[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HISTORIC TOWN OF EATONVILLE

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                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 31, 2012

  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the 125th 
Anniversary of the Historic Town of Eatonville, the Oldest Incorporated 
African American Municipality in America. Eatonville is a source of 
pride for the entire State of Florida and it gives me great pleasure to 
represent them in the U.S. House of Representatives.
  Eatonville is a town rich in black history, tucked away just north of 
the city of Orlando and home to more than 2,000 people.
  Eatonville is known as one of the first incorporated black towns and 
was formed after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
  Eatonville is named for Union Army Captain Josiah Eaton. He owned the 
land and sold it to a group of African-American men who wanted to start 
their own city.
  On August 15, 1887, twenty-seven registered voters--all African-
American men--met and voted to incorporate their parcels of land, 
creating the first African-American town in America.
  The city thrived in music and arts and in 1897, the Robert Hungerford 
Normal and Industrial School was founded. For years, the school was the 
most important school for blacks in the state of Florida. Boys and 
girls from all over the state came to Eatonville to learn about great 
poets, writers, painters, and composers.
  It stayed a private school until 1950 when the courts gave it to 
Orange County as a public trust, and is now known as Robert Hungerford 
Preparatory High School--Orange County's first all-magnet high school.
  Eatonville hosts the annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival. Indeed, the 
Zora Neale Hurston Festival of Arts and Humanities in Eatonville, 
Florida is simply a prize for Eatonville and for the State of Florida.
  People come from throughout the country and from around the world to 
visit and to participate in this great annual event, to celebrate not 
only the legacy of Zora, but of the cultural contributions made by 
African Americans around the globe. There have been twenty-three annual 
festivals and I have yet to miss one!
  Please join me in honoring the Town of Eatonville, and I look forward 
to celebrating this town and its rich history for many years to come.

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