What No One Talks About Needs to be Remembered on Virginia Key

The Historic Virginia Key Beach Park is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Historic Virginia Key Beach Park is a park born of the legacy of segregation. 

It is a legacy that the late M. Athalie Range, founding director of the park’s Trust, wanted to make sure was not forgotten. 

In her recollections (reprinted in a park brochure), Range revisits both the joy and pain of the past to summon a call to action to a new generation:

"Virginia Key Beach was special to us because of the laws of segregation. It was ours. It was the only place that welcomed us and the only place where we could be free, in a way. It was not a very good feeling to have the coast of Miami as a beach with all this beautiful water around you and you couldn’t enjoy it during the days of segregation when blacks were not welcome. Signs on beaches said No Jews, No Dogs, and No Coloreds.

I remember the popcorn, corndogs and Nehi sodas. The hurdy-gurdy music of the carousel, the whistle of the beach’s mini-train. I remember how going to the beach was an all-day affair; families would pack blankets an enough food to feed a small army and while away hours at the beach dancing, swimming and fellowshipping.

There were several developers and entrepreneurs who wanted to build on the beach. When we found that out, through public meetings, we had to plead with them not to let this happen. That is when we made the push to revitalize the beach as it was in those days. People don’t know the history of South Florida. Nobody talks about the segregated beaches and golf courses.

Those were our lunch counters (at the concession stand). Those are the things that need to be remembered. I hope my 10 grandchild and 10 great-grandchildren will be able to enjoy the work we’re trying to accomplish today. There is a legacy here.”

Miami-Dade County opened the beach park in 1945.

Support the legacy: 

The Historic Virginia Key Park Trust will be holding a fundraiser next month. All proceeds from the Larry Little Annual Celebrity Charity Golf Tournament  to be held Dec. 2-3, 2010 at the Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, will benefit the restoration, operation and capital improvement projects at the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park.  For more info on this event and other ways to support the park, contact Ingrid Stuart at 305-960-4617 or email istuart@miamigov.com.

The park was restored and reopened in 2008 after extensive renovations spearheaded by the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. 

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Fun in the Sun Youth Festival part of environmental tradition

The Historic Virginia Key Beach Park will host the second annual Fun in the Sun Youth environmental festival (FISY) from 12 to 8 p.m., Saturday, May 1, 2010.

Outdoor activities include environmental projects, ocean conservation talks, sea grass adventure tours, healthy cooking demonstrations and games and prizes.

Environmental education and awareness is part of the historic tradition of the park, which officially opened in 1945 as a county facility for blacks only during the era of segregation.

Planning with and for the unique natural environment on the barrier island has been integral part of park’s community-led restoration. To that end, the federally funded project that restored the interior wetlands, tropical hardwood hammock and coastal dunes was done in concert with restoration of the historic site and recreational amenities that now exist.

In December 2000, the Virginia Key Civil Rights Task Force submitted a report to the City of Miami that stressed the significance of creating a “conservation buffer zone” as part of the “historic” experience. The report stated: "Oral testimonies, re-creations and photographic documentation indicate that these natural features were an integral part of the appeal of Virginia Key Beach Park and contributed significantly to its being considered a special place."

The festival is an attempt to reach out to a new generation of environmental stewards.

The late M. Athalie Range, the chairperson of the Virginia Key Civil Rights Task Force, described the challenges in reaching out to youth and newcomers:

“The fast-changing world in which we live makes it very difficult for our younger generations and for those who arrived in Miami in more recent years to appreciate why Virginia Key beach is such and important and special place to restore and preserve. Certainly for African Americans who remember it as ‘the only place we could go’ during the segregation area, there are no words that can summarize or describe what it meant to have this beautiful gathering place which brought together baptisms and religious services, courtships and honeymoon, organizational gatherings, visiting celebrities and general family recreation. This experience would be shared by some of the earliest arriving Cuban refugee families, and eventually, after desegregation, by everyone who could enjoy this precious natural retreat located right in the City, yet serene and free from view of large buildings. ...We have become even more aware of the Park’s unique and fragile natural environment and how valuable it is to a city with no other large-scale natural preserve.”

The historic Virginia Key Beach Park is located at 4020 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami (second beach entrance right before Bear Cut Bridge as you’re heading south towards Key Biscayne). The event is free; parking fees still apply.

Virginia Key Beach Park also has a children’s playground, nature trails in restored wetlands and along sandy dunes, picnic areas and barbecue stands. Vintage amusement rides include the Biscayne Virginia Rickenbacker Central Miniature Train Ride and the Allan Herschell Vintage Carousel (separate fees apply for amusement rides).

More info on the park: http://www.virginiakeybeachpark.net/
FISY event video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PQR6DEFtoU