These stories were collected during the Overtown community walking tour in collaboration with the Miami Dolphins Football UNITES program, the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater, the Ward Rooming House, and the Dorsey House. The following stories are in response to our Miami Stories Story Dice activity.
What words come to mind when you think of Overtown after this tour?
Write a haiku about Overtown and incorporate what you learned on the tour!
Overtown, full of culture.
A rich history
Being stolen without notice.
Dorsey. Millionaire.
Lended cash for shares
In company needs.
Fables crosses burned.
Millionaire’s hidden truth.
Overtown shall thrive.
Lived in my time here.
Despite ‘paper pen’ criminal.
Man – nothing – everything.
Existence is rebellion in here.
Look around the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater and name 5 interesting details about the space.
- The banners
- The stage
- The burnt cross
- The paintings
- The library
- The quotes
- The color
- The atmosphere
- The hanging posters of performers
- The album covers
- The theater
- The architecture
- The artists and the prices they charged
- The meaning of the Lion
- The artist records
- The past shows and how cheap they were
Thoughts on the experience :
After participating in this program, I learned about the long history and values of the African American people. In addition, Miami’s history has long been a society in which people of all races worked together.
D.A Dorsey. When I saw his house I was already interested by how well organized it looked. When I heard his story, I felt proud of my race because even though he was “black,” he became a millionaire and put a little joy in the black community by buying a small piece of a beach so black people could refresh themselves with salt water.
Before this experience, I thought Overtown was just a place where my mother worked (at Booker T Washington) but after this tour, it reminds me of when I was living in New York going out, eating food, enjoying life. Especially the Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan. I see more clearly.
I thought this was just a bunch of history I thought I knew but when we went to the garden and different locations, they would talk about the history. For example the first black millionaire to own a house and car to go to places that other black people didn’t get to go to. I learned how black people and white people were separated and it was a good experience.