The 1951 Christmas bombing of the Moore home in Mims, Florida, marked the first assassination of civil rights activists in the American Civil Rights Movement.
Key Facts
- Date of bombing
- December 25, 1951
- Harry Moore's death
- Died in ambulance en route from Mims
- Harriette Moore's death
- January 3, 1952, nine days after bombing
- Wedding anniversary
- 25th anniversary celebrated same day as bombing
- Bomb placement
- Under the bedroom floor of their home
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Harry T. Moore and Harriette V. S. Moore were prominent civil rights leaders and pioneers of the early Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Their activism made them targets of those violently opposed to racial equality, leading an unknown perpetrator to plant a bomb beneath their home in Mims, Florida.
On Christmas night, December 25, 1951, a bomb planted under the bedroom floor of the Moore home exploded. Harry T. Moore died in the ambulance during transport, and Harriette Moore succumbed to her injuries nine days later on January 3, 1952. The attack occurred on their 25th wedding anniversary.
The Moores became the first martyrs of the Civil Rights Movement and the only husband-and-wife pair killed in its history. Their deaths marked the first assassination of any civil rights activist, drawing national attention to the dangers faced by movement leaders and leaving a lasting legacy in the history of the struggle for racial equality in America.