Harriette Moore | |
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Born |
Harriette Vyda Simms June 19, 1902 West Palm Beach, Florida, United States |
Died | January 3, 1952 Sanford, Florida, United States |
(aged 49)
Occupation | Educator, civil rights pioneer |
Website | Information on Harriette Moore |
Harriette Vyda Simms Moore (June 19, 1902 – January 3, 1952) was an African-American educator and civil rights worker. She was the wife of Harry T. Moore, who founded the first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Brevard County, Florida. Her and her husband's murder was the first assassination to happen during the civil rights movement, and the only time a husband and wife were both killed for their activism.
Harriette Vyda Simms was born in West Palm Beach, Florida on June 19, 1902, to David Ira Simms (a wood lathe worker) and Annie (Warren) Simms. She had sisters Valerie and Mae, and brothers George, Arnold, Rupert and David, Jr. The family relocated to Mims, Florida. As a youth, Harriette spent summers working in Massillon, Ohio with her father. Simms attended the segregated Daytona Normal Industrial Institute in Daytona Beach, Florida. She later graduated from Bethune-Cookman College, a historically black college in Daytona Beach, with an associate of arts degree in 1941 and a bachelor of science degree in 1950.
Simms taught elementary school classes for many years, in Merritt Island and Mims in Brevard County, and in Lake Park, Florida until her death. In Mims, she helped to cook lunch every day for the students.