Dr. Anna Ward Interview at Virginia Key Beach Park

Material Information

Subjects / Keywords:: Virginia Key Beach Park (Miami, Fla.)
Oral history
Segregation
Coordinates:: 25.735959 x -80.155953

General Note:: This interview with Dr. Anna Ward is part of a series of interviews that took place during the Sunset Toast celebration at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park. Dr. Ward reveals that she almost drowned at Virginia Key Beach. She remembers the train at Virginia Key Beach, the dance floor, and a "lot more palm trees." She talks about how she started coming to the beach in the 1950s, but that she stopped coming to Virginia Key Beach when integration started to make the beach less safe. Dr. Ward noted that she was too young to understand that Virginia Key Beach was a segregated beach. She also noted that she did not understand when she was growing up how segregated Miami was during her childhood. Dr. Ward said that she "loves" the restoration project and that she is the mother of James Ward. Dr. Ward noted that when she returned to Florida in 1992, she was disillusioned about the beach because it was closed and that there were plans to develop it.