One of the stories my mother used to like to tell me about was her trip to Florida when she was single. In looking through her papers, I found that she had taken the trip in January 1950. Among the mementos, there was a program from Tropical Park, a racetrack in Coral Gables that was in existence from 1931 until 1972, and another program from Dog Racing in Miami Beach which had racing from 1928 until 1980. She kept a pamphlet from Jai Alai Biscayne Fronton, which is now called Casino Miami, and a card from Ned Schuyler’s Beachcomber with the headliners Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. It is unclear whether this place is still in existence. It may now be an art deco hotel that opened in 1937.
She also kept the visitors guide of Miami and Miami Beach. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the visitor’s guide. If you just look at the documents, there was nothing unusual about the trip. There were also photographs of the trip, beach scenes, a monkey with a sign that he was born in 1948, and pictures of people whom I don’t know. As an aside, this is another example why it is a smart idea to write who is in the picture, and its date and location.
My mother never talked about what she did. She mentioned what she saw. She went on a bus and was told that she could not sit in the back of the bus because of segregation. It took a Supreme Court ruling in 1956 to end segregated busing in Miami. Although she never mentioned other forms of segregation, at that time there were other forms of segregation, such at golf courses and hotels that would not allow Black guests, and separate beaches as well. My guess is she did not realize that anything was out of the ordinary. She probably figured that this was the typical crowd. It was only when she saw Black and White people together on a bus and saw how Black people were treated worse that it made an impression.
It was a shock for someone who came from the north, which did not have segregation policies that she was aware of. It had such a profound effect on her that she decided she wanted to become a social worker, which she ended up becoming years later. What the story also shows is that documents by themselves do not tell the real story. There was nothing in any of the documents that indicated there was segregation. There is nothing in the documents indicating that my mother saw segregated buses or other areas. This is why it is important to tell stories. Do not assume that your children will learn about them from looking at your papers.
My mother did not mention anything about antisemitism on her trip. She was lucky she went when she did. Miami Beach was founded in 1915 by Carl Fisher, who was antisemitic. He did not want Jews to own land on the beach, so he limited Jews from buying land north of Fifth Street by having restrictive language in his deeds. Some hotels had rules and advertised that they only wanted gentile clientele, or more subtly, “restricted clientele.” Others used a slogan: “Always a view, never a Jew.” It was not until 1949 when a law was passed that prohibited discrimination against Jews regarding law and allowance at hotels that the attitude changed. Prohibiting Jews was bad for business.
Whether it was racial discrimination or antisemitism, there can be a tendency to look at the current situation, for example as in Miami Beach, and forget the past. The past matters for those who lived through it. My mother’s reaction to what she saw in 1950 did have an effect on how she lived her life.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
