Who Bombed the Home of Harry Moore in 1951?
Sherri M. Owens
Orlando Sentinel
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Groveland, Florida (US):
Since December 2004 state investigators have been working to solve a 54-year-old mystery: Who bombed the Brevard County home of state civil-rights leader Harry T. Moore, killing him and his wife?Now, their search for answers has led them to Groveland.
They think Moore may have been killed because he spoke out after infamous Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall shot two handcuffed black men he said tried to escape. They were among four black men accused of raping a white woman near Groveland in 1949.
"There have been suggestions that his activities in connection with that case may have led to his death," Allison Bethel, head of the state attorney general's civil-rights division, said of Moore. "They're kind of related in my mind. Maybe some people with knowledge in the Groveland case heard of McCall making some statements."The reported rape of the 17-year-old wife of a farmer touched off a controversy that made international news. Early on July 16, 1949, the car the couple was driving near Okahumpka stalled.
They told authorities four black men in a dark-colored Mercury offered to help but instead overpowered the husband, forced the wife into their car, headed toward Groveland and raped her.Ernest Thomas of Gainesville was shot to death in a manhunt. Historical accounts reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel do not reflect Thomas' age. The other three -- Walter Irvin, 22, Samuel Shepherd, 22, and Charles Greenlee, 16, all from Groveland -- were tried in Tavares and convicted by an all-white jury, despite their claims of innocence.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new trial when evidence of the men's innocence was published in the St. Petersburg Times.
But the day before they were to be retried, McCall shot Irvin and Shepherd. Shepherd was killed, and Irvin was critically wounded. The sheriff said the men, handcuffed to one another, attacked him and tried to escape when he stopped because of a flat tire.Moore, executive director of the Florida NAACP, called McCall a murderer and demanded an investigation.
Six weeks later, on Christmas in 1951, a bomb exploded underneath Moore's home in Mims. Moore, 46, died before reaching the hospital.
His wife, Harriette, 49, died nine days later.Investigators are hoping longtime Groveland residents help them uncover clues. But just because they might have heard some things doesn't mean they're going to talk about them. Some townsfolk remember what they wish the world would forget.
Oct 30, 2005
Sherri M. Owens
Orlando Sentinel
_____________
Groveland, Florida (US):
Since December 2004 state investigators have been working to solve a 54-year-old mystery: Who bombed the Brevard County home of state civil-rights leader Harry T. Moore, killing him and his wife?Now, their search for answers has led them to Groveland.
They think Moore may have been killed because he spoke out after infamous Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall shot two handcuffed black men he said tried to escape. They were among four black men accused of raping a white woman near Groveland in 1949.
"There have been suggestions that his activities in connection with that case may have led to his death," Allison Bethel, head of the state attorney general's civil-rights division, said of Moore. "They're kind of related in my mind. Maybe some people with knowledge in the Groveland case heard of McCall making some statements."The reported rape of the 17-year-old wife of a farmer touched off a controversy that made international news. Early on July 16, 1949, the car the couple was driving near Okahumpka stalled.
They told authorities four black men in a dark-colored Mercury offered to help but instead overpowered the husband, forced the wife into their car, headed toward Groveland and raped her.Ernest Thomas of Gainesville was shot to death in a manhunt. Historical accounts reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel do not reflect Thomas' age. The other three -- Walter Irvin, 22, Samuel Shepherd, 22, and Charles Greenlee, 16, all from Groveland -- were tried in Tavares and convicted by an all-white jury, despite their claims of innocence.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new trial when evidence of the men's innocence was published in the St. Petersburg Times.
But the day before they were to be retried, McCall shot Irvin and Shepherd. Shepherd was killed, and Irvin was critically wounded. The sheriff said the men, handcuffed to one another, attacked him and tried to escape when he stopped because of a flat tire.Moore, executive director of the Florida NAACP, called McCall a murderer and demanded an investigation.
Six weeks later, on Christmas in 1951, a bomb exploded underneath Moore's home in Mims. Moore, 46, died before reaching the hospital.
His wife, Harriette, 49, died nine days later.Investigators are hoping longtime Groveland residents help them uncover clues. But just because they might have heard some things doesn't mean they're going to talk about them. Some townsfolk remember what they wish the world would forget.
Oct 30, 2005
