Historic Hampton House - Black History Month Article 1
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In honor of Black History Month, we will focus on milestones in Miami’s Black History and the significant contribution of the black community to the city’s history, culture, and economy.
Our first visit was to the Historic Hampton House. We became aware of the Hampton House while attending the play One Night in Miami at the Colony theater in Miami Beach. The play, written by Kemp Powers and produced by Michel Hausmann, is a fictional account of a true event that took place in February of 1964 when Cassius Clay, who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali, won the World Boxing Championship in a match against Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. While the executives who earned a pretty penny because of his victory went to celebrate at the Fontainebleau Hotel, Cassius and his friends Sam Cooke, Malcolm X and Jim Brown spent the night in a room at the Hampton House Hotel in the segregated neighborhood of Brownsville. We were fascinated by the debate the four friends held throughout the night on how to overcome and end discrimination, each with a different point of view. We were unaware that the Hampton House is located only minutes away from where we live. Just 57 years ago this short distance was a separate world.
The hotel opened as the Booker Terrace Motel in 1954 and offered lodging for people of color who travelled to Miami and could not stay in Miami Beach due to segregation. It opened with 50 rooms and 12 apartments and boasted 24 hour food service, air-conditioned rooms, and a swimming pool. It immediately became popular among musicians, athletes and well-to-do black travelers. The hotel had a busy bar and club where famous performers appeared such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Josephine Baker just to name a few.
In 1961 Henry and Florence Markowitz took over the hotel and performed extensive renovations. They sponsored a contest to rename the hotel. A teacher from Coconut Grove who suggested the name Hampton House won the contest. The hotel’s glory days were over following the passage of the civil right acts as black travelers could stay in popular resorts on the beach and it closed its doors in 1976. In the early 2000’s the building was up for demolition but was saved after it was declared a historic site and was purchased by the County. With the leadership of Dr. Enid Pinkney and the Historic Hampton House Community Trust, it underwent a six-million-dollar renovation and opened as a museum in 2015.
We were hosted for our tour by Edwin Sheppard, the Director of Marketing and Imani Warren, the museum Director of Operations. Edwin, a hospitality veteran, walked us through the room that Muhammad Ali stayed in during his many visits to Miami and on that special night. The famous picture of him holding his baby and his wife standing by his side was taken right outside this room. We also visited the room Martin Luther King stayed in while attending the Conference of Social Equality and recited the initial version of “I Have A Dream” by the hotel’s pool. Since then the pool has been converted into a fountain, but the raised platform where he recited his speech still stands. The dining room counter where the famous picture of Ali posing behind it was restored to perfection and we could not resist taking a picture of Smadar and Edwin, this time with social distancing. The hotel’s nightclub was turned into an amphitheater where movie screenings, concerts and lectures are conducted.
In addition to the historically significant guest rooms, visitors can view pictorial collections of musicians and historical figures who stayed at the hotel, the original dining dishes, 1960’s travel bag with the hotel logo, the stage set from the Colony Theater play and much more. An item that captured our attention was a copy of the “Negro Motorist Green Book” a travel directory published from 1936 until 1966 listing hotels, restaurants and gas stations that served African Americans throughout the US, Mexico and Canada. Edwin and Imani suggested watching the documentary movie Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America. Released in 2020 the movie discusses the freedom the automobile brought to African Americans while exposing them to danger and discrimination on the road.
As we concluded the visit, we asked Edwin what he wanted us to take from the visit and share with our friends and readers. Edwin’s response was: “We would like people to understand that this is not just Black History, it is American History”.
Several days after our museum visit, we were invited for a screening of the newly released movie One Night in Miami followed by another tour of the museum. The movie, based on the play with the same name, made the visit so much more impactful. We felt privileged to have had the opportunity to see the movie at the museum, invite our friends to experience it with us and discuss it in our blog. We highly recommend watching the movie and visiting the museum.
From the Hampton House we continued to nearby Lincoln Memorial Park. As result of segregation, blacks in Miami could only be buried in designated cemeteries. The 20 acre lot where first burials took place in 1924 was originally owned by F.B. Miller, a white realtor. It was purchased by black funeral director Kelsey Pharr in 1937 and it is estimated that 30,000 black Miamians are buried there. It is told that Mr. Pharr secretly brought to burial lynching victims he found hanging on trees, to give them a dignified resting place risking his own life doing so. Among Miami’s prominent figures buried in the cemetery are Gwen Cherry, Florida’s first black female legislator and D.A Dorsey, the city’s first millionaire.
We were met by Kenneth Kilpatrick, president of the Brownsville Civic Neighborhood Association who briefed us on the cleanup and restoration project taking place at the cemetery and other historically significant locations in Brownsville. The association is planning on revamping its web site during Black History Month and publishing their story about the project.
Important Information and links
To schedule a tour of the museum contact Edwin Sheppard, Director of Marketing at info@historichamptonhouse.org
Due to Covid19 it is highly recommended to schedule a visit in advance.
Watch Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America
Brownsville Civic Neighborhood Association web site https://mybcna.com/
One Night In Miami can be viewed on Amazon streaming.
Stay tuned for our next article as we visit Overtown, Discovering our city One Backyard at a time