Decades ago, in the small neighborhood of Newtown in Sarasota, where racial turmoil festered, there were quaint homes with blooming rose gardens. There was a boulevard teeming with shops and a community longing for equal opportunity.
Vickie Oldham, a lifelong resident, had the privilege of witnessing Newtown embrace such opportunities. She’s watched trailblazers emerge, and she’s seen the city unify. Now, she is the director of Newtown Alive, a project that seeks to preserve and share the history of this town and its profound heritage.
“People are now coming into a community that they considered mysterious, and even dangerous, and [they’re] beginning to appreciate what this community means to Sarasota as a whole,” Oldham said.’
Oldham grew up in Newtown, where she lived with her grandparents. They gave her an idyllic childhood, one filled with tradition, understanding and fulfillment.
Oldham admitted she did not feel like she was missing anything and did not know of the gruesome experiences African Americans lived through in and outside her community at that time. Her grandmother provided her with everything she needed, shielding her from racist realities.
“There are three cornerstones in the African American community,” she said. “Family, church, and school. And so, we were getting reinforcements from these three corners, reinforcements that we were strong people, and courageous and so forth… I didn’t realize I had any lack.”
It wasn’t until she began her research into Newtown’s history that she learned of the great feats her neighbors endured during the era of the Civil Rights Movement. There were such neighbors as Neil Humphrey and Mary Emma Jones, who organized car caravans to Lido Beach, where black residents would wade in the water, protesting for equal access to the beautiful sparkling beaches of Sarasota. They inspired Oldham to chronicle Newtown’s history through Newtown Alive.
Additional inspirational experiences of community members have been recorded for Newtown Alive’s oral history collection, but they’re just one element included in Phase I of the project’s initiative. In accompaniment, are historical markers posted throughout the city, a 365-page book, as well as comprehensive trolley tours that immerse passengers in the dignified history of Newtown.
“They have changed my life for the good, just to know that these pioneers pushed so hard, and some of them died before they could really experience access to the water, or access to public spaces. But they did it for me. And so, I am so, so, appreciative,” Oldham said. “I think that is what keeps me moving to produce more products under the Newtown Alive banner.”
Newtown Alive has emphasized the desire to tell more stories on a variety of formats. They are working on starting a podcast and exploring the possibility of opening an African American Cultural Arts Center and History Museum in Newtown.
Oldham believes that if Newtown residents don’t hear these stories, they’ll lose their identity.
“I think that the Sarasota community, at large, is coming to understand this powerful history,” Oldham said. “Because prior to this Newtown Alive project, our history was in fragments. Bits and pieces, a sentence in a book, a photo with a cut line, but it had never been presented in a comprehensive kind of way.”
