Author: Ellen

Fredd Atkins on Changing Education in Sarasota

Fredd Atkins’ story is a testament to the power that teenagers have to shake up institutional systems. He was reared in an Augustine Quarters “shotgun shack” located behind Horn’s Grocery Store on 6thStreet in Overtown. For fun, Atkins played football and baseball on sandlots and dirt courts.

A Booker High School teacher Rubin Mays, reassigned to SHS during integration was Atkins’ lifesaver. Sarasota High students from Newtown successfully changed the lunch menu, added African American cheerleaders to the squad and pushed school administrators to recognize African American history for a week.

As a member of the NAACP’s youth council, Atkins registered voters in high school, and attended school board meetings. Activism continued in college. He conducted research for the Miami attorney who filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Sarasota. Atkins’ trajectory was established early. He is one of Sarasota’s longest serving city commissioners, having spent 18 years in public service. He was Sarasota’s mayor three times.

Vickie Oldham is leading a groundbreaking historic preservation project called “Newtown Alive.” In 2015, her team of scholars and volunteers began tracing the 100-year history of the African American community of Newtown. The project expanded into a cultural heritage tourism initiative. Oldham is a journalist, marketer and chief motivation officer.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the national endowment for the humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the national endowment for the humanities.

To tell us how you enjoyed this episode and help ensure funding for similar projects in the future, please click here to take our brief survey. .

Victoria Brown on Helping Others to Help Themselves

“Ms. Vicky” is the founder of Dollar Dynasty, a nonprofit community outreach organization that doubles as a thrift store and a food distribution site for All Faiths Food Bank. She works to empower the Newtown community every day, embodying the mantra she remembers the elder women of Newtown had: “Help others to help themselves.” Ms. Vicky has lived in Newtown since the 1960s, back when segregation confined the community to its own, and its own flourished into a self-empowered, self-employed community.

Vickie Oldham is leading a groundbreaking historic preservation project called “Newtown Alive.” In 2015, her team of scholars and volunteers began tracing the 100-year history of the African American community of Newtown. The project expanded into a cultural heritage tourism initiative. Oldham is a journalist, marketer and chief motivation officer.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the national endowment for the humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the national endowment for the humanities.

To tell us how you enjoyed this episode and help ensure funding for similar projects in the future, please click here to take our brief survey. .

John Rivers Discusses the Fight for Social Equality and Justice in Sarasota

John Rivers is the former president of the NAACP’s Sarasota Branch. He moved to Sarasota from Mobile, Alabama in 1951 in search of work to support his family. Instead, Mr. Rivers found himself in the midst of a struggle for racial equality. In the 1950s and 1960s, Sarasota was plagued with segregation, including the segregation of local beaches. Mr. Rivers took on the challenge of the fight for integration, and became a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Sarasota. Mr. Rivers acted as a leading force in ensuring that anyone, regardless of race, could enjoy the beauty of Sarasota’s beaches.

Vickie Oldham is leading a groundbreaking historic preservation project called “Newtown Alive.” In 2015, her team of scholars and volunteers began tracing the 100-year history of the African American community of Newtown. The project expanded into a cultural heritage tourism initiative. Oldham is a journalist, marketer and chief motivation officer.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the national endowment for the humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the national endowment for the humanities.

To tell us how you enjoyed this episode and help ensure funding for similar projects in the future, please click here to take our brief survey. .

Laughing Through Life with Glossie Atkins

Photo credit: Barbara Banks

Glossie Atkins laughs easily and sometimes uncontrollably at the thought of fun times in Overtown. The daughter of Jay and Nettie Campbell was born in Ocala on December 3, 1917. With her sister Ruby Horton as the leader, she left central Florida to work on a farm in Sarasota picking beans and tomatoes. “We filled a bushel basket of beans for two dollars each.” The unrelenting heat and worms on the plants forced a transition from fieldwork to housework. Horton then operated a café. “We had a good time,” Atkins said, bursting into laughter without offering too many details. She attended the oldest Black house of worship in town, Bethlehem Baptist Church.

“Oh goodness, we had good service and the choir, everything was good.” The mother of Sarasota’s first African American mayor was a surrogate parent to neighbors’ children. For 35 years, she worked as a domestic sewing, cooking, cleaning and rearing other parents’ children. These days, she joins other mature women of Newtown to crochet scarves, quilts, and caps. “God has been good to me. Yep. Oh my goodness. I’ve come a long way. He brought me and still’s got me going strong.”

