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In August of 1887, Eatonville, Florida was founded “by newly #emancipated African Americans” (Southern Poverty Law Center).

This video gives a brief description of the process of founding the town.

https://youtu.be/-UrLxWAHmsM?si=INw41CPqzpOhpBA7

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Why Eatonville?: Envisioning Black Autonomy

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1937 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥

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1937 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥

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In 1937, a book is published by Zora Neale Hurston, who grew up in Eatonville, called Their Eyes Were Watching God (Southern Poverty Law Center).

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This was the motto adopted for the town of #Eatonville after its founding.

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This video gives a brief description of Hurston’s inspiration for her novel.

https://youtu.be/NFY_9MgX3Pk?si=6tXGkyH4m7VCETh6

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Why Eatonville?: Zora Neale Hurston’s Town

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A quote that can relate to Hurston finding her inspiration for writing the book can be seen with the quote,

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer,” (Hurston 21).

The quote does a good job of reflecting Hurston’s own journey of #self-reflection and finding her identity. She faced rejection from many other authors for her writing. The quote does a good job of connecting her “ups and downs” to the story.

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Zora Neale Hurston used aspects from her life, such as a relationship to the mayor of Eatonville, to influence her work in #TheirEyesWereWatchingGod.

Brother and sisters, since us can’t never expect tuh better our choice, Ah move dat we make Brother Starks our Mayor until we kin see further (Hurston 43).

[Zora’s father] ultimately added ‘reverend’ to his title and by 1912 was mayor of Eatonville (L. Hurston 9).

These quotes help show the connection between real Eatonville, and Eatonville in the novel. The fact that Zora’s father was mayor of Eatonville, led to Zora being influenced by this and making the character of Janie having some sort of relation to the mayor of Eatonville.

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This video goes over the struggle community members have faced in the past few years.

https://youtu.be/_OTYeHKrXn0?si=YXOW_t3ewA6pMUVV

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A quote that connects to Hurston's life can be seen with the quote,

She was too busy feeling grief to dress like grief, (Hurston 168).

Hurston struggled for many years of her life with people telling her how she should act. Despite these struggles, Hurston stayed strong and proved all of her doubters wrong.

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𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥

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𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥

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Their Eyes Were Watching God is a book that was written in 1937 by author #ZoraNealeHurston, a huge voice in African American literature. The novel follows the life of Janie Crawford, an African American woman who is in search of true love and happiness. While searching for this, all the people around her believe that it is better to have security over true love, causing her to marry a man that she doesn’t really like. He dies, and she runs away with a man that she believes she loves, and the book is a repeating cycle, as she does it once more with a man named Tea Cake, who she develops a love hate relationship with, as he betrays her. Eventually, Tea Cake suffers a tragic death, which leads to Janie moving back to Eatonville, feeling content with her life.

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Poem written by Zora Hurston titled “Home.” describing her feeling of Eatonville. (Speak, So You Can Speak Again) (L. Hurston 8-9).

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Both Janie and Zora feel content in their “home” in Eatonville.

So Ah’m back home agin and Ah’m satisfied tuh be heah. Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons (Hurston 191).

After a long journey, Janie finally returns to Eatonville feeling content with how her life has gone. In the same sense, Zora wasn’t really born in Eatonville, however she feels as though Eatonville is her real home, leading her to put together a poem that puts her feelings on Eatonville into words.

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Joe Starks, the man that Janie ran away with, was subjected to slavery for part of his life, working for white folks. He catches wind of a new town being built, and immediately decides that’s where he wants to live.

But when [Joe] heard all about ‘em makin’ a town all outa colored folks, he knowed dat was de place he wanted to be (Hurston 28).

This quote describes how the new town that is being built, Eatonville, is one that is completely ran by African Americans.

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This video gives a brief description of the #legacy of Eatonville.

https://youtu.be/-ncqloqgYwM?si=NwpT3nvEBcUGT2bz

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Why Eatonville?: Where the Past Meets the Present

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Schooling in Eatonville has gone under some change in the past few years. In 2009, the school district closed #HungerfordHighSchool, but the elementary school remained open. In 2020, the high school was demolished with little notice, causing an uprise in the community. Then, in 2022, the restriction that the land was only able to be used for African American education was removed.

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Eatonville was the first incorporated all African American town in America. The town served as inspiration for new communities striving to replicate what Eatonville had started. Around 400 towns were founded shortly after. To remember the history and creation of Eatonville, the Zora Neale Hurston Museum was founded, along with a library named after Hurston. Eatonville is also home to one of the best schools for African Americans in the region. The town serves as a sign to remember the history of the first incorporated all African American town in United States history (The James Madison Institute).