The Reverend John Culmer and the Politics of Black Representation in Miami, Florida

The Reverend John Culmer was the best-known and most respected black leader in Miami during the 1930s and 1940s. Still, despite his notoriety and prominence, he goes almost unnoticed by scholars. The Episcopalian priest receives little attention in books and articles on Miami's historical past. Paul S. George and Thomas Petersen note only that Culmer was a member of a black advisory group that helped secure public housing for blacks in Miami. Author Marvin Dunn's Black Miami in the Twentieth Century takes an uncritical but more extensive look at the Episcopalian priest. However, there is little assessment of Culmer's leadership. ¹