Las Olas Blvd

Fort Lauderdale commemorates end of beach segregation

It was July 1961, and if black residents of Broward County wanted to go to the beach, their only option was a one-mile stretch of sand south of the Port Everglades Inlet.

There was no road that led to “Colored Beach.’’ To reach it, blacks had to take a ferry. Once there, there were no restrooms, tables, shelter or fresh water.

A handful of leaders in the black community — local NAACP President Eula Johnson, black physician Dr. Von D. Mizell, four black college students and a third black adult whose name was not recorded in history — led a series of “wade-ins’’ at the whites-only Fort Lauderdale Beach.

On Monday, the city will post a historical marker at A1A and Las Olas Boulevard, the spot where Johnson and Mizell first led a small team of protestors onto white-only beaches on July 4, 1961.

“We want beach-goers who see the plaque to know they are standing on historical ground,” said Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Bobby DuBose.

The wade-ins, and their historic mark on Broward County, are being commemorated as part of the city of Fort Lauderdale’s year-long, centennial celebrations.

Johnson and Mizell knew the beaches were the public face of Fort Lauderdale and would provide a wide stage in their fight for equality, said Centennial Historian Susan Gillis.

“They wanted to make a very public statement that this isn’t right, and we need equal access and equal facilities,” Gillis said.

The six-week series of wade-ins, which brought national headlines, led to lawsuits against Johnson and the NAACP, as well as frequent threats against her life.

It took a year before a Broward judge refused the city’s request to stop the protests and the beaches were open to everyone.

The wade-ins gave life to a broader fight for civil rights in Broward County, Gillis said. Johnson and other local black leaders held voter registration drives, sit-ins, protests over segregated hiring practices, and pushed for the desegregation of local restaurants, hotels and within the police and fire departments.

“Eula Johnson was like our local Rosa Parks. What she did expanded beyond Broward County,” DuBose said.

The city will also mark the anniversary by cutting the ribbon on Johnson’s newly renovated former home, at 1100 NW Sixth St., where the wade-ins were organized.  The home will now serve as the offices of the local NAACP chapter.

Boca » Blog Archive » M Bar Hosts Grand Opening on Las Olas

This week marks the grand opening bash for Fort Lauderdale restaurateur Jack Mancini’s latest endeavor, the “global tapas” eatery and bar, M Bar (1301 E. Las Olas Blvd., 954/750-3500).

In the same building Mancini’s eponymous restaurant, which he plans to reopen in August, M Bar seats 200 in a room that conjures up the hip, urban, industrial spaces in New York.

The menu features small plates from all over the map, like giant grilled prawns with chilies, cured Spanish mackerel with watermelon rind, maple-glazed pork belly with sauerkraut and jalapeno-apple sauce, and, of course, a whole roster of burgers. Co-executive chefs are the brother-sister team of Kevin (ex-1500 Degrees in Miami Beach) and Lauren (ex-Moto in Chicago) Anderson.

To wash down all those worldly bites is an extensive selection of craft beers, trendy mixological cocktails and an international wine list complete with tasting notes.

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