5th ANNUAL MOORE HERITAGE
POSTER
Palm Beach School District group visits Moore Cultural Center
The Office of African and African American Studies of the Palm Beach County School District will bring 150 participants of its African American Studies Summer Institute to visit the Moore Memorial Park and Cultural Center as part of its Educational Field Experience on June 15th. The Summer Institure is a five day Educational Field experence for administrators, teachers and students. The theme of the 2007 Summer Institute is "Civil Rights and Education". The group will also make stops at Bethune-Cookman University and The Jackie Robinson Historic Tour in Daytona Beach, Fl.
Engineering Firm Selected For Phase II Development of Moore Park
The Engineering firm of Rood and Zwick Architects & Associates has been selected to provide design services for the phase II development of the Moore Memorial Park. This effort will include designs for building a replica of the original Moore home, reflecting pool, meditation garden, pavillion with stage/kitchen/restrooms, Moore grave mausoleum, and historic walking trail.
Development of Teacher In-Service Moore History Syllabus
The Educational Sub-Committee of the Moore Cultural Complex Board has begun work on a syllabus outline of the Moores life and civil rights work to be presented to Brevard schools social studies teachers at a September 17th. teacher In-Service for inclusion in the district social studies curriculum for grade levels 4th., 5th., 8th., and 10th.
Brevard Teachers W/Evangeline Moore at Teacher In-Service Program
5TH. Annual Moore Heritage Festival of the Arts & Humanities
The first meeting of the 2008 Moore Festival planning committee was held on June 4th. At the Gibson Center in Titusville. The date for the 2008 festival has been set for March 6-9 at venues in Mims, Titusville and Cocoa. The next meeting of the planning committee will be August 27 at the Gibson Center. Meetings begin at 6:00pm. Volunteers are needed to serve on a number of committees, such as hospitality, education, vendor recruitment, publicity, entertainment, children activities, car show, youth gospel fest, Gala banquet, community partners. If interested in volunteering please call 385-1264 or email HHMFestival@aol.com.
Message from Attorney General Charlie Crist
This week the nation celebrated a seminal event in race relations that
occurred 50 years ago. Then two days later, our office began the final
phase of an investigation into a separate event that, though less
known, may have actually marked the birth of the civil rights movement
in America.
There can be no denying Rosa Parks' place in history. On December 1,
1955, she was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white
passenger. Most Americans now know that her simple act of defiance gave
rise to protests and change, and rightfully earned her the nickname "mother of the civil rights movement."
Tragically, four years before Mrs. Parks' action, that same commitment
to equality and human dignity cost the life of Florida's first civil
rights pioneer. On Christmas Day 1951, Harry T. Moore and his wife
Harriette were brutally murdered when their small home in Mims was
blown up.
What an act of cowardice that was. Those behind the bombing were afraid
of what Harry Moore was saying and doing, so they killed him. They were
afraid of being seen, so they slithered around under the cover of night
to plant their hidden bomb. They were afraid of the consequences, and
conducted a cover-up designed to ensure that no one ever knew who
killed the Moores.
More than a half-century has passed since the Moores were murdered.
Most potential witnesses are dead, and most of the forensic evidence is
long since gone. Hopefully, not all of it.
That is why one year ago I initiated a new investigation of the Moore
murders. Our goal is to determine who was responsible for the bombing
and, if possible, bring them to justice.
Over the past year, we have received numerous tips through our office,
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Crime Stoppers, which has
offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information resolving the case.
We have dedicated hundreds of man-hours investigating the case and
interviewed more than 100 individuals who might have useful information
to share.
Today we are launching the final phase of the investigation, by
beginning an excavation of the Moore homesite. I was joined at the site
by Evangeline Moore, Harry and Harriette's daughter. We hope to find
evidence of the explosive used in the bombing, which could provide a
direction for wrapping up our investigation. We are literally leaving
no stone unturned.
For five decades, a conspiracy of silence has kept the people of
Florida from learning the truth about one of the saddest chapters in
our state's history. For five decades, Evangeline Moore has been denied a sense of closure regarding her parents' murders. And for five decades, Harry and Harriette Moore have been denied the honor and respect that can come from a public airing of the truth.
At a Tallahassee celebration of the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks'
arrest this week, a local historian observed, "Rosa Parks stayed
seated, and the world stood up." The world did not stand up and take
notice when Harry and Harriette Moore were killed four years earlier,
but today countless Floridians know of the important role this heroic
couple played in our state's history.
If our investigation achieves nothing more than reminding people of the
Moores' place in Florida and American history, it will have served a
valuable purpose. But there are murderers still to be identified, and
we will not rest until the mystery surrounding the deaths of Harry and
Harriette Moore has been put to rest.
Charlie Crist
"Moore murder investigation leads to excavation of grounds at Moore home site."
click on the following link for the full story
www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051203/NEWS01/512030328/-1/archives
For Additional Information, Contact:
William Gary 269-8256
Gloria Bartley 269-5117 |
