Title: Harriette Vyda Simms Moore and Harry T. Moore

Summary: Remembering the outstanding contributions of pioneer leaders and martyrs Harriette Vyda Simms Moore and Harry T. Moore in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, etc.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, in 1919, Harry T. Moore enrolled in the high school program of Florida Memorial College, where he excelled in his studies and earned the nickname  Doc  from his classmates, and WHEREAS, Harry T. Moore graduated from Florida Memorial College at the age of years with a  normal degree  and accepted a teaching job at the only black elementary school in Cocoa, located in Brevard County, and WHEREAS, during his first year in Brevard County, Harry T. Moore met 23-year-old Harriette Vyda Simms, an elementary school teacher and civil rights pioneer who was later blacklisted due her political activities, and within a year they were married, and WHEREAS, Harry T. Moore was promoted to principal of the Titusville Colored School, where he taught ninth grade and supervised a staff of six teachers, and WHEREAS, in 1934, the Moores started the Brevard County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and in 1937, in conjunction with the all-black Florida State Teacher s Association, and backed by NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall in New York, filed the first lawsuit in the deep South seeking to equalize the salaries of black and white teachers, and WHEREAS, the lawsuit filed by Harry T. Moore spawned other federal lawsuits in Florida that eventually led to equal salaries, and WHEREAS, in 1941, Harry T. Moore organized the Florida State Conference of the NAACP and soon became its unpaid executive secretary, writing letters, circulars, and broadsides that protested unequal salaries, segregated schools, and the disenfranchisement of black voters, and WHEREAS, in 1943, Harry T. Moore launched an investigation into each of the lynchings that had occurred in this state, and WHEREAS, in 1944, Harry T. Moore organized the Progressive Voters  League, which over the next six years registered more than 116,000 black voters with the Florida Democratic Party, and WHEREAS, the success of his efforts is reflected in the fact that the number of voters registered by the Progressive Voters  League represented percent of all eligible black voters in this state, a percentage that was percent higher than in any other southern state, and WHEREAS, on Christmas Day in 1951, Harry T. Moore was killed by a bomb that was placed beneath the Moores  home directly under his bed, and his beloved wife, Harriette, died nine days later as a result of the blast, and WHEREAS, the murders of Harry T. Moore and Harriette Vyda Simms Moore have never been solved, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: That the outstanding contributions of American Civil Rights movement pioneers and martyrs Harriette Vyda Simms Moore and Harry T. Moore are recognized and their sacrifices, which helped to usher in the Voting Rights Act in the United States, are respectfully remembered.