{"id":48229,"date":"2025-12-16T22:47:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T03:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virginiakeybeachpark.net\/?p=48229"},"modified":"2025-12-16T22:47:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T03:47:52","slug":"from-protest-to-preservation-virginia-key-beach-marks-80-years-as-a-black-cultural-haven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virginiakeybeachpark.net\/hat\/from-protest-to-preservation-virginia-key-beach-marks-80-years-as-a-black-cultural-haven\/","title":{"rendered":"From protest to preservation: Virginia Key Beach marks 80 years as a Black cultural haven"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once the only beach Black Miamians could access, the historic park now stands as a powerful monument to civil rights, memory and cultural preservation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: https:\/\/www.miamitimesonline.com\/mt_originals\/from-protest-to-preservation-virginia-key-beach-marks-80-years-as-a-black-cultural-haven\/article_3307c592-a8e5-4893-bdda-43dc3c97f7ab.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Athalie Edwards, executive director of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, standing in front of the beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick Range II still remembers the stories his grandmother, the late M. Athalie Range, used to tell him about Virginia Key Beach Park Istorik<\/a>\u2014 the baptisms, easter sunrise services, the smell of sizzling corn dogs from the concession stand, and the laughter of families gathered under the swaying palms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her, it was more than just a beach. It was a hard-won place of belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, decades later, another Athalie \u2014 Athalie Edwards \u2014 stands barefoot near the water\u2019s edge, gazing out at the waves that once taught her family how to swim. She recalls the stories passed down of people ferrying across the bay before the causeway even existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose stories just show me how resilient this park is, even though there was no causeway,\u201d said Edwards, now the executive director of the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. \u201cWe’ve shown how the Black community has stood by Historic Virginia Key Beach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the 80th anniversary<\/a> of the historic \u201ccolored beach\u201d approaches this week, those memories have become even more sacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Led by M. Athalie Range, a task force was formed, eventually becoming the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust.(museumsfordigitallearning.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the anniversary symbolizes to me is a time of celebration and reflection on how far we have come as a people,\u201d said Range, who served as the Trust\u2019s former chair. \u201cThe park is no longer segregated, and people from all walks of life can enjoy the beautiful scenery. That means something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

M. Athalie Range was a Bahamian American civil rights activist and politician who became the first African-American to serve on the Miami City Commission. She led the restoration efforts for Virginia Key Beach Park.  (Virginia Key Beach Park)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A beach born of resistance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Led by M. Athalie Range, a task force was formed, eventually becoming the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Key Beach\u2019s roots trace back to 1896, the year Miami was founded, with Black men making up about one-third of the charter\u2019s original signers.\u00a0But that same year, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized racial segregation. By the 1920s, white-only beaches and swimming areas dominated the coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black millionaire D.A. Dorsey purchased Fisher Island to create a beach for African Americans, but rising taxes forced him to sell it. For years, Black Miamians had no shoreline access \u2014 that is, until May 1945, when civil rights attorney Lawson E. Thomas and others led a peaceful \u201cwade-in\u201d protest at Haulover Beach demanding equal access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Patrick Range II.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can still here the tune, \u201cMy Little Red Top,\u201d playing as teenagers in wet bathing suits swayed to the rhythm of the tune. Virginia Key Beach was our oasis \u2013 a place we could go that would take us away from some of the pain of the Jim Crow era. In 1979, the county transferred the beach to the city of Miami, which closed the park in 1982, citing high mantenance costs. But many of us saw the handwriting on the wall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An old aerial shot of Virginia Key Beach Park.(Virginia Key Beach Park)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are individuals who put their lives on the line, went down to a beach that was only designated for white individuals, to make history,\u201d said Edwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than make arrests, county officials offered an alternative: Virginia Key Beach would open that August to Black residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community activist and artist Dinizulu Gene Tinnie, who later helped preserve the park, said it \u201cdeveloped into a \u2018colored beach\u2019 unlike any other in the South,\u201d with rare amenities like a dance floor, amusement rides, a bathhouse and rental cottages, further enhanced by the Rickenbacker Causeway\u2019s construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miami artist Charles Humes Jr., now 73, recalls the contrast of exclusion. As a child, he and his brother waited in the car while their father picked up their mother from work along Collins Avenue \u2014 segregation barring them from the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had to sit and watch other white children and adults walking and playing and frolicking along the horizon,\u201d he said. \u201cEven though we could not enjoy the sand and the surf, it was a delight just to witness the sights and those beautiful beach sounds of other children playing along the shore, which was so different from the playgrounds where we lived.