Fort Lauderdale's Cultural Journey Pioneer Architect Leaves Mark on City Spotlight: Pompano Beach Historical Society Fort Laud
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A P U B L I C A TION OF THE B ROW A R D C O U N T Y H ISTORIC A L C OMMISSION volume 26 • number 1 • summer 2006 Fort Lauderdale’s Cultural Journey Pioneer Architect Leaves Mark on City Spotlight: Pompano Beach Historical Society Curcie House, circa 1920’s You Can Help Save History from the Dust Heap. Each day more of our local history is lost by the passage of time, the passing of early pioneers, and the loss of historic and archaeological sites throughout Broward County. But you can help. The Broward County Historical Commission has been working to preserve local history since 1972 with help from people like you. By donating old family photos and documents, volunteering at events, and providing donations to the Broward County Historical Commission Trust Fund, your efforts help preserve our history. Consider how you can help save our heritage and create a legacy for your community by contributing your time, historical items, or your generosity. What you do today maintains the dignity of history for the future. Call us at 954-765-4671. Monetary donations may be made to: Broward County Historical Commission Trust Fund 151 SW 2 Street Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 A publication of the B roward C ount Y H istorical C ommission Broward County Commission Ilene Lieberman, Commissioner, District 1 Kristin D. Jacobs, volume 26 • number 1 • summer 2006 Commissioner, District 2 Ben Graber, Broward County Mayor and Commissioner, District 3 features Jim Scott, Commissioner, District 4 Lois Wexler, Commissioner, District 5 Fort Lauderdale’s Sue Gunzburger, Commissioner, District 6 Cultural Journey John E. Rodstrom, Jr., Page 3 Commissioner, District 7 Diana Wasserman-Rubin, Commissioner District 8 Josephus Eggelletion, Jr., Broward County Vice Mayor and Commissioner, District 9 Pioneer Architect Bertha Henry, Interim County Administrator Leaves Mark on City Broward County Historical Page 17 Commissioners Christopher Ryan Phyllis Loconto, Chair Hazel K. Armbrister, Legacy Index Vice Chair Page 26 James Bradley Front cover – Fort Lauderdale Band Betty Whatley Cobb Back cover – 1928 Watercolor by H. Hilton of New River at Sailboat Bend Ray Collier William G. Crawford, Jr. departments Wally Elfers Gypsy Graves Mona Habib Thomas A. Hasis, Secretary Spotlight: Elsie Johns Pompano Beach Historical Society Bill Julian Page 2 Stuart McIver Margaret McPherson Dawn LaVoir Clive Taylor Book Review: J. W. “Bill” Stevens, Weird Florida II: In a State of Shock Advisor Broward Historical Page 52 Commission Staff Christopher Eck, Copyright 2006, by the Broward County Historical Commission. All rights reserved. No part of this work may Administrator and County be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means, whether graphic, electronic or mechanical, including Historic Preservation Officer photocopying, recording, taping or information and retrieval systems, without permission of the publisher. Broward Legacy is published semi-annually by the Broward County Historical Commission. Location and mailing address: Helen Landers, Broward County Historical Museum Broward County Historian 151 S.W. 2nd Street, 2nd Floor Denyse Cunningham, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 Editor, Curator Phone: 954-765-4670 • FAX: 954-765-4437 Rose Harding, Annual subscriptions and back issues are available. Administrative Aid Unless otherwise noted, photographs are from the archives of the Historical Commission. Ry Nelson, Neither the Board of County Commissioners of Broward County, Florida, nor the Broward County Historical Coordinator of Assigned Commission, is responsible for the statements, conclusions or observations herein contained, such matters being Projects the sole responsibility of the authors. This public document was promulgated at a cost of $0,000.00, or $0.000 per copy, to provide historical information to the public about Broward County. s p o t l i g h t Pompano Beach Historical Society The Pompano Beach Historical Society was founded in 1974, and like many volunteer historical organizations, it met and held its programs in borrowed facilities for a number of years. