2-832-905 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Pocket watch by Illinois Watch Company used by Harry Tyson Moore, Sterling model. Moore (1905-1951) was an African-American educator, a pioneer leader of the civil rights movement, founder of the first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Brevard County, Florida, and president of the state chapter of the NAACP. He and his wife were fatally injured by a bomb beneath their house. Moore died on the way to the hospital which was about 30 miles away but was the closest to serve African Americans - hospitals were segregated, with black people not permitted to be treated in the better-equippped 'white' hospitals. Watch features a circular white face with black hands and numerals. Under the twelve it has the company and model name "ILLINOIS/ STERLING." There is a second smaller face for marking the seconds at the bottom of the main face. The casing is a plain brass colored metal with a loop and ridged crown at top. The back has a faint cross hatching pattern with a small heraldic crest in the center.