Vickie Oldham is leading a groundbreaking historic preservation project called “Newtown Alive.” In 2015, her team of scholars and volunteers began tracing the 100-year history of the African American community of Newtown. The project expanded into a cultural heritage tourism initiative. Oldham is a journalist, marketer and chief motivation officer.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the national endowment for the humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the national endowment for the humanities.

To tell us how you enjoyed this episode and help ensure funding for similar projects in the future, please click here to take our brief survey. .

Dr. Edward James II on Desegregation in Sarasota County

Dr. Edward E. James II has been an active civil rights leader in the Newtown community since he was a college student at Florida A&M University. He was the producer and host of the local television show “Black Almanac” for 38 years and served as a columnist and governmental reporter for the Sarasota Journal newspaper. He was a writer/associate producer of “Positively Black,” a half-hour TV show on New York’s WNBC-TV, and also worked as an editorial assitant for the New York Post.

He has received the President’s Award, a Lifetime Service Award and a Freedom Award from the Sarasota County NAACP, and was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Sarasota African-American Chamber of Commerce

Vickie Oldham is leading a groundbreaking historic preservation project called “Newtown Alive.” In 2015, her team of scholars and volunteers began tracing the 100-year history of the African American community of Newtown. The project expanded into a cultural heritage tourism initiative. Oldham is a journalist, marketer and chief motivation officer.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the national endowment for the humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the national endowment for the humanities.

To tell us how you enjoyed this episode and help ensure funding for similar projects in the future, please click here to take our brief survey. .

Wade Harvin on the Supportive Nature of the Overtown & Newtown Communities

Mr. Harvin was born in Crescent City, Florida and moved to Sarasota in 1940 when he was five years old. He was the one of the first black bankers in Sarasota and he brought Salvation Army bell ringing to the Newtown community. He has lived in both the Newtown and “Overtown” communities, and he attends Bethlehem Baptist church, which is the oldest African-American church in Sarasota.

Vickie Oldham is leading a groundbreaking historic preservation project called “Newtown Alive.” In 2015, her team of scholars and volunteers began tracing the 100-year history of the African American community of Newtown. The project expanded into a cultural heritage tourism initiative. Oldham is a journalist, marketer and chief motivation officer.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the national endowment for the humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the national endowment for the humanities.

To tell us how you enjoyed this episode and help ensure funding for similar projects in the future, please click here to take our brief survey.

Gwendolyn Atkins and Henrietta Gayles, the First African American Public Health Nurses in Sarasota

Henrietta Gayles and Gwendolyn Atkins were the first and second African American public health nurse in the Sarasota. Interviewer Vickie Oldham and Mrs. Atkins traveled from Sarasota to Ocala, Florida to visit Mrs. Gayles at an assisted living facility. In this episode we hear memories of their careers and lives that led them to Newtown and kept them tied to the area.

Vickie Oldham is leading a groundbreaking historic preservation project called “Newtown Alive.” In 2015, her team of scholars and volunteers began tracing the 100-year history of the African American community of Newtown. The project expanded into a cultural heritage tourism initiative. Oldham is a journalist, marketer and chief motivation officer.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the national endowment for the humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the national endowment for the humanities.

To tell us how you enjoyed this episode and help ensure funding for similar projects in the future, please click here to take our brief survey.

Lymus Dixon Shares Memories of Sarasota, The Selbys and Life in Newtown

Lymus Dixon Jr. will be missed in and outside of the Newtown community. Before his death, we captured a discussion of his life in Newtown, and the deep ties that his family had to William and Marie Selby.

Vickie Oldham is leading a groundbreaking historic preservation project called “Newtown Alive.” In 2015, her team of scholars and volunteers began tracing the 100-year history of the African American community of Newtown. The project expanded into a cultural heritage tourism initiative. Oldham is a journalist, marketer and chief motivation officer.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the national endowment for the humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the national endowment for the humanities.

To tell us how you enjoyed this episode and help ensure funding for similar projects in the future, please click here to take our brief survey.

Back to Angola Festival to Celebrate Historic Ties Between The Bahamas and Bradenton, FL

“The Oak Tree Community Outreach, a local not-for-profit corporation, is hosting an international event July 19-21 at The Curry House at Reflections of Manatee Inc., 1305 4th Ave East, with historical significance to The Bahamas and Bradenton, Florida.

The Back to Angola Festival will celebrate the blended history of Red Bays, Bahamas, and the early 1800s community known as Angola, located near the Manatee Mineral Spring in East Bradenton.”

