SARASOTA COUNTY — The Sarasota County Historical Commission on Saturday will play host to a ceremony dedicating a historical marker that commemorates events leading to the desegregation of area beaches, at the Lido Beach Pavilion in Sarasota.

In 1951 — three years before the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case ruled that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students were unconstitutional — Newtown resident Mary Emma Jones asked the County Commission for a beach for “colored” residents. That same year, the county purchased its first public beach in Nokomis. A year later, county voters approved a recreational bond that included beach acquisition, and the county proposed a swimming pool in Newtown.