02 Oct Call for historic Sistrunk artifacts brings a load of memories
Building a future for the historic Sistrunk neighborhood drew dozens Saturday to answer a call for the artifacts of the past.
Dozens of residents, past and present, brought stories, old bank passbooks, mortgage deeds and, of course, photographs from a bygone era to help the Northwest Progresso Flagler Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board and the recently formed Historic Sistrunk Community Council in its mission to rebrand the northwest part of the city as Historic Sistrunk.
“We think this is the heart and soul of Fort Lauderdale,” said Dennis Wright, chairman of the Historic Sistrunk Community Council.
The items will be displayed on a website, www.historicsistrunk.com, that organizers hope to have up and running in December. It’s aim is to excite people in the historically black neighborhood and attract new interest in the area by highlighting existing attractions and the milestones reached on the road to equality, Wright said.
Vernon Dooling, 59, brought three binders full of items he found tucked away in his mother’s cedar chest to the Fort Lauderdale Negro Chamber of Commerce. He also had plenty of stories about how his grandfather, with little formal education, was able to send three sons to college from the wood frame house that once stood across Sistrunk Boulevard from the current chamber of commerce.
This is my mother’s commencement program from Dillard High School in 1954,” said Dooling, who works with a minority builders’ coalition.
Valerie Snow, with the Mosaic Group, which will be organizing and combing through the artifacts, looked closely.
“Wow, you guys saved everything,” she said.
Anthony Robinson, 48, of West Palm Beach, sat down in front of the cameras to talk about what he remembers. He learned to swim at Sunland Park, played in the streets and remembers buying juice and a honeybun summer mornings.
“Everything we needed was in this community,” he said. “I would love to see it come back.”