A teacher and educator for Miami-Dade County Public Schools for more than 30 years, Fields began her career in 1964 after graduating from Spelman College. Then, in 1974, in preparation for the nation’s bicentennial, she began a search for curriculum materials on the black experience in South Florida. When she was unable to find any information about South Florida’s black history in any school or public library, she embarked on a journey that would become her lifelong professional mission.

The first step in her journey was to establish The Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc., a nonprofit manuscript and photographic repository for the legacies of Miami’s black community. Today, The Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc. serves as a national resource for this history of the 19th and 20th centuries. It also has been the catalyst for Fields’ campaign to preserve the Lyric Theater and other historic sites in Overtown. The theater underwent a major restoration and grand re-opening in 1999, recalling the splendor and exuberance of its days as one of the only black-owned and operated theaters in America.

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