Dorothy Jenkins Fields: Native daughters lead plans to honor Julia Tuttle and celebrate Miami's 114th birthday
BY DOROTHY JENKINS FIELDS
SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD
The city of Miami will celebrate 114 years of incorporation on Wednesday, and a statue of Julia Tuttle (1849-1898), ``the Mother of Miami,'' will be unveiled at Bayfront Park.
The Miami-Dade County Commission for Women and the City of Miami Commission on the Status of Women erected the statue to honor Tuttle's contributions as a visionary and the only woman to found a major city in the United States. She made outstanding achievements in spite of the limitations placed on women in 1896.
Historian Arva Moore Parks, a native Miamian, led the Oversight Committee of the two women's commissions through the historical research process for accuracy of the scenes depicted on the statue's skirt. Over $200,000 was raised to construct the statute.
The 10-foot bronze statue will be unveiled at a ceremony at 9:30 a.m. at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP to the Miami Downtown Development Authority, 305.579-6675 or info@miami
dda.com.
Previous recognitions of Tuttle include: naming of the 36th Street causeway for her, initiated by the Miami Woman's Club, and books Julia's Daughters: Women in Dade's History, 1513-1975 and Beyond Julia's Daughters: Women In Miami-Dade History (Herstory, 1975-2000).
At my birth in Miami's Colored Town, now Overtown, Julia Tuttle was a household name.
Family members admired this business-minded white woman who, after relocating from Cleveland, envisioned Miami's wilderness one day becoming a metropolis.
When I was growing up, my stepfather, the late James McKellar, was the caretaker and head waiter at the Miami Woman's Club that started the city's birthday celebration in the 1930s. During his 45 years of employment at the Miami Woman's Club, we enjoyed the birthday cake he brought home.
Decades later, my research produced a copy of the city of Miami's original charter. This document shows that one-third of the registered voters were black. The Black Archives continues seeking documents from families of voters and other residents of Colored Town, encouraging them to tell their stories.
In 1986, the Black Archives began a two-day birthday celebration, ``Happy Birthday Miami'' and the Pre-Centennial Tea at local churches honoring white and black incorporators and Colored Town's pioneer church members.
For Miami's 100th birthday, the Black Archives partnered with Miami Dade College through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council. The Post-Centennial Tea continued until 2008.
One year, Miami's history was presented to children at the Community Partnership for the Homeless in conjunction with the Miami Woman's Club.
From 2001 to 2007, the Black Archives presented a birthday cake in Little Havana at Viernes Culturales/Cultural Fridays recognizing the Daniel Johnson family and other Colored Town/Overtown residents who once lived in Little Havana.
Another Miami native, Silvia Morales, in 2001 established DowntownMiami.com showcasing downtown through the Internet.
She is spearheading the 2010 official city birthday celebration and cake-cutting at the AmericanAirlines Arena, 6 to
9 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets are $25 per person with proceeds to community organizations. Purchase tickets through aaarena.com.
The community is invited to join native daughters Arva, Dorothy and Silvia at the birthday celebrations.
Dorothy Jenkins Fields, Ph.D., is a historian and founder of the Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of South Florida Inc. Send feedback, questions or news to djf@bellsouth.net.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/23/1743294/dorothy-jenkins-fields-native.html#ixzz17rEOtET3
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