Letter from Arden Rappaport to President Truman, 1952 - National Archives Foundation

Letter from Arden Rappaport to President Truman, 1952

As head of the Florida NAACP, Harry T. Moore tirelessly protested lynchings and discrimination. He led a voter registration drive that added more than 100,000 African American voters. In 1951, on Christmas night, Moore’s house was bombed—killing him and his wife, Harriette. The attack shocked many Americans.

Among those who expressed their outrage was Arden Rappaport who wrote that those guilty of this crime should be apprehended and punished as living example[s] that the United States not only preaches high moral values, but lives and acts by her own dictates and principles.”

Andrew S. Evans to President Truman, June 20, 1949.
National Archives, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum

This document is being featured in conjunction with the National Archives’ National Conversation on Civil Rights and Individual Freedom. Click here to see more related records.

The “National Conversation on Rights and Justice” is presented in part by AT&T, Ford Foundation, Seedlings Foundation, and the National Archives Foundation.

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