped thousands of blacks register to vote. It led to his assassination on Christmas night

Early civil rights leader Harry T. Moore was killed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1951 on the night of his 25th wedding anniversary. Florida Today

Story by Florida Today
Link: https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/02/03/harry-t-moore-african-american-black-civil-rights-leader-florida/4481452002/

To celebrate Black History month, we will be spotlighting key African Americans who had a major impact on Florida.

MIMS — Harry T. Moore knew he was a marked man.

He helped sign up black voters throughout the state in the 1930s and '40s, organized more than 50 Florida branches of the NAACP and investigated lynchings around the state.

It was his insistence on equal rights and his refusal to be intimidated that led to his killing on Christmas Night, 1951, in the small city of Mims in East Central Florida. Moore's wife, Harriette, also was killed by the bomb set beneath their home.

“Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore were the first martyrs of the civil rights movement,” said Sonya Mallard, coordinator of the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Memorial Park and Museum in Mims, which is built on the spot where the Moores were murdered. “Harry T. Moore got over 116,000 blacks to vote. Remember, voting is a big thing, and for Harry T. Moore to do that, he traveled the backroads in Florida with threats against his life.”

Moore’s life story is one of inspiration and tragedy.

Born in the small Florida town of Houston in Suwanee County, Moore moved to Florida’s east coast at age 19 to take a teaching job after graduating from college.

One night, while playing Bid Whist, a card game that was popular in the black community, he met Harriette Sims, his future bride-to-be.

“He fell in love instantly," Mallard said. "She was three years older than him and she was taller than him, but they fell in love.”

The couple married on Dec. 25, 1926.

Harriette left her job as an insurance agent and became a teacher. Harry soon was named principal at the area’s all-black school.

However, it was his quest for equality for black citizens that led him to seek out more than just being a teacher.

Getting involved with the NAACP

“Over the course of some years, Harry became concerned with the lack of equity in terms of facilities, pay for teachers, materials for his students, etc…” said Bill Gary, president of the board of the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Cultural Complex.

“Harry received some information from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Upon reading about the NAACP and what its mission was and objectives, Harry thought, ‘this is the organization that I need to make and bring about changes in the lives of the people I come in contact with, the people that I teach, my friends and my family.' "

So, in 1934, Harry organized the first Brevard County branch of the NAACP. He went on to organize some 50 more branches of the NAACP throughout Florida.

In 1941, he helped organize the Florida State Conference of NAACP branches, and he was named the group’s president.

During the course of the next several years he encouraged more than 100,000 black people to sign up to vote.

Harry thought that even if a black person could not be elected, black voters certainly could use their leverage to support candidates who expressed an interest in doing better for black citizens.

“Of course, that upset the status quo,” Gary said. “Many politicians and others became alarmed at this turn of events.”

All the while Harry worked for equal pay for black teachers in public schools, despite them being segregated.

His efforts worked. He filed a lawsuit in Florida to equalize teacher pay for black and white teachers and that led to lawsuits in other states and, ultimately, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that all teachers would be paid the same.

Activism draws negative attention

Harry Moore's efforts didn't please everyone.

In 1946, both Moores were fired from their teaching jobs because of their activism.

After that, Harry dedicated his time to seeking justice for black people by investigating lynchings and filing lawsuits against voter registration barriers and white primaries.

In 1949, Harry became involved in a case that ultimately led to his murder. It was known as the Groveland Four case, where a group of black men was accused of raping a white woman.

One of the four was killed when lynched by a posse while the other three were detained by Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall.

The three surviving men, including one minor, were eventually found guilty by an all-white jury.

As Executive Director of the Florida NAACP, Harry Moore organized a campaign against what he saw as the wrongful convictions of the three men.

After the men’s convictions were overturned, McCall shot two of them while transporting them to a new trial venue. He claimed that the two men, both handcuffed, attacked him in an escape attempt.

One man died at the scene while the other survived and said McCall shot them in cold blood.