Receipt for the purchase of a slave named ‘Davy’, September 28, 1850.
Davy was sold by M. Kelly of Richmond, Virginia to John Finlayson of Jefferson County, Florida for $765.
The slave deck of the bark “Wildfire,” brought into Key West on April 30, 1860
The Wildfire carried 510 captives on this voyage from Africa, near the Congo River, to slave markets in the United States. The ship was not filled to its capacity of 1000. Although importing slaves to the United States was prohibited by law in 1808, the slave trade continued for many years.
The Wildfire was intercepted by an American steamer and brought to port at Key West. The African captives were eventually freed. Charges were brought against the captain and crew of the Wildfire, but they were found not guilty, despite being caught red-handed.
Illustration in Harper’s Weekly, June 2, 1860
Library of Congress
Representative Carrie Meek’s shirt reads: “A women’s place is in the House and the Senate.”
Carrie Meek (b. April 29, 1926) wore this prophetic T-shirt in the Florida House chamber in 1980, where she served from 1978 to 1983. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman elected to the Florida Senate. Meek later served in the United States Congress (1992-2001). Prior to her career in politics, she taught at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
Meek’s son, Kendrick Meek (b. September 6, 1966), was the U.S. Representative for Florida’s 17th congressional district from 2003 to 2011. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2010 Senate election for the seat of Mel Martinez, but he and Independent Charlie Crist lost in a three-way race to Republican Marco Rubio.
Integration in the Bronson school system - Bronson, Florida (summer kindergarten with teacher Mrs. Mary Lower)
Bronson, Florida, 1966
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/4526
A mother escorts her two daughters to Orchid Villa Elementary School in Miami, 1959.
Four black children were admitted to Orchid Villa Elementary School in the fall of 1959. I believe the two girls in this photo are Jan and Irene Glover, ages 9 and 7. Their mother, Irvena Primus, was a Congress of Racial Equality member.
While I think the photo is beautiful and very Obama-esque, this was a failed attempt at integration. Miami was a heavily segregated city. Many white parents chose to transfer their children to other schools rather than attend the same school as four black children. Two months later, the school board voted to transfer nearly 380 black students to the school and replace the existing white personnel with black teachers and administrators. By the end of the year, only one white student remained. The next year, the school was entirely black.
Black schools were notoriously underfunded and overcrowded so the closest thing to a victory in the integration of Orchid Villa Elementary is that it created an additional school for black students. It is also an example of the structural power of pro-segregation officials. There were white parents who were willing to send their children to an integrated school in the beginning, but the transfer of students and personnel was designed to encourage those parents to enroll their children in white schools.
Miami schools were not fully integrated until 1969.
Carver Negro School chorus singing at the 1957 Florida Folk Festival - White Springs, Florida
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/74558, Department of Commerce Collection
Aunt Memory Adams was born into slavery. When she was 24 years old she was taken to Tallahassee and sold to Mr. Argyle for $800. Aunt Memory attended the 1893 World Fair, and sold enough photos of herself to pay for expenses.
ca. 1900
Photographer unknown
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm speaking at Florida State University as a candidate for US president.
Chisholm was the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention and the first African American to be on the ballot as a candidate for president.
Tallahassee, Florida, January 7, 1972
Donn Dughi, photographer
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
Deliberate burning of an African American home - Rosewood, Florida
January 4, 1923
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/34844
Rosewood was a predominantly black, self-sufficient town in rural Levy County, Florida. A violent, racially motivated attack during the first week of January 1923 left the town utterly destroyed and abandoned. Survivors of the attack hid in nearby swamps and were until they were rescued and relocated to larger towns. None of the Rosewood residents ever returned.
Pharaoh Baker with one of his paintings- Lake City, Florida, 1978
Brenda McCallum, Informant, photographer
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/119795
Young baseball players posing for camera - Apalachicola, Florida, 1895
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/43929
