Moore, Amzie (1911–1982)

An ardent civil-rights worker in the Mississippi Delta, Moore conceived of the voter registration campaign that became the central focus of Freedom Summer in 1964. He was employed by the U.S. Post Office from 1935 before serving in the U.S. Army in World War II. Following the war, he opened small businesses in Cleveland, MS that also became meeting places for civil rights efforts. From the 1950s, he helped build the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL). His house was often used by civil-rights workers in the area as a “safe house.”