Design District Life

John Charles Thomas recalls fondly what it was like being in his father’s office as a child in the 1960s. The office, which sits along Northwest Second Avenue in Overtown, was where lawyer Lawson E. Thomas worked on high-profile cases, such as fighting for equal education for Black students in Broward County and playing a role in Virginia Key Beach becoming Miami’s first Black beach.

“He was highly intelligent but extremely sensitive to the racism that was going on at the time,” the younger Thomas, now 65, said of his dad and his work.

Now, Miami’s Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has taken on the task of preserving the law office, which had fallen into disrepair in the last decade. The historic office will soon be home to an art gallery highlighting Overtown’s rich history after undergoing a $375,000 renovation in the past year.

In 2020, the city of Miami listed the office as a historical site, and two years later, the Overtown CRA approached the city about preserving the nearly 90-year-old structure.

“Because he was a pioneer in this community, and because one of our many missions is to try to protect historical buildings that are located throughout the community, we felt that that building ranked up there with the historical buildings,” said Overtown CRA President James McQueen.

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✍️: Raisa Habersham

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