Harriet Moore
Harriette Moore was an influential African American educator and civil rights activist born in 1902 in West Palm Beach, Florida. She graduated from Bethune-Cookman College in 1924 and dedicated her life to teaching in Florida, where she became actively involved in civil rights advocacy alongside her husband, Harry T. Moore. Together, they organized the Brevard County chapter of the NAACP and worked tirelessly to address racial injustices, including advocating for equal pay for Black teachers and increasing Black voter registration, which significantly improved political representation for African Americans in Florida. Tragically, their activism made them targets, culminating in a violent attack on their home on Christmas night in 1951, which resulted in Harry's death and Harriette succumbing to her injuries shortly after. Their legacy is significant, as they played a crucial role in laying the groundwork for the civil rights movement that followed. The Harry and Harriette Moore Cultural Complex in Mims serves as a tribute to their contributions, and their story continues to resonate within discussions of civil rights history in the United States.
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Harriette Moore
Civil rights leader and teacher
- Born: June 19, 1902
- Birthplace: West Palm Beach, Florida
- Died: January 3, 1952
- Place of death: Mims, Florida
Significance: Harriette Vyda Simms Moore was an African American educator and civil rights leader. She was married to Harry Tyson Moore, the founder of the first National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) branch in Florida. Together they helped to lay the groundwork for the civil rights movement by fighting for equal pay, increasing Black voter registration in Florida, and investigating lynchings.
Background
Harriette Moore was born in 1902 to David Ira Simms and Annie Warren Simms in West Palm Beach, Florida. She had five siblings: sisters Valerie and Mae and brothers George, Arnold, and David Simms Jr. The family eventually moved to Mims, Florida, which had an economy that relied on the citrus industry.
Moore attended high school at the Daytona Normal Industrial Institute in Daytona Beach, Florida. She graduated in 1920 and enrolled in Bethune-Cookman College, also in Daytona Beach. She first completed an Associate of Arts degree before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1924.
Life’s Work
After finishing college, Moore taught in elementary schools across Florida. While teaching at Titusville Negro School near Mims, she met Harry Tyson Moore, the principal and an instructor. They married in 1926.
The Moores started organizing for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in central Florida in the 1930s and formed the Brevard County NAACP in 1934. The two continued to work as teachers during this time. Harry worked unpaid for the NAACP for more than a decade. Among other activities, they led a legal battle that won equal pay for Black and White teachers. In 1941, Harry became the president of the Florida State Conference of NAACP branches. He later served as its executive director. Harriette Moore also contributed to the organization—under their leadership, the NAACP grew to more than ten thousand members in more than sixty branches across Florida.
In 1944, the US Supreme Court ruled that all-White primary elections were unconstitutional. In the wake of this development, the Moores organized the Progressive Voters League of Florida. In 1946, both were fired from their teaching jobs because of their involvement in political and civil rights activities. Harry was finally paid for his work with the NAACP. Over six years, the couple registered more than 116,000 Black voters to the Florida Democratic Party. This increased Black registration among eligible voters in the state from 5 percent to 31 percent. They used the slogan, “A Voteless Citizen is a Voiceless Citizen.” The Moores also investigated Black lynchings. Harry called for anti-lynching legislation, and as a result was called the most hated Black man in Florida.
On December 25, 1951, Harry and Harriette were celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary when a bomb exploded under their home. The hospital in Brevard County refused to treat them because they were Black, so they were taken to a hospital in Sanford. Harry died that day. Harriette Moore succumbed to her injuries on January 3, 1952.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the incident, but no one was held accountable. According to the agency, nearly eighty agents conducted more than a thousand interviews in five states. The agents identified two suspects, but the FBI concluded its investigation in 1955 without filing any charges. Over the years, the case was reopened three times. In 2006, evidence linking four high-ranking Florida Ku Klux Klan members emerged. By that time, the men—Earl J. Brooklyn, Tillman H. Belvin, Joseph N. Cox, and Edward L. Spivey—were deceased, and so the case remained unsolved.
One of Moore’s former students recalled that she frequently taught from her private book collection instead of using the tattered textbooks passed down from White schools. These books included works by Black writers like W.E.B. Du Bois and Zora Neale Hurston. Because this would not have been approved by the district, Moore would always have a student standing on lookout in case administrators made an unannounced visit.
Impact
The Moores’ work registering voters helped to make Florida the state with the largest number of Black voters. In the 1930s and 1940s, Florida was the lynching capital of the nation and the couple’s work helped bring attention to this. The Moores were ahead of their time in fighting against lynchings and police brutality, and in support of equal pay and the right to vote before the civil rights movement officially started in the United States. Many Black historians say they laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King Jr. and many others.
The Harry and Harriette Moore Cultural Complex is located in Mims at the site of their former home. School groups often visit a museum there. The Smithsonian National Institution holds items from the Moores in its collection.
Personal Life
Harriette married Harry Moore in 1926. The couple had two children, Annie Rosalea, who was born in 1928, and Evangeline, who was born in 1930.
Bibliography
Allen Greg. “Remembering the Man Who ‘Laid the Groundwork for the Modern Civil Rights Movement.’” National Public Radio, 2 Feb. 2022, www.npr.org/2022/02/01/1076141993/black-history-harry-hariette-moore/. Accessed 21 June 2023.
Brieskorn, Katlyn. “Who Were Harry & Harriette Moore, the Pioneering Activists from Mims?” WFTV 9, 7 Feb. 2022, www.wftv.com/news/local/who-were-harry-harriette-moore-pioneering-activists-mims/TQWGVYLKKRA57JESD6LJUUUEEU/. Accessed 21 June 2023.
“Harriette V. Moore.” Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interactive/unresolved/cases/harriette-v-moore. Accessed 21 June 2023.
“Harry T. and Harriette Moore.” NAACP, naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/harry-t-and-hariette-moore. Accessed 21 June 2023.
Jones, Daralene. “‘Icons Before Their Time’: Meet Civil Rights Pioneers Harry & Harriette Moore.” WFTV 9, 11 Feb. 2021, www.wftv.com/news/local/meet-harry-harriette-moore-central-floridas-civil-rights-pioneers/5GZRSQVGFVH4BFZHPFERDUQJMY/. Accessed 21 June 2023.
Macdonald, Peggy. “She Died as She Lived, for a Cause She Believed In.” Florida Humanities, 30 June 2021, floridahumanities.org/she-died-as-she-lived-for-a-cause-she-believed-in/. Accessed 22 June 2023.
Momodu, Samuel. “Harriette Vyda Simms Moore (1902-1952).” BlackPast, 29 Mar. 2020, www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/harriette-vyda-simms-moore-1902-1952/. Accessed 21 June 2023.
“This Day in History—Dec. 25, 1951: Murder of Harriette and Harry Moore in Florida.” Zinn Education Project, 2023, www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/moore-home-bombed/. Accessed 21 June 2023.