Eatonville

What did you discover this time reading through that you had forgotten?

forgotten?You know, you know, it's funny 'cause I didn't remember the historical reference to Eatonville, which is a town kind of in the middle of Florida, which is one of the first Black municipalities that had been formed.

And so you talk about s- a woman who was kind of downcasted because of her relationships, and then she, she's in this town, and this town is thriving.

There's a lot of c- historical reference, even though it's a fictional book.

Mm-hmm

... kind of like, okay, coming again.

There's, and then I found out there's a festival, uh, for Zora Neale Hurston close to Eatonville area, which is a kind of Orlando every year.

So I, I think I'm gonna take a pilgrimage one of these years to go.

You know what I mean?

Oh, you remember the, the, the wall between, uh, between Eatonville?

Yeah.

[laughs] Man, I'm like-

Did she-

You know what I mean?

Did she tell you that it wasn't just Jimmy? Like every, every kid that was in Eatonville-

Oh, yeah.

And they have a lot of the records of what that looked like.

And what I learned from them and from from other organizations that have done this work, because Zora Neale Hurston, who obviously is an Orlando figure as well, grew up in Eatonville.

But she wrote for a couple of newspapers in Florida, specifically one down, I believe, Fort Pierce down in South Florida.

And she wrote for a historical black newspaper.

I believe that is one of the deals.

The data center right by here in WESH is providing for Eatonville because they're using a portion of that property.

That's that weird

tower thing right there in that field.

And one of the things that she talked about was Zora Neale Hurston.

She says, I grew up going to church in Eatonville, Florida, which is where Zora was from.

My church was right next to the historical marker that's her house.

As I've gotten to know more about her, I've become obsessed with the fact that she's a radical, queer, chaotic, vibrant artist who did not fit the times she was born in at all.

Her father was a preacher, her mother was a teacher and a seamstress, and she was the fifth of eight children.

During her childhood, her family moved to Eatonville, Florida, which was one of the first incorporated all-Black towns in the entire United States.

In fact, her father became one of the city's first mayors.

But in 1904, Hurston's mother passed away.

A, Zora Neale Hurston.

I grew up going to church in Eatonville, Florida, which is where Zora was from.

My church was right next to the historical landmark that's her house.

As I've gotten to know more about her, I've become obsessed with the fact that she's a radical, queer, chaotic, vibrant artist who did not fit the time she was born in at all.

Her father was a preacher, her mother was a teacher and a seamstress, and she was the fifth of eight children.

During her childhood, her family moved to Eatonville, Florida, which was one of the first incorporated all-Black towns in the entire United States.

In fact, her father became one of the city's first mayors.

But in 1904, Hurston's mother passed away.

What? I'll say, he's a good righteous man, and I'm sure gonna vote for him.

Residing in her little cabin in Eatonville, Florida, she is able to smile because she has some means of security, the old age pension.

End of section 5.

Read by Laura Gibbs.