Inclusion of Harry T. Moore and Other Unsung Heroes in School Curriculums
WHEREAS, in 1934 Harry T. Moore organized and became President of the first Brevard County Branch of the NAACP; and
WHEREAS, in 1941 he organized and became President of the Florida State Conference of Branches which was the first State Conference in the history of the NAACP; and
WHEREAS, in 1946 the NAACP named Harry T. Moore to the new post of Executive Director for the Florida Conference of the NAACP; and
WHEREAS, in 1948 Harry T. Moore began a campaign to curb violence against blacks by law enforcement; he demanded that the state investigate claims of police violence against blacks; and
WHEREAS, in 1950 Moore's efforts in Brevard County led to Florida's first appointed black deputy sheriff with the authority to arrest both blacks and whites; and
WHEREAS, in 1951 Harry T. Moore urged Governor Fuller Warren to remove Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall from office for shooting two manacled black prisoners, which is suspected to have led to his eventual murder; and
WHEREAS, on Christmas Eve of 1951, a bomb was placed under the bedroom floor of Harry T. Moore's home, killing him and his wife; and
WHEREAS, Harry T. Moore was the first civil rights leader to lose his life for the progression of African-Americans in the modern civil rights era; and
WHEREAS, subsequently after his untimely death, the NAACP honored the life and heroism of Harry T. Moore, by awarding him the highest award, the Spingarn Medal, posthumously.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP encourages its units to appeal to their local school districts and whoever else may be necessary to include the life and works of Harry T. Moore and other unsung heroes in the history curriculum used in their local school systems; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that through its units the NAACP requests that all state boards of education support the inclusion of the life and works of Harry T. Moore and other unsung heroes in history books that are used throughout the United States and its territories.