BRADENTON -- Bradenton had a special guest from Miami visit on Saturday. Dr. Marvin Dunn, a renowned Florida author and founder of a significant historical photography exhibit on display at the Family Heritage House Museum (FHHM) through June, drove across the state to inspire people to learn more about black history in Florida.
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The museum's exhibit walks people through a photographic history of black Florida starting in the colonial era through today. |
Over 70 people, from all backgrounds of life, joined in welcoming Dunn and his collected photography exhibit at the museum’s opening on Saturday.
”It was very well attended,“ said Kathleen Marsh, the museum specialist at FHHM at State College of Florida. ”We had a lot of people attend. People were saying how interesting Dr. Dunn was, and he got the whole audience very involved in what he was saying.“
”Black Florida: A Photographic History (1513-2000)“ is an exhibit depicting and documenting the presence and contributions of African-Americans in Florida history from colonial times through the civil rights era of the 1960’s.
”It was our 20th anniversary and in conjunction with that, we had this traveling exhibit that’s funded by American Express,“ she said. ”Dr. Dunn (exhibit speaker) got American Express to fund this entire show, brought to us from the Broward County library.“
Dr. Marvin Dunn, a retired professor of psychology who attained a doctorate of psychology from the University of Tennessee, lectured at the opening and lead an insightful conversation about the exhibit. Dunn has worked for positive social change and social justice most of his life, and authored, ”Black Miami in the Twentieth Century (1997).“
But on Saturday evening, he walked a group in Bradenton through a bit of Black Florida history – some good and some bad – to enlighten and inspire people to learn about their past.
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Museum specialist, Kathleen Marsh, from left, Dr. Marvin Dunn, author and retired professor, and Fredi Brown, FHHM's founder at the opening on Saturday evening. |
Dunn said that he discovered through the book he wrote that people love photos. So, he put together a traveling exhibit for the State of Florida, in digital format, and set out on a mission to show people a slice history not available to the public.
”I selected 150 photographs out of 5,000 that I had collected over 20 years,“ Dunn said. ”I traveled all over the state, from Key West to Ocala and researched archives, historical associations, churches and schools to put the exhibit together.“
He added that people are really attracted to visual learning through images, but narrowing down thousands of historical photos to just 150 was quite a responsibility.
”I was looking for that one photograph that told the entire story in and of itself,“ he said. ”I wanted people to look at a photograph and for that image to speak.“
Dunn described a favorite image he found from the 1880’s.
”There’s a photo of a boy from Bradenton just after slavery in 1880,“ Dunn said. ”It’s a simple image from the chest on up of this boy, wearing ragged clothing, a former slave child with the biggest, widest smile. The boy was still a child; he still had spirit and hope.“
This image, one that is part of the exhibit, of a child’s smile after liberation and freedom was not normal. Most slave children were photographed working, picking cotton and not smiling.
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Over 70 people showed up to enjoy the lecture and art, and Lynette Edwards helped to slice the FHHM's anniversary cake for everyone to enjoy. She's a member of the FHHM Board and the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Manatee County's school district. |
The photographs range in storytelling history from the colonial era through today.
There are, indeed, photos included that are not so happy, but depict anti-black violence.
”This exhibit speaks to all of black Florida,“ he said. ”It’s a beautiful story of survival that was intended to speak to the entire state of Florida.“
Broward County’s African-American Research Library and Cultural Center through a grant from American Express developed this exhibit to heighten the awareness of the public about the cultural and historical contributions of African-Americans to the history and development of the state of Florida. The exhibit will show next at the Ft. Lauderdale Public Library.
At the museum on Saturday, one-third of the audience was white, as people from around Manatee County came out to the opening to experience history unveiled through images.
Dunn may be a retired professor, but his mission is ongoing when it comes to education.
He’s busy now excavating where the Rosewood massacre took place in Florida; a significant project years away from exhibiting. The current exhibit at the museum closes June 30, and Marsh said people can enjoy the photographs during FHHM’s business hours or through private appointments.
”Go see history; learn about your history,“ Dunn said. ”It’s all right there to take in.“
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