Harry & Harriette Moore – early civil rights martyrs

Harry Tyson Moore has been called the first martyr of the civil rights movement that expanded in the 1960s. He and his wife were victims of a home bombing on Christmas Day in Florida 1951, which 56 years later was deemed likely to have been the work of four Klu Klux Klan members, all long dead by then.

Moore, November 18 1905, was a teacher and pioneer leader of the civil rights movement, founder of the first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Brevard County, Florida, and president of the state chapter of the NAACP. He led the Progressive Voters League, achieving an increase in the registration of black voters in Florida to 31 percent of those eligible to vote, markedly higher than in any other Southern state.

He had his Scorpio Sun on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to Saturn in Aquarius opposition a ‘leadership’ Leo North Node so he would stand out from the crowd and not give way easily; with his Venus also in Scorpio in a passionate square to Mars in Aquarius. His outspoken Mercury in Sagittarius was in a vehement opposition Pluto in Gemini. And he had the signature Neptune in Cancer opposition Uranus of his generation.

When he died in an ambulance, being driven thirty miles to the nearest black hospital, his Solar Arc Neptune was exactly conjunct his Leo North Node, undermining his Fixed T Square.

His wife, Harriette Moore, 19 June 1902, a hyper-active Sun in Gemini with Pluto and Mars also in Gemini with a reforming, rebellious Uranus (Moon) across the zodiac in Sagittarius. Her Saturn in Capricorn was exactly conjunct the Pluto on the USA 1776 chart for an unyielding connection, When she died, her Solar Arc Mars was exactly opposition her Saturn; and her Solar Arc Saturn was square her Mars/Pluto midpoint which Ebertin describes as “brutality, cruelty, violence.”

In 1951 when the bombing occurred, the 1776 USA chart was at that point on a Saturn Return; with a Saturn Mars (Neptune) in Libra conjunction square Uranus in Cancer.

The main NAACP organisation came together on 12 February 1909 to meet the challenges faced with African-Americans, especially disenfranchisement, and to find solutions. Bizarrely white Democrats who dominated the southern legislatures were a major headache, creating barriers to voter registration.

The NAACP chart has an Aquarius Sun which fits well with Harry T Moore’s chart; with two central oppositions indicating the divisive struggle ahead  – Neptune opposition Uranus and Mars in Sagittarius opposition Pluto North Node in Gemini. That latter was keyed up in the 1960s during the Civil Rights struggle with the tr Uranus Pluto in Virgo in square. It’ll be facing a dip in 2021/22 with tr Neptune square the Mars and Pluto, though should get an uplift in 2023/34 with tr Uranus square the Sun. Pendulum swings – just as you think progress is being made, it takes a step backwards before moving forwards again.