The collection consists of oral histories and papers prepared by The Black Archives and Florida International University (FIU) for the Metropolitan Planning Organization, a department of Miami Dade Transit, between 1996 and 1998.  The records were created in response to a request from the Miami Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization for a study on the "Historical Impact of Transportation Projects on the Overtown Community."  The study was requested after a Dade Commissioner blocked a Florida Department of Transportation plan to build an elevated Metrorail line through Overtown  in 1996. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which the Overtown area has been historically affected by major transportation projects and to suggest possible mitigation measures that would help preserve its integrity as a viable neighborhood and community in the future. The final report, "The Historical Impacts of Transportation Projects on the Overtown Community," was prepared by the Institute of Government, Florida International University, March, 1998. 

The Black Archives received a grant from Florida International University to conduct the oral history component of the project.  The oral histories were referred to by The Black Archives as the "FIU Tell the Story" project.

The records in this collection include administrative files and oral history interviews and transcripts.  The oral histories discuss family and education, employment, neighborhood life, and the expressways (I-95, I-395, State Road 836, Metrorail).  Transcripts are also available at the University of Florida Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.  The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program has made 41 of 55 oral history transcripts available online:  http://ufdc.ufl.edu/oral/results/?t=overtown.  For more information on the Black Archives Miami Dade "Impact of Transportation Projects on Overtown" oral history records collection click on "Finding Aid/Inventory" on left.