Sitting inside the Old Dillard Museum, Emmanuel George holds a deck of Black Broward flashcards that he is launching to celebrate and educate about the county’s rich Black history.
Carl Juste
cjuste@miamiherald.com
For the past decade, historian and archivist Emmanuel George has documented Broward County’s Black history — from pioneering figures such as Dr. James Sistrunk to historic neighborhoods such as Liberia in Hollywood and everyday life for Black residents — on the Instagram account Black Broward.
Now, that history has been immortalized in a new book, “Broward County Chronicles: A Retrospective Vol. 1.” The 153-page book, co-written and produced by George and photographer David Paulo, includes five chapters dedicated to the history of central, south and north Broward County and historical and current landmarks across the county. The book also comes a year after the duo collaborated on the Black Broward Flashcards, featuring Black history makers and landmarks throughout the county as a way to combat the limitations placed on teaching Black history in schools.
The book, George said, was years in the making, and was birthed out of a need to preserve history in a physical form at a time when social media is unpredictable. “You can lose your social media [account]. It can be hacked. Social media could shut down,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure that the history is forever accessible and put that into a physical form.”
Paulo echoed those sentiments and added sometimes people want to hold a physical product. “You might have elders who really don’t care to roam and scroll on Instagram,” he said. “So we would want our data and information and my photography to be on somebody’s bookshelf or coffee table in a dentist’s office or school.”
The book also comes at a time when Black history is being erased, George said, making it even more necessary to capture and documenting history in a physical form.
“There were people documenting Broward black history before me and some of them had their history, their work, erased because it wasn’t properly taken care of or no one really had the presence of mind of keeping that data there,” he said, adding photographer Ivory Mizell is an example of this.
A shot of the Cone Plaza, once home of William Cone Sr.’s Hat and Cap Emporium. Cone, who died in 2005, was a proponent of growth in the Sistrunk area of Fort Lauderdale. The photo is included in the book ‘Broward County Chronicles: A Retrospective Vol. 1,’ co-written and produced by historian and activist Emmanuel George and photographer David Paulo. Courtesy of David Paulo
George said Mizell has taken thousands of photos in his lifetime, but there are less than 100 of his photos accessible because the others had been damage. “While you’re here doing the work, like make sure that your work isn’t gone forever because we’re not here forever,” he said.
The book contains a plethora of history pulled from George’s own research featured on his Instagram page as well as information from other researchers and historians such as Kitty Oliver, former Florida Atlantic University professor and Miami Herald reporter, and local author Deborah Work.
“Through those stories, I hope that people are able to understand the path and how it plays a part into our present, and how we’re also able to change the future,” George said. “I hope the book serves as a catalyst for that.”
A photo of the Guitar Hotel at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood Florida included in the book Broward County Chronicles: A Retrospective Vol. 1, co-written and produced by historian and archivist Emmanuel George and photographer David Paulo. Courtesy of David Paulo
There are also present day landmarks featured in the book such as the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center along Fort Lauderdale’s Sistrunk Corridor, the Pegasus and Dragon statue in Hallandale Beach (also the second-largest statue in the United States), and The Guitar Hotel at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.
Paulo said he tried to capture the landmarks in ways that give off a “soft, Floridian vibrancy.” He said he hopes when people flip through the pages of the book that they recognize there is much more to Broward County than downtown Fort Lauderdale and the beaches and dig deeper into the cultural history and significance of other cities such as Hallandale Beach and Dania Beach and communities like Sistrunk and Liberia.
“There is a ton of Black history here in Broward County, which is kind of swept under the rug,” he said. “There’s an insane amount of pioneers who’ve helped shape the Broward County we know today. So I just want that to be known that it is not just white men who came here and conquered and had everything placed in their name. It was Black folks who helped shape and build Broward County.”
The book is available for purchase at historyartculture.com and at the Old Dillard Museum for $50.
Miami Herald
Raisa Habersham is the race and culture reporter for the Miami Herald. She previously covered Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale for the Herald with a focus on housing and affordability. Habersham is a graduate of the University of Georgia. She joined the Herald in 2022.