Racial tension rattled city hall Wednesday during discussion of a museum dedicated to Key West’s Black educators and indigenous people. The president of the proposed museum’s nonprofit group, John Wilson Smith, wants more space and support from the city; city officials want more information from him and his group — a business plan, financials and a description of artifacts and display materials for the museum.
Smith said the commissioners, with the exception of Sam Kaufman, are treating the Black community unfairly and have shown “not a wink of approval to get this going since we began in 2010.” But officials said Smith has produced none of the information the city has repeatedly requested; he could not name the board members of his nonprofit Wednesday evening and can’t expect the city to donate space for a museum without knowing how big it will be, or what it will display.
The commission on Wednesday ultimately voted 6 to 1 to designate space — about 220 square feet — inside the Frederick Douglass Community Center for a “Black Educators History Memorial/Museum.” Kaufman dissented, wanting instead to postpone the decision until more information could be exchanged and discussions with Smith could occur.
But the designated space isn’t enough, said Smith, president of the nonprofit Black Educators Memorial Project that’s been proposing the museum since 2011. In addition to the museum room at the soon-to-be-built community center, the proposed floor plan also includes about 250 linear feet of available wall space for Black history museum displays, and the ability to name six classrooms in the coming community center for Black educators. The plan also gives the Black Educators Memorial Project naming rights for the large music hall in the new center, meaning the group could raise money when someone pays for the right to choose the name of the main music hall.
Commissioners on Wednesday initially considered changing the language of the proposed item to include an assurance that the museum space could be expanded to accommodate whatever its materials needed. But that offer was rescinded after heated exchanges with Smith, who called the offered space “an insult and insufficient.”
“No one on that dais, with the exception of Commissioner (Sam) Kaufman, has given even a wink of approval of anything to go ahead with this,” Smith said.
When Commissioner Jimmy Weekley replied, “That’s not true,” Smith said, “Well, it sure wasn’t from you. You’ve been one of our greatest obstacles since this started.”
Weekley told Smith, “That’s why nothing gets done. It’s your attitude.”
Kaufman has vocally supported the museum, and on Wednesday asked that the decision about designating the space be postponed so more information could be exchanged. He said he believes the city has missed some opportunities for better communication. But his two motions to postpone the vote on the designated space twice failed due to lack of a second.
Kaufman was the lone dissenter in the vote that ultimately designated “in concept,” the space at the Frederick Douglass Community Center — the 220 square feet, 250 linear feet and naming options for classrooms and the music hall.
Kaufman told the commission he regrets that the city has no “substantial African-American museum, and no permanent exhibit featuring African-Americans. It’s embarrassing. We have to get this right and we have to heal because this ongoing controversy is not good for the community. We need to heal.”
He reminded the commission and city manager that they had received a master plan for the museum from Smith’s Black Educators Memorial Project in 2020, but it was never discussed.
Mayor Teri Johnston questioned whether the master plan included the financial projections and artifact descriptions that the city has been seeking.
“We have no sense of what’s going in there, so we don’t know where we’re starting,” Johnston said.
Smith said he can’t get the artifacts and materials until he has an appropriate space designated. He said the museum has been promised a significant donation of artifacts pending acquisition of museum space.
City Manager Patti McLauchlin said she had not been given the master plan by the prior city manager. “There’s been a stalemate between Mr. Smith and about 10 of my employees, trying to get the information we’ve been requesting about the museum. That’s the reason for my frustration here tonight.”
Smith also said he had called, texted and emailed Commissioner Clayton Lopez, whose district includes the largely Black community where the museum is being proposed, several times with no response.
“The city of Key West and Monroe County owe the Black people, owe the Black community, the opportunity to be here and to stay on this land,” Smith said. “The city commission has not been fair to us. Commissioner Kaufman is right. There’s going to be no healing and this town is gonna catch hockey sticks before this is over, because we’re not going to sit down and let this happen. This is just not fair.”
Smith told Commissioner Clayton Lopez, “You have stated in many news articles that you support the Black Educators Memorial Project, and yet you have not uttered one word.”
To which Lopez replied, “I will not get into an argument with a fool — and don’t you dare try to draw me into it.”
