Nelson English
1850 – The ship Meteor, from Apalachicola bound to Liverpool, was off Key West with a signal raised requesting a pilot. The pilot boat Spray went out, learned the ship’s captain had died, and carried the body to Key West. Meteor then continued its voyage under the charge of the first mate.
1882 – Nelson English was named Postmaster of Key West, the first African American to hold that position.
1897 – George W. Allen was appointed Collector of Customs, the first native Key Wester to hold that office.
1898 – Corporal Ansburn F. Tower, Company D, 1st DC Infantry, died in the Army Hospital at the Convent from battle wounds suffered in Cuba.
1911 – Teachers were named for Monroe County schools outside of Key West: Victoria Pastorini – Marathon; Louisa Solomon – Crainlyn (Grassy Key); Myrtle Archer – Matecumbe; Dora Perez – Plantation Key; and Julia Roberts – Tavernier.
1934 – The Strand Theater on Duval Street was destroyed by fire. The fire was caused by an explosion in the film operating room that killed Jack Perez, the 12-year-old son of Manuel Perez, who was working on the projectors.
1943 – A representative for the shark skinning camp at No Name Key promised the Monroe County Commission his company would no longer dry skins along the island’s causeway. Residents had been complaining about the stench generated from the practice.
1946 – Key West police forcibly removed two girls from a Greyhound bus for refusing to take seats at the back of the vehicle. The two were taken to the police station, where Chief Eisner explained to them that Florida law required people of color to take seats at the rear of public conveyances.
1958 – Congress approved the Navy’s request to transfer the old Navy Commissary building on United Street to the Monroe County School Board. The building was originally constructed for the Ruth Hargrove Institute in 1911 and taken over by the Navy for use as a Navy Hospital during World War I. It became the Navy Commissary during World War II.
2010 – Key West street performers demonstrated outside City Hall to protest proposed new regulations that would limit their performance area and increase permit fees.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Nelson English. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.