In 2018, Vizcaya initiated conversations with Black legacy residents of Coconut Grove about our shared connections to Bahamian heritage.
We learned that elderly Grove residents were concerned about recording their history considering both their age and how quickly their neighborhood was changing. As a result of this connection, for three years Vizcaya has been engaged with Black residents of Coconut Grove to document and disseminate—especially among the youth of their community—stories of Bahamian and Coconut Grove heritage.
On February 11, 2020, Vizcaya hosted the first in a series of co-created panel discussions entitled, “A Rich and Forgotten History of Black Coconut Grove.” Featuring artists, historians and scholars from the Grove, the program was presented in partnership with the historically Black G.W. Carver High School Alumni Association.
In March 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, onsite programming transitioned to online engagement. Over nine months, Vizcaya collected twenty oral histories and stories from elderly Black residents in Coconut Grove. Vizcaya published these histories exploring the Bahamian legacy of Coconut Grove, ranging from individual biographies to an overview of historic markers in the neighborhood.
“The Rich & Forgotten History of Black Coconut Grove” podcast was published in October 2021 and is available on our website as well as everywhere you listen to podcasts.
You can also find captioned videos for each episode and the corresponding transcript below.