Read more from the Bahamas Chronicle about the Back to Angola Festival this weekend:

https://bahamaschronicle.com/back-to-angola-festival-to-celebrate-historic-ties-between-the-bahamas-and-bradenton-florida/

Lost and found: A haven for former slaves

“After reading a short passage from Canter Brown Jr.’s book, “Florida’s Peace River Frontier,” Vickie Oldham was so startled she had to read the passage again. And then again. And again.

“I wanted to commit it to memory,” she says.

Oldham, who grew up in southwest Florida, had always been a student of the area’s African-American history, but Brown’s book, written in 1991, taught her something she didn’t know — that in 1812 escaped slaves and their descendants had founded a thriving settlement somewhere along the Manatee River near what’s now Bradenton.”

Read more about “Looking for Angola” in a 2016 article from Florida Trend:

https://www.floridatrend.com/article/19604/lost-and-found-a-haven-for-former-slaves

Get to Know Newtown Through its History

“The African American community in Sarasota known as Newtown is a local gem containing the rich history of people, places and events that contributed greatly to the development of our beautiful city by the sea.”

Read more from this overview of Newtown Alive from Visit Sarasota:

https://www.visitsarasota.com/get-know-newtown-through-its-history

Oldham and Williams: Newtown needs an arts center and museum

“Cultural arts centers, museums and libraries situated in the heart of African American neighborhoods add texture, vibrancy and richness to a community. The facilities bring diverse people together and invite residents, visitors and guests to venture into underrepresented communities. Welcome doors swing open both ways for an understanding and exploration of the unknown and unfamiliar.

Beauty can be found in places considered dangerous and mysterious. Important connections can be made between institutions — arts, cultural, historical and educational — and students, researchers and residents.

So imagine if there were a place in Sarasota’s Newtown where our well-known institutions could make guest artists, collections, exhibitions and lecturers available to local audiences.”

Read more about the upcoming cultural center:

https://www.jacksonville.com/opinion/20180416/oldham-and-williams-newtown-needs-arts-center-and-museum?template=ampart

From a secret history to a tourist attraction

(Featured photo: Fred Barber at the Ace Theater. Courtesy Jetson Grimes Collection.)

“For many retirees new to Sarasota, local history is high on the list of topics to explore — from landmarks like The Ringling and Historic Spanish Point to written chronicles of the real estate fortunes made and lost here.

But in recent years, just in time for a fresh and more diverse generation of settlers and visitors, this region’s African-American history has been made more broadly accessible after decades of omission from the official record.

And the story of residents’ long pursuit of social justice stands poised to become a tourist attraction in its own right, largely thanks to the homegrown preservation alliance known as Newtown Alive.”

Read more from the Sarasota Herald Tribune:

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20190207/from-secret-history-to-tourist-attraction

Learn More About the Integration of Sarasota Beaches

“Following the 1954 landmark decision Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, which ruled “separate but equal” unconstitutional, one of the first goals of the Sarasota NAACP was the establishment of a Negro beach.

Because all north Sarasota beaches were for whites only, blacks had to go to an area adjacent to the Venice Airfield to swim. In 1955, the Sarasota Chapter of the NAACP was determined to correct this situation.

Sarasota voters approved a $250,000 bond issue to expand existing beach facilities, which included a Negro beach. Locations considered for locating the beach were the north end of Siesta Key at Big Pass, a strip of beach south of Siesta beach to Midnight Pass and an area on Longboat Key.”

Read more about the history of the integration of Sarasota’s beaches here:

https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/LK/20040301/News/605203432/SH/

Want To See Photos From Overtown Heritage Day?

Overtown Heritage Day, a re-dedication ceremony of the “First Black Community” historic marker, was held Sunday, May 19, 2019. Former Overtown residents returned to their community with Rosemary District and Sarasota Residents to honor the early African American pioneers who built the town’s infrastructure.

Want to see more great photos from Overtown Heritage Day? Visit INSTUDIO E PHOTO for the full gallery:

https://instudioe.smugmug.com/Events/Overtown-Heritage-Day/

(All photos courtesy INSTUDIO E PHOTO.)

Erased no more: In Sarasota’s Rosemary, a reminder of what came before

(Featured photo: Nighttime in the Rosemary District. Courtesy Vickie Oldham Collection.)

“Overtown was established in 1885, a year after the first African-American settler arrived in Sarasota. But it took 100 years for the site to be acknowledged with an official historical marker. This sign — removed for safekeeping during the feverish construction that has transformed the district — will be rededicated as part of Overtown Heritage Day on Sunday in the Rosemary Square courtyard.”

