Scope and Contents: This collection consists of material on Miami's black Police Precinct and first black police officers from the 1940s to 2009 collected by staff of The Black Archives. It documents the formation of the precinct, the struggles of black police officers for fair treatment and black police officers who died in the line of duty. Forms of material include photographs and printed material such as: newspaper articles (one of which contains an image of the first black officers of Atlanta, Georgia), a report, an event program ("A Welcome to our Negro Policement by the Citizens of Miami, circa 1944), and a book draft ("Forgotten Heroes: Black Police Officers Killed in Dade County, 1944-1995," by Dr. William Wilbanks).
The first black police squadron in the City of Miami started with five officers: John Milledge, Clyde Lee, Edward Kimball, Moody Hall and Ralph White. They were sworn in by Lt. Raymond Tanner, on September 1, 1944 in front of their temporary headquarters at the offices of Dr. Ira P. Davis and Dr. Rodney H. Portier. Black officers were only allowed to patrol Overtown, Liberty City and parts of Coconut Groove. The main headquarters for the black officers was opened in May 1950 until it closed in 1963 due to budget cuts.
Series 1, PHOTOGRAPHS contains photographs of early police squadrons and includes the following noteworthy people: Stanley Sweeting and Attorney Lawson E. Thomas (judge at the black precinct).
Series 2, PRINTED MATERIAL contains information on preserving the Black Police Precinct building and its conversion into a museum and community center for the youth, including financial information.