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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

Cast iron balcony railing from the Mecca Flats Apartments in Chicago, Illinois

Date
1891-1892
Designed by
Edbrooke & Burnham, American, 1879 - 1892
Willoughby J. Edbrooke, American, 1843 - 1896
Franklin P. Burnham, American, 1853 - 1909
Caption
This ornately-detailed iron railing was used along the open corridors surrounding the interior courts of the Mecca Flats Apartment building in Chicago. Located near the entertainment strip of State Street known as "the Stroll," the apartments became a center of black life in the city during the post-Great Migration era. The building and its community inspired Jimmy Blythe to write the song "Mecca Flats Blues" in 1924 and Gwendolyn Brooks to write her long narrative poem "In the Mecca," in 1968.
Description
A portion off a cast iron balcony railing from the Mecca Flats Apartments in Chicago, Illinois. The railing was designed by Franklin Pierce Burnham. The railing is made up of six (6) stanchions and five (5) balusters. Most of the stanchions have decorative brackets, wedges and rail hooks. Several of the pieces are missing elements that have broken off. The balusters have a spiraling floral and vine design and have two bracket holes on either side. One of the balusters has a pronounced curve while the others are flat. The tops of the baluster pieces are curved upward on the left and right sides and have a decorative element at center. The bottoms are straight.
2015.207a: A white cast iron stanchion. The stanchion has a missing rail hook and bottom wedge.
2015.207b: A black cast iron baluster. The baluster’s left side is curved outward.
2015.207c: A black cast iron stanchion with no missing elements.
2015.207d: A black cast iron baluster with no missing elements.
2015.207e: A black cast iron stanchion with no missing elements.
2015.207f: A black cast iron baluster with no missing elements.
2015.207g: A black cast iron stanchion. The stanchion has a missing rail hook.
2015.207h: A black cast iron baluster with no missing elements.
2015.207i: A black cast iron stanchion. The stanchion has a missing rail hook.
2015.207j: A black cast iron baluster with no missing elements.
2015.207k: A black cast iron stanchion. The stanchion is missing two brackets.
Place collected
Bronzeville, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
Topic
African American
Architecture
Black geographies
Building Arts
Communities
Design
Domestic life
Ornamentation
Urban life
See more items in
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Buildings and Structures
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2015.207a-k
Type
railings
Restrictions & Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
cast iron
Dimensions
H x W x D (2015.207a): 51 3/16 × 8 11/16 × 3 15/16 in. (130 × 22 × 10 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207b): 30 3/8 × 43 11/16 × 7 7/8 in. (77.2 × 111 × 20 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207c): 53 1/8 × 8 11/16 × 3 15/16 in. (135 × 22 × 10 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207d): 30 5/16 × 42 1/2 × 9/16 in. (77 × 108 × 1.5 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207e): 54 1/2 × 8 7/16 × 5 1/2 in. (138.5 × 21.4 × 14 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207f): 30 5/16 × 42 1/2 × 9/16 in. (77 × 108 × 1.5 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207g): 50 3/8 × 8 1/4 × 6 5/16 in. (128 × 21 × 16 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207h): 30 1/2 × 42 1/2 × 1/2 in. (77.4 × 108 × 1.2 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207i): 51 3/16 × 8 1/4 × 6 5/16 in. (130 × 21 × 16 cm)
H x W x D (j): 30 5/16 × 43 11/16 × 7 7/8 in. (77 × 111 × 20 cm)
H x W x D (2015.207k): 53 1/8 × 5 13/16 × 6 1/4 in. (135 × 14.8 × 15.8 cm)
Title
Object Name • Cast iron balcony railing from the Mecca Flats Apartments in Chicago, Illinois
Record ID
nmaahc_2015.207a-k
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
CAST IRON BALCONY RAILING FROM THE MECCA FLATS APARTMENTS IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Date
1890s
Name
Edbrooke & Burnham • Burnham, Franklin Pierce • Edbrooke, Willoughby J.
Place
Bronzeville • Chicago • United States • Illinois • North and Central America • Cook County
Topic
Design • Architecture • Communities • Black geographies • Domestic life • Ornamentation • Urban life
Culture
African Americans
Geo Location
Locale • Bronzeville • City • Chicago • County • Cook County • State • Illinois • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America
Type
railings
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

Oak Bluffs Holiday mecca for East Coast blacks

Date: Date

Description

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NMAAHC

Floor tile from the Mecca Flats Apartments in Chicago, Illinois

Date: Date

Description

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NMAAHC

Cast iron balcony railing from the Mecca Flats Apartments in Chicago, Illinois

Date: Date

Caption

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NMAAHC

Black Journal: 9; Tribute to Malcolm X

Date: Date

Caption

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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

What prosperous Tulsa district became widely known as “Black Wall Street”?

The Greenwood District.