Fort Lauderdale’s Sistrunk neighborhood has changed over the years, no doubt. A Broward County photographer says it’s time to take a fresh look.
David Paulo spent 2025 taking pictures of the people and architecture of Sistrunk, the city’s historic Black community not far from downtown. His images form the core of a new exhibit opening on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Jan. 15, at the Old Dillard Museum in Fort Lauderdale.
“Sistrunk, Then & Now” shows the work of Paulo, 28, along with historic photos of the neighborhood, including several taken by the late Gene Hyde, a former Miami Herald photographer, and from the collection of History Fort Lauderdale, the museum operated by the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society.
Comparing the old and the current Sistrunk proved quite enlightening, Paulo said.
Paulo grew up in Lauderhill and remembers taking the public bus to Sistrunk to play in its parks and hang out with friends. It was like living in the suburbs and traveling into the city, he said.
“When I saw the old-school photos, Sistrunk looked like a thriving area,” Paulo said. “Now it looks more desolate. I don’t feel sad. I accept it for what it is.”
Sistrunk today has a prime location near the trendy Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods of Progresso and Flagler Village. The neighborhood is named for Dr. James Franklin Sistrunk, who is credited with delivering 5,000 babies and in 1938, facing segregation rules, co-founded Broward County’s first medical facility for Black patients, Provident Hospital. He died in 1966.
The Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency says Sistrunk’s earliest settlers migrated from Georgia, South Carolina and the Bahamas in the late 1800s. By the 1960s, the community had its own movie theater, bowling alley, banks, restaurants, law firms and grocery stores.
The neighborhood began to decline in the 1980s. Now, the city and developers are working to restore the area. About $116 million in tax money has been invested in new development, including new apartment complexes as well as Sistrunk Marketplace, a former warehouse transformed into a food hall with craft kiosks, gathering and event spaces, classrooms, seating areas and a brewery.
Still, Paulo is hoping to witness the birth of locally owned stores, such as hair salons and restaurants, and a burst of creative energy, with programs including the arts and sports leagues for kids.
“I’d like to see more revitalization, more businesses, a unique feel instead of just a residential feel,” said Paulo, who today lives in North Lauderdale.
“Sistrunk, Then & Now” will serve as a celebratory event for the 30-year-old Old Dillard Museum, an African American history hub housed in the city’s first school for Black students. The museum has been inactive for most of the past year as the Broward County School Board, which operates the site, searched for a new curator, said Imani Warren, the curator who was hired in August.
“We’ve been dormant for a little while,” Warren said. “We hope this exhibit re-introduces us to the community.”
The museum is on the campus of Walker Elementary School, on school district property. Warren hopes students as well as community members begin to frequent the museum as she plans enticing exhibits, including “Get That Kitchen!” (a reference to Black women’s hair), which will explore Fort Lauderdale’s history of Black salons and beauticians.
After “Sistrunk, Then & Now” leaves the Old Dillard Museum, it will travel to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. If you’re in Terminal 4, check it out between Gates 7 and 8, beginning in February, for at least three months.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Sistrunk, Then & Now,” a photography exhibit
WHEN: Opening night celebration at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15; with exhibit on display through Friday, Jan. 30, during regular museum hours (8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.)
WHERE: Old Dillard Museum, 1009 NW Fourth St., Fort Lauderdale
COST: Free
INFORMATION: Visitors must call ahead as entrance is gated. Call Emmanuel George, the museum’s community liaison, at 954-628-6143. Go to Instagram.com/BlackBroward.
