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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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NMAAHC

Stitching pony belonging to and used by William Sugg

Date
ca. 1850s
Used by
William Sugg, American, 1828 - 1889
Description
A wooden stitching pony or leather clamp used for leather crafting. The stitching pony consists of a plank wooden seat, four rectangular legs, and a post that sits to the front of the seat.
2015.44.1a (Seat, stitching pony): A wooden stitching pony seat. A plank of medium brown wood, worked and carved to act as a seat. The front is cut at rectangular angles and the back is rounded. There are two carved, rounded indentions on the center proper left and proper right of the seat, where a user’s legs would rest. There are four rectangular cut-outs, for the legs (2015.44.1b-e). The legs slide into from the bottom, for the seat to rest down on (positioned two parallel at the front and two parallel at the back). There are two large bolts going through the width of the seat.
2015.441b (PL Front Leg, stitching pony): The wooden proper left front leg of the stitching pony with a metal attachment. The leg has a side cut-out at top to fit into the stitching pony seat (2015.44.1a) through a wood joinery technique. The leg tapers towards bottom. About a quarter up from the bottom, a metal attachment (lever) is bolted in and can move up and down. The lever is flat (vertical) on its proper left side, flat up against the leg, with a hole on the far left side. The remainder of the lever twists so that it is horizontal. There is a hole immediately following the twist in orientation and a bolt, with a loop at the top, meant to hook into the clasp on the bottom of the leather strap hanging from the post (2015.44.1f), which moves the lever up and down. There are three more holes on the proper right side of the lever.
2015.44.1c (PR Front Leg, stitching pony): The wooden proper right front leg of the stitching pony with a metal attachment. The leg has a side cut-out at the top to fit into the stitching pony seat (2015.44.1a) through a wood joinery technique. The leg tapers towards the bottom. There is a metal attachment (saw-like) bolted in at the top and bottom, positioned vertically, on the proper right outside of the leg. This saw-like feature is where the lever from the proper left front leg (2015.44.1b) sits. The function of the lever depends on how high or low on the saw-like feature it sits (lower stretches the leather strap from the post (2015.44.1f) more, higher the leather stresses less. The saw-like feature is stationary.
2015.44.1d (PL Rear Leg, stitching pony): The wooden proper left back leg of the stitching pony. The leg has a side cut-out at the top to fit into the stitching pony seat (2015.44.1a) through a wood joinery technique. The leg tapers towards bottom.
2015.44.1e (PR Rear Leg, stitching pony): The wooden proper right back leg of the stitching pony. The leg has a side cut-out at the top to fit into the stitching pony seat (2015.44.1a) through a wood joinery technique. The leg tapers towards bottom.
2015.44.1f (Post, stitching pony): The post of the stitching pony. The post sits towards the front of the stitching pony, in a cut-out in the seat (2015.44.1a). The cut-out fits the bottom of the post through a wood joinery technique, and continues below the seat level. The post consists of two vertical planks of wood, parallel to each other, connected at the bottom, parting further at the top. There is a spring/coil attached to the middle of both sides of the wood, which allows a user to adjust the distance between the two planks. There is a block at the center (sitting directly above the seat cut-out), aligned on the proper left , with a hinge connecting the proper left vertical plank to the side of the block. Below the seat, the block continues, attached to the proper right vertical plank. A leather strap is connected to the proper right exterior of the proper right vertical plank on the post. The strap hangs on the outside of the stitching pony, to about half-way up the proper right front leg. The bottom of the leather strap has a metal clasp, which hooks to the lever on the proper left front leg metal attachment (2015.44.1b).
Place used
Sugg McDonald House, Sonora, Tuolumne County, California, United States, North and Central America
Topic
African American
American West
Business
Craftsmanship
Families
Labor
Skilled labor
See more items in
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Tools and Equipment
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gerald & Ruth Howard
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2015.44.1a-f
Restrictions & Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
wood and metal and leather
Dimensions
H x W x D: 43 3/4 × 18 1/4 × 33 3/8 in. (111.1 × 46.4 × 84.8 cm)
Title
Object Name • Stitching pony belonging to and used by William Sugg
Record ID
nmaahc_2015.44.1a-f
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
STITCHING PONY BELONGING TO AND USED BY WILLIAM SUGG
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Name
Sugg, William
Place
Sugg McDonald House • United States • North and Central America • Tuolumne County • California • Sonora
Topic
Skilled labor • American West • Labor unions • Craftsmanship • Family • Business
Culture
African Americans
Geo Location
Locale • Sugg McDonald House • City • Sonora • County • Tuolumne County • State • California • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America
Online Media Type
Images
Online Media Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions

Media

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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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.