Wade Harvin
“Something happened to me at the Ace Theater,” said Wade Harvin. “Well, my first kiss!”
Harvin’s favorite memories of Sarasota occurred when the family moved in June, 1945 from Mother Jones’ Rooming House in what was known as “Black Bottom” to Delson Quarters at 821 Grove Street. He grew up surrounded by charming, caring neighbors and playmates whose eyes were always set on achieving what seemed impossible. Educator Janie Poe’s two sons Cupid Reece and Booker T. became doctors; their brother, Spugeon was a principal. “Janie Poe Goodwin prepared me not for business, not for 4-year college, she was getting me prepared for life.”
A bishop and 11 preachers are products of that loving incubator. As soon as the school year ended to jumpstart the summer, Harvin’s dad packed the family car and took his sons north to pick beans, tomatoes and potatoes. For the first time, the boys, including nine year old Wade experienced life in the integrated town of Milton, Pennsylvania, unlike segregated Sarasota. Harvin longed to stay, but the allure of close-knit Overtown beckoned. Besides he had to return to meet the woman who would become his wife.
He married Carlene Jean. Her mother arranged a trip to Detroit for the summer to visit her father. “When she got back to Sarasota, I said ‘she’ll never send my wife anywhere else. This is marrying material here.’ She has never been back to Detroit like that, never for a whole summer away from me. No way. No way.” Harvin was married for 52 years until his life partner died in 2015. The first African American branch manager of Coast Federal Bank participated in 60’s sit-ins to integrate Lido Beach. Today, he will not step foot on its sand as a result of a hateful act.