Read more in the Herald Tribune:

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20190517/erased-no-more-in-sarasotas-rosemary-reminder-of-what-came-before?fbclid=IwAR0TIOPHkTNDjDyeioPKBjlnfm4FeIg3j_uxj4Dy9FSO8Fqld6SOhDVfT-w

Suncoast View Looks Back at Overtown’s Impact on Suncoast History

“The Rosemary District is exploding with new development, and the ribbon-cutting is scheduled this weekend for the new Rosemary Square. But as we look toward the future, it’s also important to remember this area’s rich and diverse past.”

Watch coverage from Suncoast View about Overtown, Sarasota’s first African American community:

https://www.mysuncoast.com/video/2019/05/17/we-look-back-overtown-impact-suncoast-history-suncoast-view/?fbclid=IwAR2dp1zysu7VcbgVWAZCeHrvkur__ngoC-fFe0zC7FPFObXEbt-rMqE28f0

SNN News: Rosemary Square celebrates Overtown Heritage Day

(Featured photo courtesy of INSTUDIO E PHOTO.)

“It has all the makings of a good old fashion block party complete with food, dancing, and face painting. The message behind the festivities digs deeper into Sarasota’s past, officially naming Sunday May 19^th as ‘Overtown Heritage Day’.”

Read more from SNN News coverage about Overtown Heritage Day:

https://www.snntv.com/story/40499606/rosemary-square-celebrates-overtown-heritage-day

Herald Tribune: Overtown Heritage Day among “Top 10 Things To Do This Weekend”

(Featured photo courtesy of INSTUDIO E PHOTO.)

Overtown Heritage Day, celebrating the first African American community in Sarasota, was one of the “Top 10 Things To Do This Weekend” from May 17-19, according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune. The event was listed as number three on the list.

Read more:

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20190517/top-10-things-to-do-this-weekend-in-sarasota-bradenton-venice-may-17-19?fbclid=IwAR3XQMs8nIPf8pJQq2xiovmfjSfoUJ2K7rZ8Mgzwq4SzHV7RZqDqb3bwWMQ

Sarasota’s First African-American Community Highlighted At ‘Newtown History Makers’

(Featured photo courtesy Vickie Oldham.)

“Sarasota’s first African-American community, Overtown, will be in the spotlight during a Newtown History Makers panel next week. Overtown, a segregated residential area of just 20 acres, was the first black community in Sarasota in the 1920s. While Newtown continues to operate as an historical landmark, Overtown was lost to downtown development during the 1960s.

The Newtown Alive initiative, which has launched heritage tourism in Newtown, has also contributed to economic growth within the community. The program uses historic markers, a website, mobile app and trolley tours to promote awareness of the community.”

Read more from WUSF News:

https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/sarasota-s-first-african-american-community-highlighted-newtown-history-makers

Event Commemorates Integration of Sarasota Beaches

(Featured photo courtesy of: YourObserver.com.)

“Newtown Alive! and Visit Sarasota County organized a re-enactment of the caravans and Lido Beach wade-ins that advocated for integration. The event, held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, also commemorated the addition of Newtown’s African-American heritage trail to the U.S. Civil Rights Trail.”

Read more about the impactful and historic re-enactment:

https://www.yourobserver.com/photo-gallery/sarasota-lido-beach-integration-newtown-history-civil-rights-trail?amp

Proposals for Newtown Cultural Center in Students’ Hands

(Featured photo courtesy of: Herald-Tribune staff photo / Dan Wagner.)

“More than a dozen Gators sat in a circle at the Goodwill Selby Newtown Center on Friday morning to launch an academic project that the community hopes will have a concrete outcome. The University of Florida architecture and construction students had come from Gainesville on a mission to develop proposals for a new cultural arts center in the heart of the Newtown on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way.”

Read more about the upcoming Newtown Cultural Arts Center in the Herald Tribune:

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20180126/proposals-for-newtown-cultural-center-in-students-hands?template=ampart

Upcoming Newtown Cultural Arts Center Featured on ABC7 Sarasota

“Over the past few years, the Martin Luther King Way Corridor has made several strides towards redevelopment. Now the effort to revitalize the area is getting another push. In the past few years we’ve seen a new medical practice and even a few restaurants coming up on the MLK Corridor. But now, just recently, City Commissioners approved a new Cultural Arts Center right here in the heart of Newtown. Many folks are saying the project is well overdue.”

