Delray Beach Historical Society

Over 1,000 images from Delray’s rich history adorn the grounds of the Historical Society.

If you want to give yourself a safe holiday treat, head on over to the Delray Beach Historical Society, 111 N. Swinton Avenue, and lose yourself in 100 years of history.

The “Delray Memories” exhibit is a must-see and it’s outside so it’s safe and socially distant.

We went on Friday afternoon and quickly got immersed in over 1,000 photographs on display from the Society’s archives and family submissions. In a word, it’s great.

If you’ve lived in Delray Beach for any length of time you’ll be reminded of the ties you feel to this community. If you are new to town or just visiting, the exhibit is a fascinating trip through time that will increase your understanding of this special place.

For us, 30 plus year residents, it was just wonderful to stroll the grounds of the Historical Society and lose ourselves in photos of people we’ve known and loved. It was also a chance to see a glimpse of people we’ve heard of but never had the chance to meet. You come away with a deep appreciation of community and the journey we’ve all been on.

With every step, Diane and I were transported back in time. You really felt like you were visiting with special people. There was my dear friend retired Fire Chief Kerry Koen standing outside a station looking confident and in command—as he always was. A few steps away were photos of my heroes H. Ruth and Spencer Pompey young and vibrant. There was the wonderful Ernie Simon and the lovely Lula Butler rehearsing their lines for a play celebrating Delray’s Centennial. There was a young Bob Currie and a vibrant Libby Wesley. There were photos of our beach, long ago parades and pioneers using a barge to cross the Intracoastal Waterway.

There were photos from the Delray Chamber and you are reminded that the organization has been around for more than 90 years and has played such an important role in our town.

We saw photos of a young Chamber Executive Ken Ellingsworth, football star Bobby Butler, the amazing Betty Diggans and the always friendly and kind Charlie Gwynn. Such special people. So many amazing contributors.

As a former mayor, I have a special interest in people who held that post in the past.

The exhibit has photos of Mayor Doak Campbell playing tennis, Leon Weekes riding in a parade and Tom Lynch in a top hat talking to Commissioner David Randolph, also in a tux and tails during what I think was an Easter Bonnet stroll. I had a chance to see Mr. Randolph later that evening at the viewing for the legendary Zack Straghn and you can’t help but feel that sense of connection and history. That’s community.

We are all tied together and while people come and go, their contributions live on and their work adds a distinct flavor to this place we call home.

When I see these kind of exhibits I’m always taken by the photos of Ethel Stirling Williams, a Delray pioneer whose name adorns the Society’s Learning Center and Archives. Ms. Williams, an early educator, businesswoman and community leader is radiant in every photo and I wonder what this young woman was thinking about life in Delray and where this town may go.

I have similar thoughts when I see photos of a dashing mayor named Jack Saunders.

If you’ve been to City Hall’s Commission Chambers you may have seen the walls adorned by the portraits of Delray’s mayors.

As a young reporter, I used to sit in those chambers covering mayors Campbell, Lynch and Jay Alperin and my eyes would always wander to those portraits of the past mayors. For some reason I was always drawn to the portrait of Mayor Saunders (maybe it was the hat he was wearing) and to Mayor Catherine Strong, our first female mayor.

The Delray Memories exhibit has lots of photos of a young and dapper Saunders and an always smiling Mayor Strong, who radiates confidence and kindness. I’ve always heard she was very special and I wish I had to chance to meet her and hear her stories, what she liked and what she struggled with during her time in office.

History is special. It can bind us together if we care enough to slow down long enough to look back. It can also light the way forward and it never fails to give us perspective and context.

The Delray Beach Historical Society, under the capable leadership of Winnie Edwards, has really done a great job of preserving, celebrating and sharing the history of our village.

Winnie’s love for Delray and its history is evident and shines through in these bleak times.

If you want to lift your spirits, enjoy the great outdoors and fill up on a big dose of civic pride stop by the Memories exhibit. You’ll be glad you did.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone! Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. Stay safe and enjoy this special time of year.

Local government can play a big role in improving race relations. It’s a choice.

Local government can play a big role in race relations. It’s a choice.

We got a nice email from the Delray Beach Historical Society last week.

The Historical Society is planning to take a deep dive into the history of race relations in Delray Beach. Working with the Spady Museum, the Historical Society plans to review a study they did with FAU in 2004.

