- January 22, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
Walter Gilbert remembers sitting on the front porch of the Leonard Reid House as a child during the 1960s, waiting for his mother to pick him up.
At the time, Ethel Reid Hayes and Viola Reid, the daughters of African American pioneer Leonard Reid, lived there.
"It looks the same, it looks a little different, but I'm sure they're happy too," said Gilbert, who is a board member of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition (SAACC).
In 2022, the home was relocated to Newtown, but didn't open until 2024. This month it celebrated its one-year anniversary as an arts, history and cultural center.
Currently, the center is offering the first exhibit curated by the SAAC, "When I Rise Up: The Power of Black Artists."
"It's been very well-received," said Board Chair Washington Hill, stating that events like a reception welcoming the Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota on Jan. 16 showed the center's ability to engage the public.
"Because we're on the board, we're all trying to introduce people we know to the work, and tonight is inviting folks from my church," said Brock Leach, a community minister at the church who is a board member of the SAACC.
The exhibition highlights Harlem Renaissance artists Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden and others they inspired, incorporating African artifacts and pieces from the watercolors art class held at the house.
"There's no other place in town where (the public) can actually see this type of art, and have those types of conversations," Hill said. "It's a step forward in bringing African American history to Sarasota, and it's very important that it's here, that it's located here."
The single-story, frame vernacular-style house, built in 1926, is historically designated both nationally and locally.
Its original owner, Leonard Reid, helped establish Sarasota's first Black community, Overtown, now the Rosemary District, and was considered the “right-hand man” to Sarasota’s first mayor, J. Hamilton Gillespie.
Reid lived much of his life in the house, with his wife Eddye and their two daughters, Ethel Reid Hayes and Viola Reid, who both contributed to the community as educators.
The SAACC raised the money to renovate the house, which was deeded to the city of Sarasota by a developer and then leased to the SAACC.
During the reception, Vickie Oldham, president and CEO of the SAACC, took a portion of her speech to honor the late Clifford Smith, who served as a liaison at City Hall.
Smith obtained the initial $50,000 to start the documentation of Newtown's history, working with then-mayor Fredd Atkins, and continued to support related efforts, helping Newtown to take its spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Oldham praised his ability to navigate the city's red tape.
He died in December.
"When I learned of Cliff's passing, I wept, because he was our ally and our friend in City Hall," Oldham said.
Oldham said previously as the project of the historic district took shape, it became clear a space was needed to house the history, which ended up being the Leonard Reid House.
Leach said since opening, the house has run non-stop programming, hosting over 3,000 people. The SAACC has been working with the city on a pending agreement to sell an adjacent property, he said.
The home hosts art classes, spoken word performances, festivals, and events by various organizations, and Oldham said she was open to other uses as well.
"The people that we have curating and bringing in things are people that believe in the mission, so we're getting the best of the best, so we're looking forward to just becoming a go-to site in the Sarasota area," Gilbert said.
