Chanelle N. Rose - The struggle for Black freedom in Miami : civil rights and Americas tourist paradise, 1896-1968

The Struggle for Black Freedom in Miami

MAKING THE MODERN SOUTH
David Goldfield, Series Editor

Civil Rights and Americas Tourist Paradise, 18961968

CHANELLE N. ROSE

Louisiana State University Press
Baton Rouge

Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright 2015 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing

Designer: Michelle A. Neustrom
Typeface: Newslab
Printer and binder: Maple Press

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rose, Chanelle N., 1975
The struggle for Black freedom in Miami : civil rights and Americas tourist paradise, 18961968 / Chanelle N. Rose.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8071-5765-7 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8071-5766-4 (pdf) ISBN 978-0-8071-5767-1 (epub) ISBN 978-0-8071-6000-8 (mobi) 1. African AmericansCivil rightsFloridaMiamiHistory20th century. 2. Civil rights movementsFloridaMiamiHistory20th century. 3. African AmericansFloridaMiamiHistory20th century. 4. African AmericansFloridaMiamiBiography. 5. Miami (Fla.)Race relations. 6. Miami (Fla.)Ethnic relations. I. Title. II. Title: Civil rights and Americas tourist paradise, 18961968.
F319.M6R76 2015
323.119607307593810904dc23

2014039498

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

I t takes a village to raise a child and a wealth of support to write a book. This book finally came to fruition because of the unwavering support, encouragement, prayers, and guidance from the village: family, friends, advisors, mentors, colleagues, graduate colleagues, archivists, and community activists. My greatest debts are to some of the civil rights activists and black pioneers (for example, John O. Brown, A. D. Moore, Leomi Culmer, Eugenia Thomas, Enid Curtis Pinkney, Garth C. Reeves Sr., John and Patricia-Stephens Due, Georgia Ayers, Gladys Taylor, Benny O. Barry, Bill Sawyer, Athalie Range, and Burnett Roth) who allowed me into their homes and shared their experiences in Miami. And I am forever indebted to Marten W. Brienen for engaging in numerous, long conversations about Miami and the larger meaning of its black freedom struggle, for his probing questions, thought-provoking ideas, and constructive, heart-wrenching criticism; and special thanks for his unpaid hours helping me to revise my manuscript.

I am extremely appreciative and thankful for the support of numerous institutions that helped me to tell this rich story. Thank you Dorothy Jenkins Fields, Timothy Barber, Stephanie Wanza, and Rhonda Etienne at the Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc., for assisting me in unearthing your dynamic archival collections. Special thanks to Beatrice Skokan, librarian of special collections, and Marcia Evanson, research service supervisor of university archives at the University of Miamis Otto Richter Library, for their invaluable contributions to the evolution of this project. I am also grateful to archivists, librarians, and directors at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida (especially Dawn Hugh), the Sanford Ziff Jewish Museum of Florida, the Library of Congress, the Miami-Dade Public Library, Florida State Archives, Florida International University, the University of South Florida, the Unitarian Church of Miami, the Miami City Clerks Office, and the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust (especially Guy Forchion).

The scholarship and feedback from various scholars made possible the completion of this book. I would especially like to thank Donald Spivey and Clarence Taylor for their unyielding support, mentorship, and great insight. The expertise and in some cases critique of colleagues who work in similar fields were indispensible to this project. They include Marvin Dunn, Bill Carrigan, Gregory Bush, Melanie Shell-Weiss, Brian Behnken, Gary Mormino, Raymond Mohl, Eric Tscheschlok, Louis Prez, Paul S. George, Alex Lichtenstein, Robert Casanello, Robin Bachin, Deborah Dash Moore, Nathan Connolly, Paul Ortiz, David Colburn, William Chafe, Darryl B. Harris, Clive Webb, Nancy Hewitt, Gerald Horne, Elizabeth Jacoway, Winston James, Violet Showers Johnson, Howard Johnson, Steven Lawson, Jeffrey Ogbar, Manfred Berg, Elaine Tyler May, Paul Ortiz, Brian Peterson, Alejandro Portes and Alex Stepick, Glenda Alice Rabby, Mary Gambrell Rolinson, Patricia Sullivan, Stephen Tuck, Kip Vought, Claudrena Harold, and Cheris Brewer Current. Equally important, the critical support from my colleagues, friends, and associates at Rowan University helped me to finish this manuscript. Thank you Denise Williams, Emily Blank, Tanya Clark, James Gaymon, Melissa Klapper, Joy Wiltenberg, Kelly Duke-Bryant, Edward Wang, Cory Blake, Scott Morschauser, James Heinzen, Janet Moore Lindman, Sandra Joy, DeMond Miller, Richard Jones, Gardy Guiteau, Lourin Plant, Majeeda Hason, and Natalie Reaves. I would also like to thank David Goldfield and Rand Dotson at the Louisiana State University Press for their investment in this project and its publication.

Over the past decade, longtime friends and new ones have helped to make this journey and process truly delightful. I could not have survived and thrived during this experience without the tenacious support of Tanisha Drummond (you rock!), Joanna Wedderburn, Bettyna Abny, Valerie Blemur, Melanie Bent, Thania Saintil, Pamella McMillan, Eric Garrett, Edmund Abaka, Elyssa Ford, Valerie Roden, Sybil Lipschultz, Sandra Hudson, Carmen Lopez, Frantz Eugene, Ameenah Shakir, Emily Blank, Monique Bedasse, Mylena Sutton, Brandi Johnson, Malcolm Frierson, and Waleed Driscoll.

To my immediate family, words cannot fully express my gratitude, but I will try. Dad (Jimmy), thank you for your humor, indelible spirit, and unwavering faith in this project and me. Your love and support continue to blow me away, daily. We did it! My mother, Pat, gave me the shelter, sustenance, and security needed to finish this work. Thanks, mum! And a special thanks to my brother, Gary. And the greatest thanks go to my sister, Caron. Thank you for taking out the time from your very busy schedule as a third-grade teacher to read book chapters over and over again, review articles, help revise papers for conferences, and peruse book reviews. You have been my life coach, creative guru, confidante, editor, critic, and chief cheerleader throughout this entire process. I am truly blessed to have you in my corner.

Finally, I am so grateful to God for enabling me to enjoy this journey and the spirit of my ancestors whose shoulders I stand on. Ashe!