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- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/sobek/FIVK045609/00001
Notes
- General Note:
- This is an interview with the Harrison family about Virginia Key beach. The family starts their recollections of Virginia Key by talking about the dance circle and the Hully Gully dance. They also noted that your location in the dance circle influenced the kind of swing dances and steps you would use to dance. They said that the dance floor brought Miami's different street gangs together in a peaceful manner. Next, the family briefly mentioned the hayrides at Virginia Key beach before talking about a dance called the Stroll. They talked about the jukebox, where you could play three songs for a quarter. They also remembered that palm trees ringed the dance circle. The family talked about riding the miniature train through the mangroves on the island. They remember that there were so many trees at the beach that most of it was shaded and that the trees were much closer to the water. They remember swimming in the current near Virginia Key beach with diving fins, or "frog feet." When the family visited the beach, they packed a lunch because the concession stand "was a treat." Next, they talked about DJ Butterball of WMBM, and other people hanging out around the bend of the beach. Next, the family talks about one of the lifeguards, Johnny Robinson, working at the beach. The family talked about that when they visited the beach, they liked to dress up in nice cloths and that the beach was more than just a place to swim, it was a place to socialize. After the park closed for the day at 12, they moved to a spot near the toll plaza on the Rickenbacker Causeway. The family thinks that the beach finally closed due to lack of finances and that it was so damaged by the currents, which took the sand away from the beach. The family also noted that they started closing some of the things at the beach, like the carousel. In 1982, the city did a feasibility study that said it cost too much to maintain the park. The interviewer informs the family that the show "Burn Notice" on the USA network filmed some of the show at Virginia Key beach. The family remembers that even though Virginia Key was a segregated place, "once the dance floor got popular" then a lot of white people started to visit the beach as well. The family said that there were a few factors that caused the beach to close. One of the biggest factors was the increased crime at the beach. When the crime started to increase at Virginia Key beach, people stopped going there and visited Crandon beach instead. The family also noticed that once the beach started hosting music concerts it was "a nightmare” to enter and leave the beach. The family also remembers that the traffic to the beach on Sundays was quite a lot. Next, the family recalls that on the other side of Virginia Key there were small houses and a smokehouse. They believe that the houses were on the west side of Virginia Key. They said that there were about three to four houses out there and that white people lived in them. One of the family members said that she ran into a man named Smith who claimed that he and his family lived out there. She said that Smith told her that the city bused his family from Virginia Key beach to school in Miami. Finally, the interviewer asks the family what they would like to tell the people thirty to fifty years from now. One of the family members said that she wants people to know that she really appreciates a good, strong, black cultural history and that a lot of the younger generation lacks pride in that culture. She remembers how much pride there was in being around "so many black people" at Virginia Key beach. One says that he doesn't think you will every see a Virginia Key beach again. He means that there will not be another place that brought people and families together and a place where you could meet different people. The people interviewed are: Sherman I. Harrison, born on March 3, 1947, Lynda (Linda?) Harrison Payne, May 31, 1951, Essa Mae Harrison, September 22, 1924, Diana (Diane) Harrison Stafford Anderson, September 21, 1954, Newman Harrison Jr., July 6, 1949, Blake Anderson, December 27, 1984.
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- Virginia Key Beach Park Trust
- Holding Location:
- Florida International University
- Rights Management:
- No copyright - United States
- Resource Identifier:
- FIVK045609
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