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the Society was able to acquire a permanent home on the grounds of Founders Park in the city’s historic Old Pompano neighborhood. Within the park are four Historical Society buildings: two 1930s “Kester Cottages” that were relocated and restored, one as a museum of local history, the other as a 1940s house museum; Pompano Beach’s original 1925 fire station, which now houses Pompano’s restored first fire engine; and the Dick and Miriam Hood Center, a meeting and activity facility constructed by the Society in 1995. (Photos courtesy of the Pompano Beach Historical Society.) Pompano Beach Historical Society 217 N.E. 4th Avenue Pompano Beach, FL 33060 www.pompanohistory.com. 2 • Broward Legacy Fort Lauderdale’s Cultural Journey From square dances at Stranahan to world-class arts and entertainment — a century of cultural development by Dr. Claire M. Crawford lmost 100 years ago, between 1914 and 1919, Fort Lauderdale residents enjoyed a wide array Aof professionally trained musicians, actors, and stimulating lecturers who traveled to the small town, which when incorporated in 1911 had fewer than 500 residents, no paved streets, electric lights or city water. Fort Lauderdale pioneer Ivy Stranahan related that during the early years after her arrival in October 1899, villagers routinely gathered at what is now the Stranahan House for dances. Although Frank Stranahan himself never danced, entertainment was provided by an accordion player and a fiddler. Charlie Root called the square dances. At other times, early settlers gathered in homes for dances.1 During the early years, the Florida East Coast Railway played a critical role in bringing nationally known troupes of performing artists and lecturers to Fort Lauderdale. The Flagler railway extended south to Fort Lauderdale in 1896, linking the tiny settlement to the outside world, bringing new visitors and residents, and making possible shipments of produce and goods to and from the settlement. Early Residents Included Trained Musicians Among Fort Lauderdale’s early residents were professionally trained musicians like Georgia-born Llewellyn Marshall, second wife of the town’s first mayor, William H. Marshall. Mrs. Marshall had studied to become a professional opera singer in New York under acclaimed musician Dudley Buck Stranahan House from 1915 to 1917. She sang opera in Fort Lauderdale, (Courtesy of the Fort Lauderdale Miami, Atlanta and various Florida towns for a time until Historical Society.) leaving the stage to spend more time with her husband.2 1 Oral history interview of Ivy Stranahan, CD-ROM, by August Burghardt,1962, Fort Lauderdale Historical Society collections. 2 “Llewellyn Marshall, First Lady of Fort Lauderdale,” Miami Herald, August 23, 1981. “Mrs. Marshall Sings Symphony Concert,” Fort Lauderdale Sentinel [hereafter, “FLS”], August 29, 1919; “A Mid-Winter Musical Concert,” FLS, March 9, 1917. Volume 26 • Number 1 • Broward Legacy • 3 In 1915, when Broward County came into existence, the chairman of the board of county commissioners, Pennsylvania-born Alexander Buchanan Lowe (1873-1929), became known as an accomplished songwriter and was locally referred to as “the Everglades Poet.” Dixie Music Publishing Company of Miami published Lowe’s songs using the Fort Lauderdale Sentinel presses. Lowe also played the piano for dances in the community of Davie, sang in a male quartet and took part in minstrel shows.3 The well-known Madame Lily Vilona Hall (1850-1942) played the violin for appreciative audiences throughout the town until she accepted a position on the faculty of the Miami Conservatory Bertha Foster A. B. Lowe (Courtesy of the Redpath Chautauqua Bureau, Special (Courtesy of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society.) of Music. The Miami Conservatory Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries, was founded by Bertha Foster, later the Iowa City, Iowa.) first dean of the School of Music of the University of Miami.4 There seemed to always be a local band forming, practicing, and performing in Fort Lauderdale, led by men like Ed Bates and G.F. Mitchell. Community leaders believed early on that a band was necessary to keep traveling businessmen in town longer. Early Organizations Promoted Cultural Development The Fort Lauderdale Woman’s Club, as well as several of the early churches, played important roles in the cultural development of the town, providing venues for arts shows, small musical presentations and lectures. The Woman’s Club routinely promoted 3 World War I Civilian Draft Registrations reflect entertainment of various kinds, date of Lowe’s birth as January 14, 1874. But mounted exhibitions of paintings, and a genealogical study in Imprints 12.1 -1993, Genealogical Society of Broward County, states formed the first circulating public his birth date as January 14, 1873 and provides library in the county, which would later other important information. See also, “Music in the Air,” FLS, July 25, 1919; “A. B. Lowe to become the core of the Fort Lauderdale the Front,” FLS, August 29, 1919; “C. of C. Show Public Library.5 a Great Success,” FLS, May 9, 1919; [column of items, including reference to “The Dixie In 1914, three years after its Musical Publishing Company”], FLS, December 19, 1919”;“Broward’s Businessmen – 1918,” Madame Lily Vilona Hall incorporation, the tiny town of Fort Broward Legacy (summer/fall 1987): pp. 44-45. (Image from the Fort Lauderdale Sentinel.) Lauderdale boasted three small