Enhancing Access and Research Possibilities through Critical Engagement with Historical Data
in development
About the Project
Background
Dana A. Dorsey (1868 - 1940) was regarded as a successful businessman of his time and known as the first Black millionaire in Miami. This initiative aims to enhance access to the information found in the papers of Dana A. Dorsey, to highlight community building and make the stories of Black lives more discoverable, and to better understand the roles of civic groups, trade groups, and community alliances in the paths of success for people in this community.
The Dana A. Dorsey Papers, donated by Professor Emeritus Marvin Dunn to the Special Collections and University Archives at FIU, consist of warranty deeds, mortgages, legal documents, and correspondence, which detail the properties and locations of what were the newly created Miami sub-divisions from around 1900 through 1940. These documents hold significant research and educational value as they frame the growth of the Miami metropolitan region in highly racialized conditions.
The project team will develop a set of preliminary open data resources in the form of text, tabular data, and geospatial assets that will expand our collective understanding of the interpersonal networks, community building, and investment by and for Miami’s Black community during the pre-redlining era. This work will ultimately inform the development of a shared multi-organizational set of data resources that will underscore south Florida’s position within our nation’s fraught history of struggle for equity and racial justice.
Data Ethics
The core values of this work include addressing the significant gaps in our historical record, critical engagement in data collection processes that are rooted in humanity through the histories of individuals, and establishing a model for future human centered data work.
The development of an ethical care-based community of practice for contemporary and historical data collection and creation is ongoing. This project is informed by the enduring efforts of community archives, archivists, librarians, historians, and digital humanists who have centered social justice in their work. This will be a transparent and iterative process with frequent discussions and ongoing check-ins with our local archives community and the public, as well as feedback from our advisory board and consultant. We intend to exercise intentionality and care in the gathering and sharing of this data, documenting our processes as well as the feedback we receive.
Project Document Examples
Check from Mortgage Deed between Baker-Riddle Co. and Dana A. Dorsey
Mortgage Deed between Baker-Riddle Co. and Dana A. Dorsey
Deed between Dana A. Dorsey and Miami Bank and Trust Co.
Insurance Policy for Dana A. Dorsey from the General Indemnity Corporation
Envelope from Mortgage Deed between Baker-Riddle Co. and Dana A. Dorsey
To view additional documents from the Dana A. Dorsey Collection at FIU, visit the collection at:http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpanther/collections/dad
Letter to Dana A. Dorsey from C.J. Colville
This letter describes the will of J.J. Hurd, detailing the plots of land passed down to Hurd's young granddaughters Lizzie May and Johnnie Bell Lattimore. From the start, there were several additional claimants to the property. Including W.B. Sawyer, who was successful in obtaining a large portion of the property as repayment of outstanding debts owed by Hurd.
Letter to Dana A. Dorsey from C.J. Colville
Since the girls were both minors at the time, executors were assigned to the estate. The letter goes on to describe how one of the executors, Allen Stokes, collected revenue from the property but failed to pay the taxes. This resulted in a tax deed being issued for the property by the City of Miami to the Garrison Investment Company.
A "tax deed” is a legal document granting ownership of a property to a government body when the owner fails to pay the property taxes.
In the closing of the letter, C.J. Colville asks Dana A. Dorsey to take ownership of the property and settle the tax deed by taking action against Allen Stokes for the money owed. C.J. Colville suggests that Dorsey's involvement will give the action "more prestige and secure better attention than if brought by her [Johnnie]."
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Mortgage Deed between Rosa Lee Stroman and Dana Holding Company
This 1939 mortgage deed between Rosa Lee Stroman and Dana Holding Company describes Rosa Lee Stroman, a single woman, as the mortgagor to refinance two properties located in the City of Miami.
In this mortgage document the property is listed using lot and block description, Lot 8 of Block 3 of Erickson’s Addition to the City of Miami. The document is unsigned and further research is needed to verify accuracy of this information.
By searching the Miami Herald's city tax list, using the lot and block description and the owner's name, we were able to verify that Rosa Stroman was the owner of this property. The 1935, 1936, and 1938 tax lists show Rosa Lee Stroman listed under the "Returned for Assessment" column for Lot 8, Blk 3 Erickson's Subdn.
