Dr. Dorothy J. Fields

“So, when I was born just before World War Two, my mother, her two sisters, and four, brothers were all college graduates. Yes, from the research that has been done by myself and the late Avra Parks, my colleague, historian and friend. And not only were we, the only, the first blacks to have as many as seven children, finish high school and college and return to Miami to work. But in her research, she didn't find any whites who had that many all seven before the end of World War Two. So, when I was born, my mother, and two sisters and one brother were teachers: schoolteachers. Another brother was a lawyer and later became the second black judge in Miami, the fourth in the State of Florida. And the other two brothers were medical doctors. One family medicine and the other one, a radiologist.”

“And from there, I was able to get a space at the Caleb Center. So, but I kept my real job. So, all that you see now for the Black Archives and the Lyric Theater, I saved the Lyric Theater from destruction, the X-ray clinic, the Chapman House, the Dorsey House. I did all as a volunteer.”