Paul George on Overtown History

Partial Transcript: Paul Introduces himself and gives a little background.

Keywords: History Museum; Miami-Dade College; historian

Partial Transcript: Paul looks back 100 years and talks about what he is most proud of and what makes him angry. The diversity makes him proud. He is angry about how history has been discarded.

Keywords: discarded history; diversity

Subjects: What makes Paul both proud and angry.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about how people living in the area have no idea about the history of the area. Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami have the largest immigrant population in the world. Immigrant people would not have known the history.

Keywords: City of Miami; history.; immigrants; Miami-Dade County

Subjects: How the history has become lost.

Partial Transcript: Paul explains how hard it is to build a sense of community where there are so many new arrivals. They are struggling just to survive. The community consists of family, friends, and the old county, not this new location.

Keywords: new arrivals; struggling to survive; build a sense of community

Subjects: How new arrivals build a sense of community

Partial Transcript: Paul discusses how the new arrivals are being accepted by the people who have lived there for years. The new arrivals have been viewed with some disdain and suspicion but not like in other parts of the country.

Keywords: suspicion

Subjects: How are the new arrivals viewed by the local resident.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about what a city loses by constantly reinventing itself. He says it loses an understanding of its past, all its history. It is important to remember history because it helps to root you in the present. History gives you a sense of the past.

Keywords: Reinventing

Subjects: What happens when a town constantly reinvents itself.

Partial Transcript: Paul explains what he feels is a community is. He feels a community is made up of many aspects entertainment, beliefs, pride, academics; these are the things that make up a community.

Keywords: Community

Subjects: What makes up a community.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about how to maintain the socio-economic environment of the area. The health of the community depends on the health of the economy. If there are no jobs there is a crisis in the community.

Keywords: Socio economic environment

Subjects: How do we maintain a healthy socio economic environment.

Partial Transcript: Paul expands on his thoughts about maintaining a healthy social and cultural environment. It is difficult to maintain the culture and traditions in a society that is able to move around so freely. Once a generation has passed it is hard to maintain the traditions, they are easily forgotten. Through museums, festivals, and academics it is possible to maintain some of the rich history. Bringing children into the area and teaching them is another way to help them remember the traditions and culture.

Keywords: Healthy social and cultural environment

Subjects: How to maintain the history.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about how they have been preserving the past through building preservation. But it is very hard. Miami was incorporated in 1896 making them a young city. This makes it difficult to hold on to the past. Over the last 100 years, it has been recycled many times. The past has been done away with. Buildings are gone and the people who made strong communities are gone and forgotten.

Keywords: Miami incorporated

Subjects: Why it is so hard to preserve the past.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about what we lose when we tear down and rebuild with no regard for the community. Paul says there are many areas where the rebuilding of new housing will be a boom to areas that have stood dormant for years. But in areas such as Little Havana, and Riverside, where there have been many cultures over the years people are being displaced. They can no longer afford to live there and they move out taking their culture and tradition with them.

Keywords: Cubans; Hondurans; Jewish folks; Riverside; Little Havana

Subjects: What is lost when areas are rebuilt.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about the creation of Overtown. Overtown was called Color Town until after WWII. It was a state-segregated community northwest of downtown Miami, west of the railroad tracks. State law mandated the separation of the races. Railroad workers were the first to come to the area. They were from the Bahamas, Jamaica, and many other black folks from other parts of Florida. In 1920 Miami had the 2nd largest West Indian population after NYC. Residents built a rich cultural and economic community. It was the Expressway and Urban renewal that destroyed this community.

Keywords: Bahamians; Color Town; Hondurans; Jamaicans; WWII; West Indians; expressway; railroad; state segregated; Overtown

Subjects: What Overtown was like before the expressway and Urban renewal.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about some of the popular places in Overtown. One of the most popular places was the Mary Elizabeth Hotel. Many high profile celebrities visited the hotel along with residents who came just for the winter. Other clubs in the area were The Cotton Club, and The Sir John, The Centennial Church, and the Greater Bethany Church. Other places in the area were the Lyric Theater, Rockland Palace, the home of Clyde Killens, Mr. Entertainment, and Lawson Thomas’s law offices. Lawson Thomas was the first black judge in Miami-Dade County. There were physicians, and dentists. This was a vibrant area.

Keywords: Clyde Killens; Cotton Club; Lawson Thomas; Malcolm X; Martin Luther King; Mohamed Ali; Sir John; The Centennial Church; The greater Bethany Church; black judge,; Mary Elizabeth Hotel

Subjects: Overtown was a vibrant community.

Partial Transcript: Paul compares the Lower East Side Yiddish culture and Harlem’s cultural mecca with the Miami Beach Yiddish culture and Overtown’s culture. The comparisons can be made in a smaller way. In the 1960 white people started to visit the nightclubs on Second Ave. The end of this culture comes with the Expressway and Urban Renewal. Crime goes up and people stop coming to the area.

Keywords: Harlem; Yiddish Culture; Lower East Side

Subjects: The comparison of NYC’s Yiddish and Black Culture to Miami Beach and Overtown

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about the efforts to fight the development. Very little was done. Paul talks about the documentary Eyes On The Prize. During the 1950s while the Expressway was being planned no one took notice and the community was lost.

Keywords: Eyes On The Prize,

Subjects: Very little was done to fight the Expressway and Urban Renewal

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about what is happening today. There seems to be a renaissance going on. White driven and some black. There is housing coming in, but will it be affordable? It will be more gentrification and revitalization. Paul is hopeful.

Keywords: affordable; gentrification; revitalization; renaissance

Subjects: What is happening in Overtown today.

Partial Transcript: Paul goes back to talk more about Overtown. Miami was a Deep South community in terms of race. As the population grew the residents tried to expand but the police kept them hemmed in. This was for both the white and black communities. The areas around Overtown started to deteriorate.

Keywords: Deep South community

Subjects: Race and the police in Overtown.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about tourism and the affect it has on the sense of community. In some cases, tourists come to visit and end up staying. It has added to the population base. It can also make it very transient. There are 2 seasons. Tourist season and non-tourist season. Paul expands the effect tourism has on the economy.

Keywords: effects on the economy; Tourism

Subjects: The affect tourism has on Miami.

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about the fact that Miami did have a “main street” at one time, it was Flagler Street. That is where everything was happening. All that changed when the strip malls came in. Paul feels there is no “main street” today.

Keywords: ”Main street” Flagler street

Subjects: Does Miami have a “main street”

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about the great boom going on in Miami and how care should be taken to preserve the history. City planners should be careful.

Keywords: preserve the history

Subjects: Creating balance between market forces and social needs

Partial Transcript: Paul talks about where he would go if he could transport himself back in time. He would pick 1896 when the railroad first enters Miami, and the mid-20s, the great real-estate boom. Thirdly he would pick WWII when Miami became a huge service men and women’s base. Paul talks about what he would do to change history in the area if he were back in time. He would encourage people to attend to the history of the area. He would also try to encourage people to preserve the buildings in the area. Today his goal is to disseminate information about the area.

Keywords: service base; 1896 the railroad

Subjects: If Paul could go back in time where would he go.