This map sheet from a 1925 plat book shows where the property was located.
The 1922 Polk’s Miami City directory, the Colored Population section has an entry for Stroman, Rosa. She is listed as a hairdresser at 457 NW 14th St.
The 1964 directory still lists Rosa Stroman at 457 NW 14th Street.
October 6th 1965, Rosa Stroman transferred the deed to her property (Lot 8, Block 3 of the Erickson's Additon) to the State of Florida for use by the State Road Department of Florida.
Using the historic lot and block location, we were able to derive coordinates for the property and display the location on a 2022 Google satellite image.
During the 1960’s, many Overtown properties like Rosa Stroman's were demolished to build the I-395 highway.
Maps
Maps from a 1925 Hopkins' plat book of Miami were stitched together and geo-rectified to form the base layer for the below map. The lot and block property information within the Dorsey papers was then geolocated as polygons with center point coordinates. This effort resulted in the geolocation of 145 individual properties from 103 documents, all of which can now be explored via the interactive online ArcGIS interface.
Interactive Map - Dana A. Dorsey Properties and Plat Book
Interactive Dashboard
This dashboard view provides an additional timeline of activity for properties mentioned in the Dorsey papers. The left side search bar allows users to explore the documents as they relate to locations on the map.
The basemaps icon (four squares) on the top right-hand side of the dashboard allows users to view the Dorsey properties overlayed on Google Maps layers, clearly delineating the Overtown properties within our modern landscape.
Data
The following tabular data was curated from the Dorsey archive transcripts. This data represents the individuals, businesses, and other entities that played a role in real estate transactions and community development activities in the Overtown area. Over 720 individuals and more than 200 businesses, municipalities, and organizations such as law offices, insurance companies, and fraternal associations are included in these materials.
Individuals and Entities
Sample Data Analysis
This is a sample network analysis of individuals included in the Dorsey Papers. Each person is linked to others through the documents their names appear in. The size of the dots indicate the quantity of documents the names appear in. The thickness of the lines indicate the number of connections through these documents.
Project Team
Jamie Rogers, Assistant Director of Digital Collections (Project Director)
Rhia Rae, Digital Archivist, Special Collections and University Archives (Co-Project Director)
Rebecca Bakker, Digital Collections Librarian (Key Personnel)
Molly Castro, Digital Humanities Librarian (Key Personnel)
Jill Krefft, Research and Data Repository Coordinator (Key Personnel)
Dr. Diana Ter-Ghazaryan, GIS Research Associate (Key Personnel)
Luis Garcia Falcon, GIS Specialist
Sonia Santana Arroyo, Research and Data Repository Manager (Key Personnel)
Interns
Juan Lopez, Graduate Student, Department of History, Florida International University
Catherine Tibaquira, Undergraduate Student, Department of Art + Art History, Florida International University
Rosemary Toval, Undergraduate Student, Department of History, Florida International University
Consultant
Dr. N. D. B. Connolly,Herbert Baxter Associate Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University
Advisory Board
Dr. Robin Bachin, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, Director, Office of Civic and Community Engagement, Charlton W. Tebeau Associate Professor of History, University of Miami
Dr. Julio Capó, Jr., Associate Professor, Department of History, Deputy Director, Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab, Florida International University
Dr. Marvin Dunn, Historian and Professor Emeritus, Florida International University
Dr. Sharony Green, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Alabama
Dr. Kenneth Lipartito, Professor, Department of History, Florida International University
Dr. Chanelle N. Rose, Associate Professor, Department of History, Coordinator, Africana Studies Program, Rowan University
Dr. Daniel Royles, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Florida International University
Dr. Melanie Shell-Weiss, Chair and Associate Professor, IRIS: Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies Department, Grand Valley State University
Althea Silvera, Head of Special Collections, Florida International University
10:04 am - FIU recieves $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities by WLRN
Comments & Suggestions
We welcome comments and suggestions on the resources being developed through this project. We also appreciate your feedback if while viewing the archive materials you come across language that reflects biases and prejudices or terms that are outdated, offensive, or insensitive. Please email us, spcoll@fiu.edu to share your thoughts and ideas or submit your comments via our community feedback form.
