Distinguished Gentleman

Harry T. Moore was born in Houston, Florida on November 18, 1905. He died a martyr on December 25, 1951.

Harry T. Moore, hero.

Moore began his professional career as a teacher. But his true calling was fighting white supremacy. From the beginning, he wouldn't allow his daughters to work as maids, because of white men's historical domestication of the black woman. He would drive forty minutes to the nearest black movie theater with his family to avoid the injustice of being forced to sit in the balcony of the closest theater. His fire caused him to join the young NAACP in 1934. By 1941, Moore was the head of the Florida branch of the NAACP. He also was the head of the Progressive Voters League.

But Moore's impact on the United States was not in his fancy titles. It was in his determination in making this country a better place for all of its citizens that is his lasting affect. He registered thousands of new black voters in Florida resulting in the furthering of American democracy. He challenged interracial mores of the South. He did not stand idly by while innocent black youth were being charged with raping white women, when no such crime had taken place. He contested police brutality against blacks and demanded justice. He took affidavits on his own, when the United States court system had broken down. He wrote letters to governors, representatives, civil rights leaders, and many others in order to achieve his goals.

Much like the hero from the movie Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina, Harry T. Moore gave his advisories a kind of respect that they didn't deserve. In the process, he earned more respect than they could ever know. Moore did this through his letters and his appearance. His letters were always straightforward, demanding, but cordial at the same time. He always ended with the valediction of "respectfully yours" or something of the sort. He wore a suit to meet everyone. Whether they were future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, or someone seemingly less deserving.

Moore's suits granted respect to poor blacks in Florida. The people Moore cared about the most. Those were the people he targeted to register to vote. Those were the people he wanted to protect from the police. That strategy cost him his job atop Florida's NAACP in 1951.
On Christmas, a holiday celebrated by Christians, of that year, Harry T. Moore's house was bombed. It was also the Moore's wedding anniversary. The KKK were the suspected culprits. Harry T. Moore's death was acknowledged worldwide. Eleanor Roosevelt, the former First Lady, and representative to the UN, claimed that Moore's death would hurt the reputation of the United States throughout the world. Moore's wife Harriet died one day after her husband's funeral in early January of 1952 of wounds sustained during the bombing.

Harry T. Moore has generally been forgotten in the decades since his death. He was the first NAACP worker ever to be killed. Harry and Harriet were the first husband and wife ever to be killed for their cause. But memory and legacy are not as important as impact. Harry T. Moore's impact on this country may have been forgotten, but it will always last.