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THE JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

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MY'STORY

The MOVE Fire

This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police fired thousands of rounds at the MOVE house, city officials approved dropping an explosive device on the roof, the resulting fire was allowed to burn, 11 people—including five children—died, and 61 homes were destroyed. Philadelphia City Council later called it a “brutal attack carried out by the City of Philadelphia on its own citizens” and acknowledged that no individual faced criminal consequences for the bombing. One timeline correction worth preserving for the BHP record: the major previous MOVE-police confrontation was August 8, 1978, about seven years before the bombing, not a year or two earlier. Officer James Ramp was killed, other police and firefighters were wounded, nine MOVE members were later convicted, and television cameras recorded police beating Delbert Africa during his arrest. The 1985 MOVE Commission later specifically criticized city planners for failing to adequately use lessons from that 1978 confrontation. And that actually strengthens the point you’re making: 1985 did not happen without precedent or institutional memory. There had already been a deadly confrontation with MOVE, years of conflict, negotiations and police involvement before Osage Avenue.

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BLACK FACTS
The Truths They Never Taught You...

The Violence That Helped Spark the NAACP

In August 1908, a white mob attacked Springfield, Illinois’s Black community, destroying homes and businesses and lynching two Black men. National outrage over the violence helped spur the movement that created the NAACP the following year.

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BHP gathered finds from its connected research sources. Showing the 4 strongest Black History matches.
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NMAAHC

Wedding dress designed by Ann Lowe and worn by Florance Trevor

Date
1951
Description
Ivory silk satin and lace wedding dress designed by Ann Lowe and worn by Florance Colgate Rumbough Trevor. The dress has a sweetheart neckline with off-the shoulder puff sleeves. The bodice is fitted to the natural waist, and then extends into a full floor-length skirt with long train at the back. The neck opening is trimmed in ivory floral lace, with one layer extending above the silk satin top edge. The tops of the shoulders are made from the lace trim, with the puff sleeves below made from the ivory satin. The center front bodice is embellished with the ivory floral lace, which extends down the center in a triangle, ending just below the waistline in a point. Three-dimensional decorations made from flowers fussy cut from the floral lace are tacked on top of the lace and left to flutter with the breeze. The center front panel of the skirt has seven (7) tiers of ivory floral lace sewn on top of the satin, with the bottom edges left unsewn. Each front side of the skirt has an extra panel of the silk satin sewn at the side seam and extending to the front side, partially covering the edges of the lace tiers and ending at the bottom with rounded corners. These flaps are lightly tacked in places and are self-lined. Two strips made from the satin are sewn in a geometric design on each back side of the skirt near the floor for tying up the train. The dress closes at the center back with a zipper and three (3) hooks into thread loops at the top where the lace extends above the satin.
The dress is not lined except for the center back panel of the skirt, which is lined in stiff off-white gauze. The bottom of the skirt, except the center front panel with the lace tiers, is trimmed in plastic buckram covered with ruffled off-white tulle. Wire is sewn into the lace around the tops of the shoulders to keep it in place and provide structure. There is a white fabric label with black embroidered text sewn at the interior proper left back side that reads "ANN LOWE / A. F. Chantilly, Inc. / NEW YORK" with a woman wearing a ball gown at the right side of the label.
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National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Clothing - Fashion and Historical
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Estate of Florance Rumbough Trevor
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2014.73.1.1
Type
wedding dresses
Restrictions & Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
silk satin, lace, gauze, buckram, tulle, and metal fasteners
Dimensions
H x W (flat): 83 × 60 in. (210.8 × 152.4 cm)
Title
Object Name • Wedding dress designed by Ann Lowe and worn by Florance Trevor
Record ID
nmaahc_2014.73.1.1
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
WEDDING DRESS DESIGNED BY ANN LOWE AND WORN BY FLORANCE TREVOR
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Date
1950s
Online Media Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions

Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Rights and restrictions shown above are supplied by the Smithsonian record.

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NMAAHC

Furious Flower: A Revolution in African American Poetry

Date: Date

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NMAAHC

Dress designed by Ann Lowe

Date: Date

Description

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NMAAHC

Slip designed by Ann Lowe and worn by Florance Trevor

Date: Date

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NMAAHC

Wedding dress designed by Ann Lowe and worn by Florance Trevor

Date: Date

Description

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TOPIC OF THE DAY

Greenwood / Black Wall Street

Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

Who became the first Black woman to travel into space?

Mae Jemison, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.