Cecil B. Moore Biography

Civil rights activist Cecil B. Moore’s work with the NAACP and other actions helped make Philadelphia a more equitable place to live for its Black residents.

Who Was Cecil B. Moore?

Cecil B. Moore was a protection legal professional and civil rights activist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Through pickets and different protests, he helped to combine development websites, put up workplace jobs and colleges. He headed the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP from 1963 to ’67, although his tenure was marked by battle with those that disagreed along with his daring method. The outspoken Moore was typically at odds with anybody he believed to be too reasonable and accepting of incremental progress, making him a controversial determine in civil rights.

Early Life

Cecil Bassett Moore was born in Dryfork Hollow, West Virginia, on April 2, 1915, to a physician father and instructor mom. Growing up in West Virginia, Moore’s household was focused by the Ku Klux Klan at one level as a result of they thought his father, a light-skinned Black man, was truly a white man residing with a Black lady.

Moore graduated from Bluefield State College, a traditionally Black faculty, although he took courses at a number of different colleges. He labored as a touring insurance coverage salesman earlier than signing up for the Marine Corps.

Military Service

In 1942, Moore joined the Marine Corps, the place he was recognized for his willingness to talk out in opposition to discrimination. During World War II, Moore fought within the Pacific theater. In 1947, he was transferred to Fort Mifflin, close to Philadelphia.

In 1949, whereas nonetheless within the Marines, Moore started attending night time courses at Temple Law School. He additionally labored as a liquor wholesaler to pay for his courses.

Though President Harry Truman had ordered integration throughout the armed companies, Moore nonetheless encountered discriminatory remedy. He opted to depart the service and in 1951 acquired an honorable discharge on the rank of sergeant.

Moore’s army experiences contributed to his want for equal rights. He as soon as mentioned, “After nine years in the Marine Corps, I don’t intend to take another order from any son of a bitch that walks.”

After graduating in 1953, Moore grew to become an in-demand protection legal professional. He typically represented poor shoppers free of charge or for lowered charges.

Civil Rights Activism

Moore was a pushed civil rights activist in Philadelphia. He held voter registration drives and inspired Black folks to vote. He organized pickets to combine development websites. He additionally held protests at workplaces — akin to Greyhound and the U.S. Postal Service — that exhibited bias towards Black staff.

Thanks to Moore’s actions, in 1964 Philadelphia stopped utilizing blackface within the metropolis‘s Mummers (New Year’s Day) parade. In 1965, Moore used pickets to push for the combination of Girard College, a Philadelphia boarding faculty that solely admitted white boys. The faculty was desegregated in 1968.Yet Moore may very well be a divisive determine. He reportedly objected when Martin Luther King Jr. got here to Philadelphia and did not coordinate with him. Moore additionally disdained many middle-class Black professionals in Philadelphia, whom he considered as keen to content material themselves with piecemeal advances when it got here to civil rights.

Though Moore was described as militant and even fanatical, he was an efficient chief who was capable of forge a connection with working-class Black folks. He clearly shared his philosophy in a quote from 1974: “I said to hell with the club, let’s fight the damn system. I don’t want no more than the white man got, but I won’t take no less.”

NAACP

Moore introduced his views on one of the best ways to battle for civil rights to the NAACP. He was elected president of the Philadelphia department of the group in 1962. In his inaugural speech in January of the subsequent 12 months, Moore declared, “We are serving notice that no longer will the plantation system of white men appointing our leaders exist in Philadelphia.”

The NAACP discovered it troublesome to work with Moore. He tripled membership in his chapter to 25,000, but additionally criticized nationwide leaders for being weak and alienated church buildings, the Black center class, and white liberals within the group. Moore baldly acknowledged, “I run a grass-roots group, not a cocktail-party, tea-sipping, fashion-show-attending group of exhibitionists.”

In 1964, aggrieved members of his chapter accused Moore of the improper use of funds. He managed to clear his identify of economic malfeasance and win re-election as chapter president in 1965. Yet conflicts with NAACP leaders remained. In 1966, the nationwide group determined to divide the Philadelphia NAACP into smaller branches. This lowered Moore to heading a North Philadelphia chapter till he left his management function in 1967.

Political Career

Moore made unsuccessful runs for Congress in 1958 and to turn into mayor of Philadelphia in 1967. He was elected to Philadelphia’s City Council in 1975 and served from 1976 to ’79.

Death and Legacy

On February 13, 1979, a 63-year-old Moore handed away in Philadelphia after struggling a coronary heart assault.

In 1987, town of Philadelphia renamed Columbia Avenue as Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Moore’s honor. A neighborhood public transportation cease was named after Moore in 1995. The metropolis can also be residence to a public library bearing Moore’s identify.

Personal Life

Moore married Theresa Wyche Lee Moore in 1946. They had three daughters. Theresa Wyche Lee Moore handed away in 1970. In 1972, Moore wed Helen Golden Boyer.