William Lewis Moore (April 28, 1927 – April 23, 1963) was a postal worker and
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission ...
(CORE) member who staged lone protests against
racial segregation
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
. He was assassinated in
Keener, Alabama, during a protest march from
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
to
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...
, where he intended to deliver a letter to Governor
Ross Barnett
Ross Robert Barnett (January 22, 1898November 6, 1987) was the Governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a Southern Democrat who supported racial segregation.
Early life
Background and learning
Born in Standing Pine in Leake Count ...
, supporting civil rights.
Early life
Moore was born in
Binghampton NY and raised in New York and Mississippi. For a time before his death he lived in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
.
In the early 1950s, when Moore was a graduate student at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
, he had a mental breakdown. He was institutionalized for a year and a half with a diagnosis of
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
. After being released, he became an activist on behalf of the mentally ill. He gradually got involved in civil rights activism for African Americans.
Moore joined the
Congress on Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...
(CORE). In early 1960s, Moore undertook three civil rights protests in which he marched to a capital to hand-deliver letters he had written denouncing racial segregation.
On his first march he walked to
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
, the state capital. On his second march he walked to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. He arrived at about the same time that Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
was being released from the
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
jail after protests in that city. His letter to President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
said that he intended to walk to
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
and "If I may deliver any letters from you to those on my line of travel, I would be most happy to do so."
For his third protest he planned to walk from
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
to
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...
and deliver a letter to Governor
Ross Barnett
Ross Robert Barnett (January 22, 1898November 6, 1987) was the Governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a Southern Democrat who supported racial segregation.
Early life
Background and learning
Born in Standing Pine in Leake Count ...
urging him to accept integration. He was wearing sandwich board signs stating; "Equal rights for all & Mississippi or Bust".
On April 23, 1963, about into his march, Moore was interviewed by
Charlie Hicks
Charles A. Hicks (January 4, 1939, Marion, North Carolina – May 12, 2015), also known as "Charlie B", was an American broadcaster familiar to listeners in radio markets throughout the southeastern United States. He worked in the field for 55 ...
, a reporter from radio station
WGAD
WGAD (930 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Rainbow City, Alabama, United States. It operates at 930 kilohertz, with a daytime power of 5,000 watts non-directional, and 500 watts directional at night. Established in 1951, the station i ...
in
Gadsden, Alabama
Gadsden is a city in and the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan ...
, along a rural stretch of
U.S. Highway 11 near
Attalla. The station had received an anonymous phone tip about Moore's location. In the interview, Moore said: "I intend to walk right up to the governor's mansion in Mississippi and ring his doorbell. Then I'll hand him my letter." Concerned for Moore's safety, Hicks offered to drive him to a motel. Moore insisted on continuing his march.
Less than an hour after the reporter left the scene, a passing motorist found Moore's body about a mile farther down the road, shot twice in the head at close range with a .22 caliber rifle. The gun's ownership was traced to Floyd Simpson (a white man), whom Moore had argued with earlier that day, but no charges were ever filed against him. Moore died a week short of his 36th birthday. His letter was found and opened. In it, Moore reasoned that "the white man cannot be truly free himself until all men have their rights." He asked Governor Barnett to: "Be gracious and give more than is immediately demanded of you...."
Folk singer
Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...
wrote a song in tribute to William Moore that is part of the posthumously released 1986 album ''
A Toast to Those Who Are Gone
''A Toast to Those Who Are Gone'' is a 1986 compilation album of recordings that Phil Ochs made in the early to mid-1960s, mostly between his contracts with Elektra Records and A&M Records. In line with recordings made on the former, Ochs espou ...
''. Another tribute song (in German) for William Moore was written by East German singer/songwriter
Wolf Biermann
Karl Wolf Biermann (; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song "Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976.
Early life
Biermann was b ...
.
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
sang "William Moore, The Mailman" on his album, ''Broadside Ballads''.
