Moore was recently presented with her father’s briefcase at the time of his death. It was taken into evidence after the bombing and later disappeared. A few years ago, it was found in an old barn not far from the house where he died. She considers it her most valuable possession.
Moore has spoken to representatives of the future Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture about including some of her father’s papers and artifacts in its collection.
Even though the NAACP honored her father with the Spingarn Medal, Moore has harsh words for the civil rights organization. She said it fired him a month before he died.
“They blamed him for enrollment dropping in Florida, when in reality, membership had dropped around the country because they had increased the dues from $1 to $2,” Moore said. But after her parents’ deaths, NAACP officials used the bombing in a fundraising campaign, she said.
“I have the brochure,” she said. “The front cover has a picture of my mom and dad. The back has a picture of the bombed-out house. The caption says, ‘That they should not have died in vain.’ I still have not received all the money they owe me from wages they owed my father when he died.”
‘There was no closure’
NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said he met with Moore last year to address her concerns. They discussed the investigation, her father’s contribution to civil rights and the organization’s use of her parents’ likeness. “The families of victims of racial violence still feel the pain after all these years,” he said. “They have a hard time getting past it because they still have questions. There was no closure.”
Moore is also angry that her parents are not listed on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala.
“I called them, and they said my parents couldn’t be part of the wall because they died before the civil rights movement began,” Moore said.
This month, she attended a memorial service to mark the 60th anniversary of their deaths, one of many trips she’s made over the years to programs in her parents’ honor.
But Florida is a sore spot.
“I remember right after the bombing someone asking what the population of Mims was,” Moore said. “Someone said 1,000. I remember thinking, it was going to be 999 because I was leaving as soon as my parents were buried and I was never coming back.”
Moore said she is disappointed that the Justice Department has closed the case, but she will not stop her fight. She plans to reach out to investigators after the holidays and has spoken with a filmmaker about her parents. She does interviews hoping that the publicity might spur someone to come forward.
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