Abstract
On May 13th, 1985, the city of Philadelphia erupted into flames. Under the orders of Mayor Wilson Goode, the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb onto the rowhouse containing MOVE, a cult-like organization, on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia causing a fire which killed eleven people, including five children, and burning down sixty-one other houses. But instead of the bombing ending his political career, Mayor Goode was reelected, and the bombing slipped into obscurity outside of Philadelphia. This major event in the history of Philadelphia was forgotten because of the lack of connection between the city and the quasi-Rastafarian beliefs of MOVE and because of the efforts of the city government to move past it.
Included in
MOVE: Philadelphia's Forgotten Bombing
On May 13th, 1985, the city of Philadelphia erupted into flames. Under the orders of Mayor Wilson Goode, the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb onto the rowhouse containing MOVE, a cult-like organization, on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia causing a fire which killed eleven people, including five children, and burning down sixty-one other houses. But instead of the bombing ending his political career, Mayor Goode was reelected, and the bombing slipped into obscurity outside of Philadelphia. This major event in the history of Philadelphia was forgotten because of the lack of connection between the city and the quasi-Rastafarian beliefs of MOVE and because of the efforts of the city government to move past it.