Starting April 23, 2008,
Ellen Johnson
Ellen Johnson (born 1955) is an American activist for the civil rights of atheists and for the separation of church and state in the United States. She served as the president of the organization American Atheists from 1995 to 2008.
Early life ...
and Ken Loukinen walked the from
Reece City, Alabama
Reece City is a town in Etowah County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in May 1956. It is part of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census, the population was 615.
Geography
Reece City is located in central Etow ...
, near where Moore was killed, and delivered Bill Moore's original letter to the capitol in Jackson, Mississippi.
Bob Zellner
John Robert Zellner (born April 5, 1939) is an American civil rights activist. He graduated from Huntingdon College in 1961 and that year became a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as its first white field secretary. ...
, a long time activist and first white Field Secretary of the
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...
, was with them and attempted to present the letter to Governor
Haley Barbour
Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as chairman of the Republican ...
on May 6, 2008, but the latter declined to meet with the party.
Memorial
On the 47th anniversary of Moore's murder, April 23, 2010, a memorial plaque in tribute to Moore was unveiled. The plaque is permanently on display at the Greater Binghamton Transportation Center, across from Kennedy Park and down the street from the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, in
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
.
A pioneer in civil rights, Moore is the only white person featured in Investigation Discovery's Injustice Files in 2011.
Historical marker
A ceremony unveiling the historic marker was held on Sunday, April 14, 2019, at the site of the murder. The
Alabama Historical Society
The Alabama Historical Society in the state of Alabama, United States, formed in 1850 and was incorporated in 1852. Founders included James F. Sulzby, Alexander Bowie, Joshua H. Foster, E.D. King, Basil Manly Sr., Washington Moody, and Albert J. P ...
makes placement of such markers possible, but someone else has to pay for them. As the effort went forward, the
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...
offered to pay the cost of the marker, estimated to be about $3,000. But Jerry Smith, Danny Crownover and Marissa Cannon, local Etowah County historians, believe the money should come locally to mark this tragic day in local history. Cannon was preparing to do some fundraising in the Attalla area when Smith got in contact with County Commissioner Johnny Grant. Grant arranged for Smith to speak to the commission, and members committed to giving money from their discretionary funds to pay for the marker. Smith said the SPLC remains involved and is making a $2,000 donation to Keener Baptist Church for its work toward the ceremony.
Historical marker for murdered civil rights activist dedicated in Keener
(gadsdentimes.com)
See also
* James Reeb
James Joseph Reeb (January 1, 1927 – March 11, 1965) was an American Unitarian Universalist minister, pastor, and activist during the civil rights movement in Washington, D.C. and Boston, Massachusetts. While participating in the Selma to ...
* Viola Liuzzo
Viola Fauver Liuzzo (née Gregg; April 11, 1925 – March 25, 1965) was an American civil rights activist. In March 1965, Liuzzo heeded the call of Martin Luther King Jr. and traveled from Detroit, Michigan, to Selma, Alabama, in the wake of the ...
* Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner
The murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, also known as the Freedom Summer murders, the Mississippi civil rights workers' murders, or the Mississippi Burning murders, refers to events in which three activists were abducted and murdered in ...
* List of unsolved deaths
This list of unsolved deaths includes well-known cases where:
* The cause of death could not be officially determined.
* The person's identity could not be established after they were found dead.
* The cause is known, but the manner of death (homi ...
References
Further reading
* Charles D. Lowery and John F. Marszalek (editors), ''Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights'', pp. 365–366
* Taylor Branch, ''Parting The Waters'', p. 748.
* Mary Stanton, ''Freedom Walk: Mississippi Or Bust'', University Press of Mississippi, 2003
External links
Activists take walk to remember, Gadsden Times, April 24, 2008
Freedom Walk 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, William Lewis
1927 births
1963 deaths
1963 murders in the United States
Activists for African-American civil rights
Assassinated American civil rights activists
People from Baltimore
People from Binghamton, New York
People murdered in Alabama
Deaths by firearm in Alabama
American atheists
African-American history of Alabama
Activists from New York (state)
People with schizophrenia