Learn more about the upcoming Newtown Cultural Arts Center and watch the news coverage from ABC7 Sarasota:

Sarasota County civil rights history comes alive for local youth

“Students ran barefoot onto Lido Beach and went ankle deep in the clear saltwater. It was a moment of reconciliation after they learned about the struggle that local civil rights activists faced to even step foot on the sand.

About 20 teenagers from the Roy McBean Boys & Girls Club went on a trolley tour around Newtown’s historic civil rights sites and heard from local activists such as Jetson Grimes, Pam Moreland, Fredd Atkins and Carolyn Mason. Throughout the ride, passengers sang freedom songs which civil rights activists sang.”

Read more from the Herald Tribune:

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20180609/sarasota-county-civil-rights-history-comes-alive-for-local-youth

Vickie Oldham Wants to Preserve the History of Newtown- 2018 Unity Awards

“One of Vickie Oldham’s earliest memories is watching her grandmother don her white dress and purple-tasseled fez for her lodge meeting at the Evening Star, a black social and benevolent organization that helped fill a gap in social services. It’s a memory that Oldham fully appreciates now that she has led the initiative Newtown Alive to compile, organize and package the history of Newtown, the historically black neighborhood of Sarasota in which she grew up.”

Read more from this Sarasota Magazine article about the 2018 Unity Awards:

https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2018/1/23/vickie-oldham-newtown-alive

Newtown Alive book available for purchase from Barnes and Noble

The book “Newtown Alive: Courage, Dignity, Determination” by Rosalyn Howard Ph.D. and Vickie Oldham M.F.A. is available for purchase from Barnes and Noble.

Find out why early settlers came to the tiny fishing village, how they made a living, and why they organized a self-sustaining neighborhood. The book also describes their religious and social traditions, medical and military history and their emphasis on education. Whether you are new to Sarasota, a frequent visitor, an educator, historian or a longtime resident trying to connect the dots in your family tree, we believe the personal stories of courage, dignity and determination of Newtown and Overtown residents will be enlightening and inspiring.

Purchase it here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/newtown-alive-rosalyn-howard-phd/1126058211

Newtown Alive project wins statewide historic preservation award

“A local project to compile and commemorate the history of Newtown, Sarasota’s historically black community, won a statewide historic preservation award over the weekend.”

Read more about the award in this article from the Sarasota Herald Tribune:

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20170522/newtown-alive-project-wins-statewide-historic-preservation-award

Newtown Alive earns state recognition

“Vickie Oldham and the rest of the team behind Newtown Alive began researching and consolidating the history of Newtown in 2015 with a simple directive.They created a 365-page research report using 22 oral history interviews from Newtown residents, collected primary and secondary source historical documents and created an inventory of Newtown’s historic structures.

Since then, Oldham and her team have added historic markers, organized a trolley tour of the neighborhood and written a book, “Newtown Alive: Courage, Dignity, Determination,” based off the original report. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Newtown Alive received a Historic Preservation Award on March 19 from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation in the preservation education and media category.”

Read more about the Historic Preservation Award in Observer:

https://www.yourobserver.com/article/newtown-alive-earns-state-recognition

Highlights of Newtown Marker Dedication and Trolley Tour

“A dedication ceremony of Newtown’s 15 historic markers, a trolley tour and “Taste of Newtown” was held on April 8 to celebrate the people, traditions, and historic places of Sarasota’s African American community.”

Read more from Tempo News:

http://temponews.suncoastpress.com/default.aspx?iid=152463&startpage=page000#folio=1

Newtown Alive comes to New College

“The living history of a community once segregated from Sarasota. That’s what Newtown Alive has preserved – in all its success and struggle – and that’s what the project’s director Vickie Oldham shared with guests from New College and wider Sarasota last week as part of the New Topics series held in the Mildred Sainer Pavilion.”

Read more from the NCF Catalyst:

Newtown Alive comes to New College

ASALH: THE NEWTOWN CONSERVATION HISTORIC DISTRICT PROJECT

“Manasota ASALH in partnership with historian Ms. Vickie Oldham – ASALH member –was awarded a grant to map and document the 100-year history of the Newtown Community located within Sarasota, Florida.

As Newtown commemorates its 100th anniversary, attention is focused on its past, present, and future. It is important because the hard work, sacrifice, and dedication of Sarasota’s African American residents helped in Sarasota’s development. Blacks cleared snake-infested wooded land for real estate developers, laid railroad ties, planted citrus and celery fields, helped plat golf courses, and labored in the homes of the town’s most influential power brokers – cooking, cleaning, ironing, and rearing children.”

http://www.asalh-manasotafl.org/the-newtown-conservation-historic-district-project/