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from Florida's Attorney General Charlie Christ:
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
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
