Dr. Dorothy Fields Jenkins: Nurturing the Landscape of Black Miami Studies

Abstract

While working as a librarian for Miami-Dade Public Schools, Dr. Dorothy Jenkins Fields wanted to diversify her school’s book collection in preparation for the 1976 American Bicentennial. She called the Miami-Dade County clerk to ask for books on the history of Black people in Miami. During an oral history interview, she recalled a white lady on the phone who said that there were none on the subject. When Fields asked her why, the woman said, “I guess these people haven’t thought enough of themselves to write their own history.” Fields remembers this response as a pivotal moment that changed her trajectory by instantaneously shifting her purpose. As a Black Miami native and historical preservationist, Dr. Fields’ oral history is interconnected with her tremendous labor to reimagine a rebirth of an early 20th century theater into the landscape of the contemporary neighborhood. Fields’ legacy has been solidified by her determination to answer a call to nurture Black Miami futures alongside yesterday. Through the use of oral histories, recorded by myself and others, this artistic profile commemorates her resilience in hearing the Reveille, and the unfolding journey that the song begets. Her leadership and institution building have bequeathed material and intangible inheritance for those who rooted in Black Miami.