Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore
1951 bombing attack that killed two civil rights activists
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.
“Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore” enters the record as 1951 bombing attack that killed two civil rights activists. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Murders, Harry and Harriette can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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