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THE VENUE

The Historic Lyric Theater

Opened in 1913, the Lyric Theater quickly became a major entertainment center for blacks in Miami. The 400-seat theater was built, owned and operated by Geder Walker, a black man from Georgia. In 1915 the Miami Metropolis newspaper described the Lyric Theater as "possibly the most beautiful and costly playhouse owned by Colored people in all the Southland" The Lyric Theater served as a symbol of black economic influence, as well as a social gathering place-free of discrimination- and a source of pride and culture within Overtown.

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THE HISTORIC LYRIC THEATER

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THE PROGRAM

THE BLACK ARCHIVES

History in the Making

In 1988, The Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc. acquired the Lyric Theater. The Archives have three types of collections based on provenance:

Subject Collections
Manuscript Collections
Black Archives Records

Collections created by The Black Archives to document the activities of the Black South Florida ethnic community are considered to have ethnic provenance and are called Subject Collections because they are generally formed around a subject.

Collections created during the administrative activities of The Black Archives have organizational provenance and are called the Black Archives Records Collections.