In September 1953, there was word that a new one-million-dollar luxury motel was being planned to be built in Miami’s Brownsville neighborhood named the “Booker T. Motel.” The motel building would include a 50-room main motel building, 12 apartment motel buildings and two combination apartment-motel-store buildings. While Black individuals were being turned away from Miami Beach’s segregation-era motels, the Booker T. Motel promised to cater to high class professionals, entertainers and other substantial Negroes visiting the area. What the people did not know was that when the Booker Terrace officially opened in July of 1954, it would become a place so special it would draw people from all over the South from Reverend Martin Luther King to Malcom X to the great Muhammad Ali. The motel quickly became a popular and leading Black social center catering to Black celebrities, local musicians and Black families with its air-conditioned rooms, swimming pool, cocktail lounge, and an all-around luxury at a low cost.
Currently known as the Historic Hampton House, the Booker Terrace was renamed after a renaming contest in the 1960s. The new name was suggested due to Booker T. Washington’s association with the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia. What would become the famous Hampton House night club was once initially promoted as a convention hall for the use of clubs, churches, schools, and other organizations. However, the Hampton House played a greater role in society and in history. In 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave an early version of his “I Have a Dream” speech by the motel’s pool three years before he went out on the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. The Islamic leader Malcom X spent hours at the Hampton House engaging with Cassius Clay, most widely known as Muhammad Ali. The motel was a Mecca for Black Miami’s entertainment during the 50’s and 60’s. While Black artists like Duke Ellington and Lena Horne were in town performing for all-white audiences in whites-only clubs, they were unable to stay at the venues they performed. Instead, they would stay at the Hampton House where they would receive the respect and star treatment they deserved.
Today the Historic Hampton House is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the unique history represented by the iconic segregation-era motel and lounge. The newly restored building provides a forum for educational, cultural, and historic activities for visitors via tours and special events. The passage of a General Obligation Bond Program in 2005, which included provisions for funding the renovation and preservation of the Hampton House Motel, also provided the security needed that this important historic site in South Florida will not be destroyed. Thanks to the House’s funding president, Dr. Enid C. Pinkney, the Historic Hampton House still stands today as a “link to the past and a door to the future.” I highly recommend anyone in the area to visit the House and take a tour, learn more about the Green Book motel that was once a haven for Black travelers. You can also purchase merchandise such as a poster from the famous Cassius Clay v. Sonny Liston fight! There’s something electrifying about walking around the Historic Hampton House that you don’t want to miss, almost as if you were a guest yourself.
Address: 4240 NW 27th Ave., Miami, FL 33142
Phone: (305) 638-5800
Website: www.historichamptonhouse.org