The Virginia Key Beach Park Trust archive is an oral history and photographic collection containing interviews from activists and citizens who participated in or experienced South Florida segregation and the mid 1940’s civic activism that was the foundation for the creation of the segregated Virginia Key Beach in 1945 (now Historic Virginia Key Beach Park) as well as its current restoration through the efforts of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. Each person uniquely recounts their personal experiences and histories about the beach, including stories about relatives, friends, and both political and personal battles in the segregated climate.

Visit Our Virtual Tour site. This Virtual tour application allows you to discover notable points of interest at Historic Beach. When the tour site, Tap Home in the upper right to return to the main page. Tap Tour Map at the bottom to locate your position in the park and find the closest tour site. Tap Tour Sites to access a direct list of the virtual tour sites. Our Virtual Tour application is available on all web-enabled smartphones and tablet devices with a full browser. Visit mytour.toursphere.com on your device.

On May 9th, 1945, a group of seven Black beachgoers went swimming at Baker’s Haulover Beach in Miami. This was unusual because Miami’s beaches were off-limits to Black bathers. This historic swim was known as a “wade-in” and was an act of civil disobedience by those who took part. The goal was to draw attention to the fact that, despite the laws of Jim Crow touting “separate but equal” public facilities, there was no public beach available, at all, for African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans. This public act of law-breaking led to no arrests and little press was given to the event. Some think this is because of the city’s wish to maintain its reputation as a vacationer’s paradise.