Credit: John Mosley Collection, Courtesy Charles L. Blockson Afro American Collection, Temple University.
The fiery president of the Philadelphia NAACP between 1963 and 1967, Cecil B. Moore led the demonstrations against Girard College that culminated in the desegregation of that school. A former Marine, Moore preferred direct action to the quiet negotiations favored by other NAACP leaders. Nor did Moore mince his words. "I was determined when I got back [from World War II] that what rights I didn't have I was going to take, using every weapon in the arsenal of democracy. After nine years in the Marine Corps, I don't intend to take another order from any son of a bitch that walks."
