Baltimore postman fought segregation one step at a time
When William Lewis Moore began his one-man march through the South protesting segregation, friends, family and fellow activists warned him he might not make it out alive. But the Baltimore postman was ardent about hand-delivering a letter addressed to the Mississippi governor, urging the staunch segregationist to change his mind. His walk ended along the side of the road in Alabama, when he was shot in the head and neck by an unknown killer.
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- Moore with his sister, Louise. (Handout photo)
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- Moore at age 22. (Handout photo)
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- Moore poses with an infant relative in 1949. (Handout photo)
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- Moore in France during the summer of 1948. He was serving as a Marine at the time. (Handout photo)
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- Moore graduated from Harpur College in Binghampton, N.Y. He moved to Baltimore to go to Johns Hopkins for graduate school. (Handout photo)
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- Moore with his wife, Mary, in Florida. (Handout photo)
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- William, Mary and their three children. (Handout photo)
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- Moore plays with his children in the Atlantic Ocean. (Handout photo)
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- William Moore turned to Christianity after being an atheist, his family has said. He attended the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore. (Handout photo)
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- William Lewis Moore in the mid-1950s. (Handout photo)
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- William Lewis Moore in the early 1960s. (Handout photo)
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- William Moore embarked on several one-man marches. (Handout photo)
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- When he died, he was carrying a sign like this one. “End Segregation in America. Black or White Eat at Joe’s.” (Handout photo)
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- Mary at the Civil Rights Memorial dedication. (Handout photo)
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- Mary holds a photo of her deceased husband, William. (Handout photo)
Slaying of Baltimore civil rights protester still unsolved
William Lewis Moore was shot and killed in Alabama in 1963
By Justin George | Baltimore Sun
June 2, 2013
Everyone begged William Lewis Moore not to go to Mississippi. His pastor told him he would get killed walking around in a sandwich board sign protesting segregation. His family worried about where he would sleep and eat.
Even fellow civil rights activists told the Baltimore postal worker it was a bad idea to walk hundreds of miles through the heart of the South. But Moore insisted on hand-delivering a letter to the governor of Mississippi, urging the staunch segregationist to change.
Moore never made it to Jackson, Miss. He was shot to death on April 23, 1963, after crossing into Alabama. Although police quickly identified a suspect, no one was ever charged. The unsolved crime left Moore’s family wondering for 50 years whether someone would come after them, too.
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