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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...

Katherine Johnson — Mathematics to the Moon

Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.

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

Silk organza unfinished dress with blue embroidery

Date
ca. 1966
Created by
Unidentified
Subject of
Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007
Description
A silk organza unfinished dress with blue embroidery. The unfinished dress consists of three parts, a bodice, sleeves with a pattern piece, and a skirt panel. All of these elements are made of silk organza embroidered with florals in blue two-ply cotton embroidery thread. The sleeveless bodice (a) has a square neckline in the front and transitions into a deep-V at the back. White glass beads arranged in floral motifs embellish the neckline at the front and back. The neckline is a separate panel from the bodice, and the seams where it is machine-stitched to the bodice are scalloped and bound with the same blue thread used for the fabric’s embroidery. The bodice’s back is constructed of two bias-cut panels that originally joined at the center back. Each back panel includes the shoulders of the bodice that extend over to the front. Along both sides of the center back opening, the fabric is held together with straight pins, four on the proper left side and six on the proper right side. The bodice’s interior has a camisole lining constructed of synthetic (likely acetate) faille overlaid with net (likely nylon). These two layers of fabric are machine-stitched together along their seams and bottom hem. The camisole has two bust darts and synthetic gauze straps that are held in place with lingerie strap guards at each shoulder. Two straight pins hold the camisole and bodice fabric layers together at the center front near the bottom hem.
This unfinished bodice is also paired with a sleeve paper pattern piece and two pieces of silk organza (b). The same silk organza used on the bodice is used for the sleeve panels. The Simplicity sleeve pattern is pinned to two panels of fabric with nine metal straight pins. The fabric is pinned to the pattern’s wrong side. The creator of this object modified this pattern as the fabric panels are short, but the paper pattern is for long bishop sleeves. The pattern includes instructions in English, Spanish, and French and has multiple markings and instructions across the surface of the paper. Information on the pattern is printed on the top proper left corner which reads “Printed in U.S.A. Simplicity 4114 - size 16, 10 pieces given, Sleeve view 1.”
The ensemble is also paired with an unfinished skirt panel made of the same silk organza as the previous components. The panel is folded in half with the right sides together. The edges of the fabric are pinned together with sixteen straight pins. The top (waist) edge of the skirt curves downwards and is squared off with newspaper wedges pinned to the fabric. The newspaper with the skirt panel is the “Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., April 24, 1966” and is pieced together from 3 different newspaper pieces pinned together with three pins. The fabric is unlined and unstitched.
Cataloging Notes
This project received Federal support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.
Topic
African American
Clothing and dress
Fashion
Local and regional
See more items in
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Collection title
Black Fashion Museum Collection
Classification
Clothing - Fashion and Historical
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2007.3.646abc
Type
dresses
patterns (guides)
Restrictions & Rights
No known copyright restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
silk organza, cotton embroidery thread, synthetic faille, glass beads, paper, newspaper, and metal pins
Dimensions
L x W (a. bodice): 17 × 10 in. (43.2 × 25.4 cm)
L x W (b. sleeve pattern): 26 × 27 1/2 in. (66 × 69.9 cm)
L x W (c. skirt panel): 27 1/2 × 21 in. (69.9 × 53.3 cm)
Title
Object Name • Silk organza unfinished dress with blue embroidery
Record ID
nmaahc_2007.3.646abc
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
SILK ORGANZA UNFINISHED DRESS WITH BLUE EMBROIDERY
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Date
1960s • 1970s
Name
Black Fashion Museum
Topic
Clothing and dress • Fashion
Culture
African Americans
Type
Dresses (garments) • patterns (guides)
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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Pinback button reading “Black Folk Must Vote”

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Yellow pleated dupioni hat

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NMAAHC

Silk organza unfinished dress with blue embroidery

Date: Date

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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

Which Supreme Court case ruled state-sponsored public-school segregation unconstitutional?

Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.