Black Pearls of Pearl City

Pearl City is only two blocks from the art museum in Boca Raton, Florida, encompassing 3 streets: Pearl, Ruby and Sapphire. It is a historically Black community founded in 1915, a decade before Boca Raton was incorporated. Boca Raton Museum of Art commissioned acclaimed photographer Reginald Cunningham to photograph Pearl City residents and their community to help preserve their stories. Neighborhoods like Pearl City always seem to be under threat from developers as they move to grow urban sprawl. Knowing about these neighborhoods and preserving them physically or even if only through stories and images are important to understanding our collective history. The museum also invited Dr. Candace Cunningham (no relation), Assistant Professor of History at the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Florida Atlantic University to write an essay about the history of Pearl City. The newly opened Black Pearls exhibition featuring Pearl City at the museum by Mr. Cunningham, takes you through one of the many journeys of what it takes to be truly a part of the Great American Dream, property ownership.

Featured image: Pearl City Historical District by Reginald Cunningham (2022).

Design and Style Report image, Pearl City sign at entrance to the community
Pearl City Historical District by Reginald Cunningham (2022)
Design and Style Report image, Pearl City chroniclers at the museum event. man in white clothes, woman in print dress
Reginald Cunningham and Dr. Candace Cunningham
Design and Style Report image, Pearl City residents and other seated in the museum courtyard
Museum courtyard overlooking Count De Hoernle Amphitheater

Preserving History

During a conversation prior to the show’s opening, Mr. Cunningham and Dr. Candace Cunningham discussed the project and their approach to preserving the community’s history. Mr. Cunningham spoke of how photography has been a way to tell the truth by capturing events as they happen. One example he mentioned was during the Civil Rights era with the public seeing children being blasted by firehoses that in turn helped to change the course of history. Using the ability to bring these types of experiences into the public consciousness as part of his charge especially as a Black photographer, Mr. Cunningham captured not only the history of the community but also the accomplishment of intergenerational ownership and wealth. For Dr. Cunningham it was important to collect the narratives of the residents and property owners so they would not be lost. Their personal connection to Pearl City is one of the things that has helped to keep the community intact where many others did not, having a tangible link to the past. All of these oral histories will be stored not only in the Museum but also in the Boca Raton Historical Society. She will also make them available to all the participants and their families. Dr. Cunningham stressed that we should all secure our past by speaking to and recording family elders to preserve their experiences. We all stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, knowing the past helps us to better appreciate our journey in life.

Design and Style Report image, Pearl Cityy resident in community garden in jeans and long shirt
Ms. Gladys Bettis by Reginald Cunningham (2022)

The Past is The Future

In the tradition of photographers like Gordon Parks, Mr. Cunningham trains his lens on Pearl City residents and owners capturing their pride as property owners and as Black people with long stakes in the community. There is a sense of determination in their faces, one that resists the community from being dissolved into surrounding areas. Many have indeed said they would never sell, keeping the future of Pearl City and hopefully many others like it legacies to admire and emulate in future generations.

Design and Style Report image, Pearl City man looking up with hat and purple shirt
Mr. John Martin by Reginald Cunningham (2022)
Design and Style Report image, Pearl City resident with glasses and print shirt with arms folded
Ms. Geraldine Spain by Reginald Cunningham (2022)
Design and Style Report image, Pearl City woman in front of house with sign
124 Ruby St. [Ms. Irene Rufus] by Reginald Cunningham (2022)
Design and Style Report image, Pearl City family with older woman seated, man standing with woman next to him in front of house
The Andersons by Reginald Cunningham (2022)
Design and Style Report image, Pearl City couple, man in blue suit, woman with glasses in black shirt
The Spains by Reginald Cunningham (2022)
Design and Style Report image, Pearl City church with bust of Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, by Reginald Cunningham (2022)
Design and Style Report image, Pearl City resident black and white family photos
Family Photographs courtesy of Marie Hester

Reginald Cunningham: Black Pearls, Boca Raton Museum of Art, runs through January 22, 2023.

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