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In Class with Dr. George: Defining Moments in South Florida History

09/12/2023 @ 1:00 pm – 10/10/2023 @ 3:00 pm

Tuesdays starting September 12th

Class Schedule:

Sept 12thClass Introduction & The Area’s Early History
Downtown Miami Metromover Tour
Sept 19thThe Homesteading Era & Incorporation and the Early Years of the City of Miami
Tropical Dreams Highlights Tour
Sept 26thBoom/Bust, Economic Depression, and War
Highlights from the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives at MDC
Oct 3rdThe Post-War Boom
Miami Riverwalk Tour
Oct 10thThe Emergence of an International City
Lummus Park Neighborhood Walk
Class schedule is subject to change.

Delve into the history of Miami and South Florida with our Resident Historian, Dr. Paul S. George. Over the course of 5-weeks, Dr. George will lead you on an exploration of the defining moments of our region’s history. Each class session will include lecture and discussion followed by tours of either the museum’s exhibitions or historic sites in Downtown Miami.

Lecture topics to include: the area’s early history and peoples; the homesteading era; incorporation and the early years of the City of Miami; Boom/Bust and the 1920s; Depression and war; the post WWII Boom; and the emergence of an international city.

Class registration includes all five classes in the semester, printed class handouts, and a complimentary Family Pass to the museum. There are no make-up days should you miss a class. Limited to 35 participants.

Members: $275, Non-Members: $325
Register

Lecture Topics:

The history of South Florida is vast. We at HistoryMiami Museum are working towards telling an inclusive story and yet acknowledge that the whole story cannot be taught over the course of these five weeks. We hope this class inspires you to dive deeper into the diverse history of South Florida and the people who made it their home.

This lecture will focus on the area’s indigenous peoples, who lived here at least 10,000 years ago. Important archaeological discoveries along the Miami River and near Biscayne Bay in the past half century have opened our eyes to this fact. Others who will be discussed here include the Tequesta Indians, arguably the descendants of the first peoples, Spanish missions to the Tequesta and Seminoles, who came to South Florida in the early 1700s, and played a consequential role in shaping its development in subsequent centuries.
Before there was a city of Miami, there were numerous homesteading communities that dotted the areas looking out upon Biscayne Bay in the second half of the nineteenth century. Although these settlements were small in size, they were consequential in laying the foundations for not only the future City of Miami, but also other important centers of vast Miami-Dade County. These pioneers helped give direction to the evolving communities following the railroad’s entry into Miami in the late 19th century.
The entry of Henry M. Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway in Miami in 1896 brought monumental changes to the area, since it connected it by land, for the first time, to points north. The City of Miami grew quickly after the rail’s entry and influenced the development of many other portions of the county. Early on the nascent city was a magnet for various races and ethnic groups.
The great real estate boom of the mid-1920s transformed Miami and its environs from a frontier city surrounded by several agricultural settlements into an emerging metropolitan area. For the first time, the area was in the national limelight, as visitors and investors rushed to its sunny shores to get rich in real estate ventures. New communities like Coral Gables, Miami Springs and Miami Shores were products of the Boom. The bust that followed in 1926 and thereafter previewed for the nation the Great Depression that descended upon it following the stock market crash in 1929.
Despite challenging economic conditions, the Depression Decade was eventful, with Greater Miami experiencing growth in many sectors while positioning itself as a major tourist and aviation center. Further, the area arose from the economic quagmire more quickly than much of the rest of the nation. Greater Miami thrived in the wartime decade of the 1940s, serving as an immense training base for hundreds of thousands of men and women in uniform, while positioning itself through its exposure to many who migrated here after the conflict.
The construction, population, and tourism booms that followed the end of World War II drove the area to new heights, placing it squarely in the front ranks of America’s metropolitan regions. Areas that were still swampland and piney woods before the war were now hosting new suburban communities. A robust airport and seaport exposed millions over the course of the postwar decades to the magic of the Magic City. Beneath the gloss of this sparkling area, minorities were fighting for rights, environmentalists were lobbying for the protection of its unique ecology, and law enforcement agencies were tamping down on spiraling crime.
Miami and Dade County recognized early in their development that geography often determines destiny. The area’s close proximity to Cuba, the Caribbean, the West Indies and even South America made it a haven for people fleeing the tyranny and economic malaise of nearby countries for the freedom and opportunity afforded by the United States. Miami became ground zero for this process and, in the process, was transformed into a flourishing international city. With its increased urbanity came a cultural renaissance and a rebirth of venerable center city neighborhoods.

Featured Speaker:

Dr. George stands in a blue suit with red tie before a black and white photography exhibition against grey walls.
Paul S. George, Ph.D.
Resident Historian

For over three decades, HistoryMiami Museum’s Resident Historian Dr. Paul S. George has toured his way to local, national, and international acclaim with his continuing series of historic tours. Through walking, coach, and boat tour experiences, Dr. George has welcomed tour participants on a memorable journey of South Florida through its historic neighborhoods, landmarks, and sites. As a Miami native, author, and former college professor, Dr. George has gained fame for his uncanny ability to recall the most impressive details about the people and places that make South Florida so unique.

HistoryMiami Museum

101 West Flagler Street
Miami, 33130 United States + Google Map
305-375-1492
https://www.historymiami.org
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Accessibility
To request materials in accessible format, sign language interpreters, and/or any disability accommodation, please contact Hana Squires, Accessibility Coordinator, at accessibility@historymiami.org or call (305) 375-1621 at least two weeks in advance of your visit to initiate your request. TTY users may also call 711 (Florida Relay Service.)

Release
​By entering the premises, you consent to interview(s), photography, audio recording, video recording and its/their release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, web casts, promotional purposes, telecasts, advertising, inclusion on web sites, or any other purpose by HistoryMiami Museum (HMM) and its affiliates and representatives. You release HistoryMiami Museum (HMM) its officers and employees, and each and all persons involved from any liability connected with the taking, recording, digitizing, or publication of interviews, photographs, computer images, video and/or or sound recordings. By entering the premises, you waive all rights you may have to any claims for payment or royalties in connection with any exhibition, streaming, webcasting, televising, or other publication of these materials, regardless of the purpose or sponsoring of such exhibiting, broadcasting, webcasting, or other publication irrespective of whether a fee for admission or sponsorship is charged. You also waive any right to inspect or approve any photo, video, or audio recording taken by HistoryMiami Museum (HMM) or the person or entity designated to do so by HistoryMiami Museum (HMM) You have been fully informed of your consent, waiver of liability, and release before entering the premise.

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Release

By entering the premises, you consent to interview(s), photography, audio recording, video recording and its/their release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, web casts, promotional purposes, telecasts, advertising, inclusion on web sites, or any other purpose by HistoryMiami Museum (HMM) and its affiliates and representatives. You release HistoryMiami Museum (HMM) its officers and employees, and each and all persons involved from any liability connected with the taking, recording, digitizing, or publication of interviews, photographs, computer images, video and/or or sound recordings. By entering the premises, you waive all rights you may have to any claims for payment or royalties in connection with any exhibition, streaming, webcasting, televising, or other publication of these materials, regardless of the purpose or sponsoring of such exhibiting, broadcasting, webcasting, or other publication irrespective of whether a fee for admission or sponsorship is charged. You also waive any right to inspect or approve any photo, video, or audio recording taken by HistoryMiami Museum (HMM) or the person or entity designated to do so by HistoryMiami Museum (HMM) You have been fully informed of your consent, waiver of liability, and release before entering the premise.