This Legacy Spotlight is personal. Evelyn Julia Minns Rolle was my grandmother. Her home was where I found care and grounding as a child — and her journey is the reason our family's story continues in Miami.
- BornEvelyn Julia Minns · the Bahamas
- ParentsMelvin Minns & Nellie Sturrup Minns
- ArrivedMiami, June 28, 1913 · S.S. Admiral from Nassau
- MarriedNathaniel David Rolle · November 1922
- ChildrenSeven
- HomeMiami, Florida
Bahamian roots
Evelyn was born in the Bahamas to Melvin Minns and Nellie Sturrup Minns. Through her mother, her roots reach back to the Sturrup family of Gregory Town, Eleuthera. Through her father, they reach to her grandmother, Cecilia Minns. Immigration-related documents connect her to Nassau.
The journey: "Julia Wilson," 1913
On June 28, 1913, a passenger manifest for the S.S. Admiral recorded a child named Julia Wilson arriving in Miami from Nassau. Family research identifies that child as Evelyn. The Wilson name connects to her aunt and uncle, Sarah Minns Wilson and Obediah Wilson.
She was part of a larger story. In the early 1900s, Black Bahamians came to Miami for work and opportunity, and by 1920 islanders — most of them Bahamian — made up just over half of Miami's Black community. They helped build the city.
Marriage and family
In November 1922, Evelyn married Nathaniel David Rolle. Together they raised their family in Miami. Family research identifies seven children:
- Wellington Rolle
- Whitlean Ruth Rolle Wright
- Nellie Mae Rolle
- Vivian Livingston “Pete” Rolle
- Melvin Rolle
- Nathaniel Rolle Jr., who died in infancy
- Barbara Jane Rolle Smith, my mother
A homemaker, a caregiver, and the spiritual matriarch whose home was a sanctuary for generations of the Rolle and Minns family.
The home she made
Evelyn raised more than her own children. She helped raise multiple generations of the Rolle and Minns family. The Rolle family home on NW 8th Avenue is still remembered as a family sanctuary — and in my own early years, from 1967 to 1975, her home was part of the stability and love that grounded me.
Why we preserve her story
A child crossed the water from Nassau to Miami in 1913, under a name that was not quite her own. More than a century later, her descendants are still here, still telling her story. Preserving it is how we make sure she is never reduced to a line on a manifest.
Research notes: Evelyn's birth is recorded as both November 5, 1904, and November 4, 1903. Her date of passing appears as both January 1, 1988, and June 16, 2003. We will update this spotlight as the records are reconciled. Read more in the Sturrup–Minns–Rolle Family Legacy Archive at sturrup-minns-rolle-legacy.com.