4th Grade Florida History
Wynwood: An Evolving Community
Essential Question
How do immigrants influence cultural change in communities?
Wynwood: An Evolving Community
Florida literacy Standards Alignment:
LAFS.4.RI.2.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
LAFS.4.W.2.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
LAFS.4.RI.1.2 Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
NGSSS - Social Science Standards Alignment:
SS.4.A.6.3 Describe the contributions of significant individuals to Florida.
SS.4.A.8.2 Describe how and why immigration impacts Florida today.
SS.4.A.8.4 Explain how tourism affects Florida's economy and growth.
SS.4.E.1.1 Identify entrepreneurs from various social and ethnic backgrounds who have influenced Florida and local economy.
Essential Question
How do immigrants influence cultural change in communities?
Learning Goals
Students will discover the different ways immigration from Puerto Rico and other areas in Latin America changed the culture of Miami’s Wynwood community.
Overview
While completing a cause/effect graphic organizer, students will determine the factors that led to Wynwood’s cultural transformations.
Background information
Miami’s Wynwood community has recently been receiving increasing attention for its rapid development in the areas of arts, culture and business. Wynwood had historically attracted a working class segment of the population due to the development of various industries in the beginning part of the 20th Century. By the 1950s, the area has attracted Puerto Ricans (and other Latin Americans) and has impacted cultural change in the types of businesses, parks and artistic murals that have developed in the area.
Materials
· Reading Passage: Wynwood: An Evolving Community
· Wynwood Images
· Cause and Effect – Student Handout
Activity Sequence
Introduction (3 minutes)
1. Talk to the students about how when immigrant groups move into neighborhoods in large numbers they typically impact the environment through the development of business, language, art and other forms of cultural expressions. Have the students give examples from their own personal experiences. (2 minutes)
2. Briefly introduce how this has been the case with Puerto Ricans in Miami’s Wynwood community, citing examples from the reading. (1 minute)
Activity (10 minutes)
1. Have the students read the article “Wynwood: An Evolving Community.” While reading the article display images that correspond to people and events mentioned. Have the students describe what they see. (5 minutes)
2. The teacher will fill in a cause and effect graphic organizer while discussing with the students the events that led to Wynwood experiencing a cultural transformation (i.e. Robert E. Lee Middle School being closed and being replaced with Jose De Diego Middle School, the opening of Puerto Rican shops, the creation of Roberto Clemente Park, Dorothy Quintana Community Center, etc. (5 minutes)
Closure (2 minutes)
1. Based on what we have read and learned, what attracted Puerto Ricans and other immigrants to Miami’s Wynwood Community?
2. What visible representation of Puerto Rican culture is seen in Wynwood?
3. According to the article, how is Wynwood changing again today?
Optional Extension
Student made PowerPoint presentations on how different cultures have contributed positively to Miami.
References for links
http://miami-history.com/history-of-wynwood-miami/
Wynwood: An Evolving Community
Miami’s Wynwood section is located north of Northwest 14th Street to 36th Street and just east of 1st Avenue and west of 7th Avenue. It was founded by entrepreneurs such as EA Waddell, Miami’s first real estate agent, Josiah Chaille and Hugh Anderson in the early part of the 20th Century. It became annexed into The City of Miami in 1913. Properties were sold mainly to working class families who were attracted to industries that sprung up in the area. Wynwood became home to Burdines, Don Allen Chevrolet, The American Bakeries Company, Coca-Cola as well as an Orange Juice bottling plant.
In the 1920s the garment industry began developing in Wynwood. Many Cubans who began migrating to Miami in the early 1960s became much of the work force for this growing industry. The Garment District consisted of both clothing retailers as well as manufacturers. According to an article in the Miami News on October 27th in 1980, the Miami Fashion District was part of the third largest garment district in the country. In 1980, there were 225 businesses as part of this district. Wholesale – Retailers represented about $64 million in sales and manufacturers drew about $125 million in revenue annually.
As the district got more popular in the 1980s, many of the manufacturers moved out of Wynwood to make room for more retailers. As the value of commercial square footage went up, the manufacturers felt it was better to move to places like Hialeah to be closer to their Cuban workforce. Many of the workers did not have cars and resided in places like Hialeah. Over the course of the last 20 years, many of the businesses in Wynwood’s Fashion District have been purchased by South Koreans. Despite the change in rental rates and the change in business ownership, the Fashion District is still a very vibrant business community in Wynwood.
