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(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Biscayne Times)

Athalie Edwards, executive director of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, standing in front of the beach.

From Protest to Preservation: Virginia Key Beach Marks 80 Years as a Black Cultural Haven

Once the only beach Black Miamians could access, the historic park now stands as a powerful monument to civil rights, memory and cultural preservation

Patrick Range II still remembers the stories his grandmother, the late M. Athalie Range, used to tell him about Historic Virginia Key Beach Park — the baptisms, the Easter sunrise services, the smell of sizzling corn dogs from the concession stand, and the laughter of families gathered under the swaying palms.

For her, it was more than just a beach. It was a hard-won place of belonging.

Now, decades later, another Athalie — Athalie Edwards — stands barefoot near the water’s edge, gazing out at the waves that once taught her family how to swim. She recalls the stories passed down of people ferrying across the bay before the causeway even existed.

“Those stories just show me how resilient this park is, even though there was no causeway,” said Edwards, now the executive director of the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. “We've shown how the Black community has stood by Historic Virginia Key Beach.”

As the 80th anniversary of the historic “colored beach” approaches this week, those memories have become even more sacred.

“What the anniversary symbolizes to me is a time of celebration and reflection on how far we have come as a people,” said Range, who served as the Trust’s former chair. “The park is no longer segregated, and people from all walks of life can enjoy the beautiful scenery. That means something.”

A BEACH BORN OF RESISTANCE

Virginia Key Beach’s roots trace back to 1896, the year Miami was founded, with Black men making up about one-third of the charter’s original signers. But that same year, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized racial segregation. By the 1920s, white-only beaches and swimming areas dominated the coast.

Black millionaire D.A. Dorsey purchased Fisher Island to create a beach for African Americans, but rising taxes forced him to sell it. For years, Black Miamians had no shoreline access — that is, until May 1945, when civil rights attorney Lawson E. Thomas and others led a peaceful “wade-in” protest at Haulover Beach demanding equal access.

“These are individuals who put their lives on the line, went down to a beach that was only designated for white individuals, to make history,” said Edwards.

Rather than make arrests, county officials offered an alternative: Virginia Key Beach would open that August to Black residents.

Community activist and artist Dinizulu Gene Tinnie, who later helped preserve the park, said it “developed into a ‘colored beach’ unlike any other in the South,” with rare amenities like a dance floor, amusement rides, a bathhouse and rental cottages, further enhanced by the Rickenbacker Causeway’s construction.

Miami artist Charles Humes Jr., now 73, recalls the contrast of exclusion. As a child, he and his brother waited in the car while their father picked up their mother from work along Collins Avenue — segregation barring them from the beach.

“We had to sit and watch other white children and adults walking and playing and frolicking along the horizon,” he said. “Even though we could not enjoy the sand and the surf, it was a delight just to witness the sights and those beautiful beach sounds of other children playing along the shore, which was so different from the playgrounds where we lived.”

Edwards recalled a discriminatory practice used to determine social status or access to certain spaces based on the color of one’s skin.

“If you couldn't pass the paper bag test, you had to come here,” she said.

A SANCTUARY BY THE SEA

Despite segregation, the beach became a sanctuary — a rare, beautiful place where locals, tourists and civil rights icons like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gathered. The 1945 protest strategy would echo in future civil rights actions.

“You can't talk about civil rights history in Miami and not mention Virginia Key Beach Park,” said Range.

He noted how Virginia Key’s story inspired future events, including the 1959 wade-in at Crandon Park, led by his grandfather, Oscar Range, and The Miami Times Publisher Emeritus Garth C. Reeves. It quietly helped end beach segregation in Miami.

Even after desegregation, Virginia Key remained a cherished place for Black families, as well as for Caribbean and South American immigrants.

Tinnie, who moved to Miami in 1974, recalled one of his first visits: 

“A Venezuelan family shared their arroz con pollo, and we shared our barbecued chicken. You could just meet people and become friends for a day or longer. That’s the kind of thing parks do.”

RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION

In 1982, the City of Miami acquired the beach but closed it soon after, citing high maintenance costs. It deteriorated, used only for special events and police training. In 1999, Tinnie and others discovered plans to develop the site into a private resort. Inspired by the grassroots campaign to save the Miami Circle, they organized to reclaim the beach.

One key figure was M. Athalie Range, the first Black Miami city commissioner. Despite being in her 80s, she told Tinnie, “Gene, I think I’ve got one more good fight left in me,” he recalled.

With her leadership and support from Commissioner Arthur E. Teele Jr., a task force was formed, eventually becoming the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. Patrick Range became its chair and secured county funds to restore the beach and create a museum telling its story.

The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and reopened to the public in 2008.

Range remembers walking the site with his grandmother in those early days, removing invasive species and restoring the grounds.

“To get to witness and be a part of bringing back some of the historic amenities — the carousel, the mini train, the dance pavilion — and recall the memories of what those things were during segregation times and how our people enjoyed them, that process was tremendous for me,” he said.

Range joined the Trust board in 2006 after the passing of his grandmother and eventually became chair, carrying forward her vision for full restoration and a Black history museum. He was, however, unable to complete the museum during his tenure, after the city commission took over the Trust board in 2022.

According to Edwards, the museum, which has been stalled for several years, will have its groundbreaking later this year.

THE LEGACY 

Today, the 80-acre park remains a vibrant gathering space and cultural classroom, led by Edwards. The anniversary theme, “From Coastlines to Communities,” reflects the journey of Black neighborhoods to the beach. 

“Our current theme is definitely bringing awareness to where we've come from, which is the inland part of Miami all the way down to the shoreline of the beach,” she said.

Edwards continues to advocate for funds to restore the playground, the merry-go-round and the train. Through partnerships with historians, schools, environmentalists and international organizations, she envisions a vibrant future rooted in legacy.

“We’re going into schools and providing curriculum so youth understand who the founders were and what took place back then in order for African Americans to have a place to recreate.”

For Tinnie and Range, the anniversary is both a celebration and a call to action.

“We will continue to fight for the things we deserve in this community, including a museum dedicated to our history,” Range said.

In the meantime, waves continue to roll in, the palm trees still sway, and stories echo along the shore. And Edwards remains committed to what she refers to as the park's "everlasting story." 

“The park is resilient. The people who founded the park were resilient, and the community that we serve continues to be resilient,” she said. “We want to make sure that we can keep that legacy going.”

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