At that time, more than 100 people gave oral histories on their experiences in our town.

The effort was part of a race relations effort that the City of Delray Beach was doing at the time.

I was Mayor back then and along with Conmissioner Alberta McCarthy, we spearheaded an effort to explore race relations with a goal of building community unity and talking about some thorny issues that have impacted our city for decades.

Delray Beach is a diverse city but we are also a segregated one, with a line —Swinton Avenue—separating East from West, black from white.

As a native New Yorker, it was the first thing I noticed when I discovered Delray in 1987.

I rarely saw African American people “downtown” or at the beach. And I rarely saw people who looked like me on West Atlantic Avenue. I always found that odd. And while people mostly got along, there would be periodic flashpoints that would remind everyone that race was very much an issue in Delray Beach as it is throughout America.

As a young journalist assigned to cover Delray, I caught the eye of C. Spencer Pompey and his wife H. Ruth Pompey.

They were community giants; civil rights leaders, educators and held in immense esteem by everyone in town.

They invited me into their home adjacent to Pompey Park, a place named in their honor.

I felt at home with the Pompey’s and visited on many occasions. We would sit in the living room of their comfy home and they would tell me stories about Delray for hours.
I couldn’t get enough.

The Pompey’s generosity helped my reporting at the time and later would inform my tenure on the City Commission.

Soon after, I met Elizabeth Wesley, another community icon who founded the Roots Cultural Festival. There is a plaza named in Libby’s honor on West Atlantic. She would go on to play a big role in my life as she did for countless others. Around this time, I also got to know and cover the career of Commissioner David Randolph, who to this day as known as “the commissioner”.

In later years, I would be invited to breakfasts hosted by community elders where I would listen to people like Yvonne Odom, who integrated Atlantic High School, neighborhood leader Ernestine Holliday and Alfred “Zack” Straghn, a civil rights, civic and business leader. And there were more special people that I would come to know and cherish.

Every relationship was a learning experience. Every interaction helped me to understand Delray Beach.

I mention these experiences because I think it’s important for aspiring leaders to spend time learning from people who have given back to the community.

There’s just no substitute for listening to the stories and experiences of those who came before us.

It also important to spend time with people who bring a different perspective as a result of their unique experiences.

I’m not sure this is happening as much anymore.

Perhaps I’m wrong, but I still talk to a wide range of people in our community and one of their complaints is that they don’t feel as connected to leadership as they once did.

That’s a mistake but also an opportunity because the answers to many complicated issues can be found by reaching out to the community.

Back in 2001, when we announced our intent to make improved race relations

a central piece of our goals and aspirations as a city government we got mostly positive feedback.
Many people appreciated the effort. Because we had relationships the effort was viewed by most—as sincere and needed. Others thought we were rocking the boat.

“Why bring up these sensitive issues” they would ask?

Because we need too. If we aspire to being a close knit community we need to be able to talk about everything—especially the uncomfortable subjects.

And we did. For awhile at least, we moved the needle. Not enough but we moved it. But times change. Commissioners and mayors come and go and so did our race relations effort.

Today, the protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd has got many of us thinking anew about all of these issues.

Racism. Social justice. Policing. Inequality. And for me anti-semitism which is also on the rise.

I’ll end this piece with a short story.

It was 2000 and I was campaigning for a seat on the City Commission, my first bid for public office.

I held a candidate ‘meet and greet’ at the Marriott on A1A.

It was a nice event, your typical have a drink and a bite while you mingle.

I remember saying hello to a pleasant looking elderly woman I had never seen before.

We talked for a few seconds while she ate chicken wings and drank wine.

When I said that I hoped I could count on her vote, she smiled and said.

“Oh, I won’t be voting for you,” she said. “We already have one of you on the commission.”

She smiled and walked away.

It took me a minute, but then I got it. I was Jewish and so was Commissioner Bill Schwartz who was serving at the time.

And so it goes…I suppose.

As a realist, if I let myself go there I can get pretty down on our flawed human condition. There’s so much hatred in our world.

But as an idealistic optimist, I remain hopeful that the pain we are experiencing will lead us to a better outcome for all…someday.

A world of love, compassion and understanding.

That world can start right here at home. But it won’t happen magically. We need to want it and we need to work for it.

It begins with getting to know and love thy neighbors. All of them.

Delray Memories….

The Dream Is Local