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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.

Photograph of Rev. John B. Randolph and a church event program

Date

1925

Photograph by

Unidentified

Subject of

Rev. John B. Randolph

Created by

Unidentified

Description

This photograph (.1) and program (.2) featuring the same photograph depict Rev. John B. Randolph and the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Haddonfield, New Jersey. The photograph shows Randolph standing in front of a studio backdrop of a column and flowers. He wears a dark-colored three-piece suit, a dark bowtie, a pocket watch, and holds a key in his right hand. His right arm is bent at the elbow and he stands with his body turned to the left but his face directly at the camera. On the reverse a handwritten inscription erroneously identifies him as Rev. Theodore O. Randolph.
The program (.2) features a print of the same photograph at the center front with text above and below, including his correct name identified in type below the photograph. The interior pages of the program contain the schedule of events for October 25, 1925, celebrating the remodeling of the church. A print of a drawing of the church on the back page indicates a "new cornice" and a "future spire." The program is printed all in black, and is formed from a single sheet of paper folded in half vertically to make four pages.

Place used

Haddonfield, Camden County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America

Topic

African American
Architecture
Baptist
Photography
Religion
The Black Church
Worship services

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification

Memorabilia and Ephemera - Other
Photographs and Still Images

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

2014.63.102.20.1-.2

Type

gelatin silver prints
programs

Restrictions & Rights

No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Medium

.1: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper on card mount
.2: ink on paper

Dimensions

H x W (.1): 6 1/16 × 4 3/8 in. (15.4 × 11.1 cm)
H x W (.2 closed): 8 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (21.6 × 14 cm)

Title

Object Name • Photograph of Rev. John B. Randolph and a church event program

Record ID

nmaahc_2014.63.102.20.1-.2

Museum

NMAAHC

Title Sort

PHOTOGRAPH OF REV. JOHN B. RANDOLPH AND A CHURCH EVENT PROGRAM

Source

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Metadata Usage

CC0

Date

1920s

Name

Randolph, John B.

Place

United States • Camden County • North and Central America • Haddonfield • New Jersey

Topic

Photography • Architecture • Religion • The Black Church • Worship services

Culture

Baptists • African Americans

Geo Location

City • Haddonfield • County • Camden County • State • New Jersey • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America

Type

Programs (documents) • Photographs

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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