We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful AnnMarie Henry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with AnnMarie below.

Alright, AnnMarie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I am part of three member team that started to research Black Miami history because we were frustrated with the lack of information that was available on the subject.
We decided we were going to chronicle Black Miami history from the mid 19th century to the present day.

My other two members Keith Moore and Christine Malcolm were already researching the Coconut Grove area and I was assigned to find information on someone in the Miami area. The person I was assigned was Alexander C. Lightbourne. He was a Bahamian migrant who came to the United States in 1866 and established an impressive resume even by today’s standards but information on his descendants were proving to be elusive but I was able to locate his great great grand daughter and also found the connections to his wife’s side of the family. One of them happens to be a former Miami-Dade County Commissioner.
Because of my work the City of Miami honored Lightbourne as a distinguished citizen and he now has a street named after him in the City of Miami.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

AnnMarie Henry is one third the member of Profiles in Black Miami, an organization founded to chronicle the history of Black Miami from the latter part of the 19th century to the current day.

Profiles of Black Miami purpose is to educate the public through a series of documentary films and public events.

It is through her research that Henry found the descendants of one Miami pioneer, Alexander C. Lightbourne. Her discovery led to the city of Miami honoring Lightbourne in 2019 with a proclamation of outstanding citizenship.

The Greater Bethel AME church, a church founded by Lightbourne and his wife in March of 1896, also honored Lightbourne and his descendants in March of 2019.

Her continued research has also uncovered the descendants of Lightbourne’s wife Mary Zeigler, whose descendants include former Miami Dade Commissioner Barbara Jordan.

She has currently worked to secure a street designation for Alexander C. Lightbourne, Dr. Ira P. Davis, and Dr. Enid Curtis Pinkney and has served as the event manager, program coordinator and project liaison with the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County. The fourth street naming ceremony for Miami pioneer Isidor Cohen is scheduled for early 2025.

Henry has also worked with renowned historian and preservationist Enid Pinkney in securing a proclamation for AC Lightbourne from the city of Miami.

Henry is currently working with the City of Miami, Bayfront Park Management Trust and the Art in Public Places to install an Incorporators Monument on the grounds of Bayfront Park.

Henry was born in Jamaica and migrated to Miami during her early teen years.

She attended North Miami Beach Sr. High and later the University of Florida where she earned a B.S from the College of Journalism and Communications.

She currently works as a production associate at CBS Miami. It is there that she met Keith Moore and Christine Malcolm, who are her partners in Profiles in Black Miami.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We are a nonprofit organization and are self-funded. We welcome all support from anyone who believes in the work that we are doing.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I feel that resilience is part of my DNA as an individual but also because of my heritage. We are often faced with obstacles and roadblocks that we have to overcome.
In researching Lightbourne I felt his spirit pushing me forward through the challenges to accomplish something that no one else was able to do at that point ; finding his descendants. It took a couple of years but I did not give up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://profilesinblackmiami.org
• Instagram: profilesinblackmiami1
• Facebook: profilesinblackmiami
• Youtube: profilesinblackmiami

Image Credits

Wyco Photography
Inka Originals Photography