BLACK HISTORY MONTH
As we celebrate Black History Month, it is important to acknowledge and highlight the contributions and experiences of black individuals in various regions of the United States. In participation, So Flo will be providing facts all month about the Black History in South Florida along with the historical and cultural significance to the community.
Historic Lyric Theater
Constructed by Geder Walker, a Black Georgian, the 390-seat theater opened in 1913 as the primary entertainment source for movies and vaudeville performances for the Black people in “Colored Town.” The venue has showcased performances from Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Count Bassie, B.B. King, and countless more. It was the place where Blacks could gather and socialize utterly free from discrimination.
The Lyric Theater operated as a movie theater until 1959, then a church and shuttered shortly after. The Black Archives acquired it in 1988; it was then added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The oldest legitimate theater in Miami, the glory is still not lost. Rehabilitated and restored, the theatre reopened in 2000.
If these streets could talk, a visual exploration of Black Miami is currently on exhibit inside the Lyric Theater, telling the the story of “Colored Town”: how it came to be, the families who lived there, how they lived, the businesses that grew there, and how Civil Rights, the construction of the highway, and other events affected Overtown.
The Historic Lyric Theater is located at 819 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33136
Source: Black History in Miami: 13 Historic Landmarks to Explore (coastlinestoskylines.com)
Overtown
Miami’s Black Wall Street
At the turn of the 20th century, Henry Flagler didn’t just bring his railroad down the East Coast of Florida; he also brought the enslaved that built it. The workers were responsible for building the railroads, streets, and hotels and improving transportation in the local area.
The northwest section of the city was the designated settlement area for the Black population, and where Overtown got its original name, “Colored Town.”
Despite the limitations, it was a place where the Black community could seek refuge from racism and discrimination. It did not prevent the community’s development as the neighborhood grew to become the epicenter of Black wealth in Miami.
As a black diaspora community of American southerners and Caribbean immigrants, its golden age from the 1930’s through the 50’s, Overtown was considered the “Harlem of the South”. It became the Black community’s beating heart, thriving with Black-owned businesses, including hotels, doctors’ offices, arts, and cultural venues.
Legends like Jackie Robinson stayed at the boutique hotels in Overtown because they weren’t allowed to stay in Miami Beach. Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie holiday, B.B. King, Cab Calloway, Nat King Gole and Josephine Baker all headed “over town” to jam and sleep on this side of the railroad tracks after performing in Miami Beach’s segregated nightclubs. The neighborhood soon became known as Miami’s Black Wallstreet and the Harlem of the South. Sam Cooke recorded “Live at the Harlem Square Cub” here. Before he became Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay used to shadow box down NW 2nd Avenue.
In the 1960’s this all changed when the 1-95 highway was constructed, slicing the neighborhood in two, necessitating the destruction of large swathes of land and many homes – again, a pattern repeated all over the US – discriminately displacing over 40,000 Black families. The highway went over the community without any exits into the community. The fragmented neighborhood shrank to 10,000 people, businesses closed, poverty climbed, the area became economically depressed.
Although Overtown has gone through years of neglect, a second renaissance is in the works with events like Overtown Folklife Friday and establishments like The Copper Door Bed & Breakfast and Red Rooster, bringing a resurgence to the neighborhood.
Filled with murals from Purvis Young and the sounds of the Overtown roosters, the area’s strong roots have remained. For now. Will future growth erase or celebrate Overtown’s remarkable past? Hopefully gentrification will not see the total demise of the heart and history of this historic Black neighborhood.
History Miami Museum offers tours throughout South Florida that include Overtown. Check out their tour calendar for availability.
Source: Black History in Miami: 13 Historic Landmarks to Explore (coastlinestoskylines.com)
African-American History and Culture in Miami’s Overtown | VISIT FLORIDA
Historic Black Police Precinct
and Courthouse Museum
In 1944, five men broke barriers when they were sworn in as the first Black patrolmen with the Miami Police Department, paving the way for African Americans in law enforcement. They were known as the ‘first five’.
It would be another six years before the officers and judges were given what is now the Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum building to operate. Before that, they were forced to operate out of a dentist's office until the Black police precinct and courthouse was created in 1950.
There was no job security or benefits. Segregation was so intense, these five men weren’t allowed to be called officers or arrest white people even if a crime was happening right in front of them. Black officers also weren’t allowed to patrol White neighborhoods, and the courthouse had an African-American judge for Black people only.
The officers patrolled on bicycles and foot, as they had no cars, no radio contact, or headquarters. This did not discourage them as they transported criminals by walking or on bicycle handlebars. Even though history was made with the hiring of black police officers, segregation still abounded, and as such, they couldn’t wear their uniforms to court or even go inside the main police station. The museum is also home to a courthouse where Black judges presided
The Black police precinct and courthouse were set to be demolished and turned into a parking lot many years ago. Retired officers fought tooth and nail to keep it open, making it a home for precious collectibles and a place where the community can learn about their rich history.
Today, the Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum in the heart of Overtown hold historical mementos from the era, documenting the story of Miami’s ‘first five’. It is home to decades of memorabilia and is filled with displays and collectibles, detailing the struggles and accomplishments of Miami’s first Black officers.
You can join a tour, and in some instances, get a firsthand account from former members of the force themselves.
Source: Black History in Miami: 13 Historic Landmarks to Explore (coastlinestoskylines.com)
Dorsey House
Self-taught and born to former slaves, Dana Albert (D.A.) Dorsey’s life, success and philanthropic efforts are the embodiment of the American dream. With just a fourth-grade education, Dorsey became Miami’s first African-American millionaire and major land owner.
In 1915, Dana Albert Dorsey, built this white frame vernacular home for his wife. Dorsey amassed a real estate empire while developing Overtown as the center of Miami’s Black community—helping to organize South Florida’s first Black bank (People’s National Bank) and Miami’s first Black high school (Miami Northwestern), and donating the land for the city park and the first Black library (Dorsey Library) in the city.
Dorsey even owned the land that is now the wealthiest community in Miami: Fisher Island, wanting to build a colored resort were wealthy black people were allowed to swim since during the Jim Crow era, blacks were not allowed to even swim in the beach or get in the water. At the time the Miami Daily Metropolis put on its front page and it says, “Negro Buys 1/3 of the Keys To Erect A Colored Resort.”
Alas his dream did not come to fruition as he had many issues building and expanding on Fisher Island, notably because it was that it was on the east side of a railroad tracks and back then Henry Flagler designated the east side of the railroad tracks for white people on the west side for black people. In the end he sold the island to Carl Fisher and it is no a predominantly White affluent area.
The Dana A. Dorsey House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc., founded in 1977 by Dr. Dorothy Jenkins Fields. As owners of the D.A. Dorsey House, the group completed a restoration of the House to serve as a community resource center in 1995.
Dorsey house, in a simple style called “Frame Vernacular,” was severely damaged in Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It’s been renovated to its original plan and includes the original façade as well as a front porch that dates to 1940.
The inside of the Dorsey House is now an exhibition space dedicated to how the Black community came into being in Overtown. Cases displaying African art and artifacts are juxtaposed with information in text and photos about slavery in the pre-Civil War period both in general and more specifically in Florida. It also covers the Caribbean – particularly Bahamian – escapees and ex-slaves who immigrated to Miami, as well as topics like people who escaped slavery by fleeing north, the African-Americans who emigrated “back” to Africa, and the more recent waves of Black immigrants from Africa.
Dorsey House: 250 NW 9th St. Admission: free.
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