Acel Moore (October 5, 1940 - February 12, 2016) was a long-time reporter, columnist, and editor for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. Moore won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

in 1977. He was among the first Black journalists hired at the Inquirer.

Early life

Moore and his twin brother were born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He attended Overbrook High School in 1958 and then served for three years as a medic in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

until 1962.

Journalism Career

Moore started as a

copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...

at the Inquirer in 1962. He was promoted to reporter in 1968. In 1977, Moore and

Wendell Rawls, Jr. Wendell Lee Rawls Jr. (born August 18, 1941, in Goodlettsville, Tennessee) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and editor. His career spans 40 years in journalism and media, beginning in 1967 at '' The (Nashville) Tennessean''. Lif ...

, also of the Inquirer, won a

in Local Investigative Specialized Reporting for reporting on the conditions at Farview (Pennsylvania) State Hospital for the mentally ill. Moore, Chuck Stone of the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

'', and Claude Lewis of the Evening Bulletin co-founded the

Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists The Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) is a non-profit organization founded in 1973 by Black journalists concerned about the lack of Black journalists in the media and the dearth of coverage of the Black community. It is the firs ...

in 1973. He was later a co-founder of the

National Association of Black Journalists The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is an organization of African-American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C., by 44 journalists, the NABJ's stated purpose is to provide quality p ...

. In the 1970s, Moore also was a producer on a

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

show called "Black Perspectives on the News." He taught journalism at the University of California-Berkeley, Temple University, and Florida A & M University. The Nieman Foundation at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

called him "a champion of newsroom diversity." According to

Michel Martin Michel McQueen Martin is an American journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio and WNET. After ten years in print journalism, Martin has become best known for her radio and television news broadcasting on national topics. Background ...

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

, Moore served "as a mentor to hundreds of journalists, both informally and with programs to introduce people of diverse backgrounds to journalism careers." In 2005, Moore retired. He received a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists in 2011.

Personal life

He married Linda Wright. They had two children, a daughter (Mariah) and a son (Acel Jr). Acel Sr. died on February 12, 2016, and was interred at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Legacy

''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' annually runs the Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop. According to the Inquirer, the "hands-on program seeks to introduce Philadelphia-area high school students to the fields of print, digital journalism, and photography. When the School District of Philadelphia renamed the

Andrew Jackson School (Philadelphia) Fanny Jackson Coppin School, previously Federal Street School and then Andrew Jackson School, is a public K-8 school located in the Passyunk Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a part of the School District of Philadelphia. T ...

, one of the four finalists for the new name was the Acel Moore School. It was not chosen as the new name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Acel 1940 births 2016 deaths The Philadelphia Inquirer people Pulitzer Prize winners for journalism African-American journalists United States Army soldiers American twins Journalists from Pennsylvania