Brevard County civil rights pioneers remembered on MLK day

MIMS, Fla. — As many reflect on the life and death of well-known civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., there are some Brevard County community leaders who said there are other civil rights pioneers also deserving recognition.

Harry and Harriette Moore strove for equality in Central Florida during the civil rights era, championing equal pay and voter registration.

Tragically, their lives ended when they were victims of a bombing at their home in Mims.

Harry Moore routinely registered black voters. He stood up and spoke out against lynching, and many say that made the couple a target.

“This man was way, way, way, way ahead of his time,” said the Rev. Randolph Bracy Jr.

Harry Moore established the first branch of the NAACP in Brevard County in 1934.

“He would challenge the status quo when it was unheard of and he did it at a peril to his own life,” said Bracy.

The Moores lost their lives after their Mims home was bombed Christmas night in 1951. A replica of their residence now sits on their original homesite as part of the Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Cultural Complex.

William Gary, president of the cultural complex, said because many historians look to the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision banning school segregation as the start of the modern civil rights era, the Moores are often overlooked.

Cox Media Group