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edwards recalled a discriminatory practice used to determine social status or access to certain spaces based on the color of one\u2019s skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you couldn’t pass the paper bag test, you had to come here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A picture showcased inside the Virginia Key Beach Park building, depicting the Civil Rights Movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sanctuary by the sea<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An old aerial shot of Virginia Key Beach Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can’t talk about civil rights history in Miami and not mention Virginia Key Beach Park,\u201d said Range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted how Virginia Key\u2019s story inspired future events, including the 1959 wade-in at Crandon Park, led by his grandfather, Oscar Range, and The Miami Times Publisher Emeritus Garth C. Reeves. It quietly helped end\u00a0beach segregation<\/a>\u00a0in Miami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even after desegregation, Virginia Key remained a cherished place for Black families, as well as for Caribbean and South American immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tinnie, who moved to Miami in 1974, recalled one of his first visits:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA Venezuelan family shared their arroz con pollo, and we shared our barbecued chicken. You could just meet people and become friends for a day or longer. That\u2019s the kind of thing parks do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dinizulu Gene Tinnie, community activist, artist, and former trustee of the Virginia Key Beach Park Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restoration and preservation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1982, the City of Miami acquired the beach but closed it soon after, citing high maintenance costs. It deteriorated, used only for special events and police training. In 1999, Tinnie and others discovered plans to develop the site into a private resort. Inspired by the grassroots campaign to save the Miami Circle, they organized to reclaim the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One key figure was M. Athalie Range, the first Black Miami city commissioner. Despite being in her 80s, she told Tinnie, \u201cGene, I think I\u2019ve got one more good fight left in me,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Families enjoying a day at the Virginia Key Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With her leadership and support from Commissioner Arthur E. Teele Jr., a task force was formed, eventually becoming the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. Patrick Range became its chair and secured county funds to restore the beach and create a museum telling its story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and reopened to the public in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Range remembers walking the site with his grandmother in those early days, removing invasive species and restoring the grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo get to witness and be a part of bringing back some of the historic amenities \u2014 the carousel, the mini train, the dance pavilion \u2014 and recall the memories of what those things were during segregation times and how our people enjoyed them, that process was tremendous for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Range joined the Trust board in 2006 after the passing of his grandmother and eventually became chair, carrying forward her vision for full restoration and a Black history museum. He was, however, unable to complete the museum during his tenure, after the city commission took over<\/a> the Trust board in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Edwards, the museum, which has been stalled for several years,\u00a0will have its groundbreaking later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 16-gauge mini train returned to the park in 2006 after restoration efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legacy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How the 16-gauge mini train looked during segregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the 80-acre park remains a vibrant gathering space and cultural classroom, led by Edwards. The anniversary theme, \u201cFrom Coastlines to Communities,\u201d reflects the journey of Black neighborhoods to the beach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur current theme is definitely bringing awareness to where we’ve come from, which is the inland part of Miami all the way down to the shoreline of the beach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edwards continues to advocate for funds to restore the playground, the merry-go-round and the train. Through partnerships with historians, schools, environmentalists and international organizations, she envisions a vibrant future rooted in legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going into schools and providing curriculum so youth understand who the founders were and what took place back then in order for African Americans to have a place to recreate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People reading historic markers at the park.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Tinnie and Range, the anniversary is both a celebration and a call to action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will continue to fight for the things we deserve in this community, including a museum dedicated to our history,\u201d Range said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, waves continue to roll in, the palm trees still sway, and stories echo along the shore. And Edwards remains committed to what she refers to as the park’s “everlasting story.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe park is resilient. The people who founded the park were resilient, and the community that we serve continues to be resilient,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to make sure that we can keep that legacy going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Athalie Edwards continues to advocate for funds to restore the playground, the merry-go-round, and the train while partnering with historians, schools, environmentalists, and international organizations to continue the park’s legacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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