At the end of World War II, the majority of Wynwood’s old and young residents moved to the newly developed suburbs. This trend changed the composition of the neighborhood dramatically. The exodus formed a void in the neighborhood that began to be filled with a variety of new immigrants to Miami. In particular, there was a large influx of Puerto Ricans into the area, and the neighborhood began to be known as ‘Little San Juan’ by the middle 1950s. The neighborhood’s demographics represented the first big influx of Hispanics into Miami and it was referred to as Little San Juan over 10 years prior to the area near the Orange Bowl being referred to as Little Havana.
The impact of the influx of Hispanics, and in particular the Puerto Ricans, began to change the names of many of the neighborhood’s public places. Wynwood Park was renamed Roberto Clemente Park in July of 1974, following the tragic death of the Puerto Rican born baseball player on December 31st, 1972. Clemente died in a plane crash attempting to bring aid to Nicaraguans following a devastating 1972 earthquake in Managua.
Robert E Lee Middle School, at NW 32nd Street and NW 5th Avenue, was closed and later was razed to make room for a new middle school that was named Jose De Diego Middle School. The new school opened in August of 1999. Robert E Lee was closed in June of 1989 due to the age and condition of the building. The school was built in 1924.
The names of the public service buildings in the neighborhood took on the names of important Puerto Rican figures and terms. The neighborhood service center was named after a Puerto Rican patriot and writer, Eugenio Maria de Hostos. The center is located at 2902 NW 2nd Avenue. A publicly funded outpatient clinic was named Borinquen Health Care Center at 161 NW 29th Street. Borinquen was the ancient name of the island of Puerto Rico which means “Land of the Valiant Lord.”
Local dining spots were called the La Boricua Coffee Shop at 186 NW 29th Street, and Roberto Clemente Coffee Shop, which was located across the street from the park. These businesses provided an affordable diner which specialized in Puerto Rican cuisine. The churches in the neighborhood were Iglesia Pentacostal Esmira at 36 NW 29th Street and San Juan Batista, or Little Mission Church, at 3116 NW 2 Avenue.
By the late 1970s, conditions in Wynwood had deteriorated and the neighborhood was considered lower middle class. Unemployment was 55% and drug trafficking was rampant. Wynwood was considered a “springboard community” for new immigrants. The goal for working class immigrants was to improve their economic standing so they can leave the neighborhood as quickly as possible.
The unofficial Mayor of Wynwood was Dottie Quintana. Dottie was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on August 9th in 1909 and grew up in Cuba before moving to the New York in 1927. After getting married, she moved to Wynwood in the late 1950s. Dottie spent her life helping the sick, elderly and children in what became a very tough Wynwood neighborhood. For 10 years, Dottie would often drive the neighborhood at night in her old teal Chevy sedan, and make note of the activities of drug dealers and seedy characters in Wynwood. The next day she would discretely drop off her notes to the police station. Both Dottie and her husband would collect food from churches to give to Haitian Immigrants when they first started arriving in the late 1970s. She helped the Cuban Refugees that began arriving in the 1980s. She was instrumental in the opening of the Borinquen Health Center and the De Hostos Senior Center. Dottie’s work to help the people of Wynwood was a life-long passion and earned her the nickname “Mayoress of Wynwood”.
Given all of her work and accomplishment, the community center in Roberto Clemente Park was dedicated to her and is today called the Dorothy Quintana Community Center. It is located on the southeast corner of the park at NW 34th street and NW 1st Avenue. Dottie Quintana passed away at the age of 101 on March 13th, 2011.
In recent years growth and development has returned to Wynwood as entrepreneurs that have a vested interest in the arts have been investing in the community; opening up art galleries, restaurants, condominiums and brand name retailers.
Images:
Puerto Rican Restaurant in Wynwood
Source:
Wynwood Garment Industry
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sminor/16376711796
Wynwood Today
Source: http://www.obeygiant.com/headlines/wynwood-walls-mural-revisited-x-shepard-fairey
Wynwood Art District Today
Source: http://www.homeberrygroup.com/blog/tag/wynwood.htm
Wynwood Art District Today
Source: http://seanwashere.com/portfolio/wynwood-miami-street-photography/
La Familia Grocery Store
(Formerly Roberto Clemente Café)
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/miamihistory/wynwood-miamihistory
Roberto Clemente Park
Source: http://www.artisticawakenings.com/index2.html
Dorothy Quintana with Commissioner Audrey Edmonson
Source: http://www.miamidade.gov/district03/Releases/11-10-07-Dottie-street-naming.asp
A portion of NW 2nd Avenue, from NW 30th Street to NW 36th Street is now named after Dorothy Quintana
Source: http://www.miamidade.gov/district03/Releases/11-10-07-Dottie-street-naming.asp
Graphic Organizers:
Source: www.studenthandouts.com
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES