>> 7.20 ON YOUR TUESDAY, WELCOME TO HISTORICALLY VILLA. DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS ONCE ITS
OWN CITY,
A VERY PROSPEROUS AREA FOR
MEMBERS OF JACKSONVILLE’S
AFRICAN
AMERICAN COMMUNITY.
>>LAUREN VERNO: YOU KNOW, AND
HERE’S WHY IT WAS A SAFE HAVEN
FOR FREED BLACK PEOPLE BECAUSE
THE NUMBER OF UNION SOLDIERS TO
STAY HERE AFTER THE WAR TO
PROTECT IT. BUT WHEN THEY LEFT
THINGS WENT
DOWNHILL. BUT LABELLA RIPPLE
URGED AGAIN, BUT IT BECAME PART
OF JACKSONVILLE IN 1887,
STRUGGLING TO KEEP ITS
IDENTITY. IT WAS NEARLY WIPED
OUT IN THE FIRE OF 19 OH ONE
BUT EVENTUALLY BECAME PART OF
THE
BLACK RENAISSANCE. IT WAS ALSO
THE BIRTHPLACE OF
JACKSONVILLE’S FIRST BLACK
SHERIFF.
>> I ACTUALLY WALKED FROM
OLD BUILDING TO AN ILL WORD.
AND WHEN WE GOT HERE. THIS
BUILDING. I WAS A LACK OF
I LOVE.
I LOVE. >>LAUREN VERNO: FORMER SHERIFF NAT GLOVER VIVIDLY REMEMBERS
WHEN HE WAS JUST A CHILD AND
MOVED ON UP TO THE NEWLY BUILT
SEGREGATED. L LEWIS ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL. THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WAS
HIS FOUNDATION WHERE HE LEARNED
TO PLAY FOOTBALL IN
THIS FIELD. EVENTUALLY EARNING
A SCHOLARSHIP TO ATTEND
COLLEGE.
♪
♪
♪ >> A LADY WHO’D OVER TO PAUL CALL MISHAP TOWEL.
KIAHNNA COUPLES IN LINE AND
THAT KIND
OF THING.
>>LAUREN VERNO: GLOVER LIVED
RIGHT HERE IN A SHOTGUN HOUSE
JUST LIKE THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR.
HE WAS BORN IN 1943
15 YEARS AFTER THE OPENING OF
THE RITZ WHEN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
WAS A HUB FOR BLACK CULTURE
DURING THE SEGREGATION ERA, IT
WAS ASHLEY STREET.
>> THAT HAD THE THEATERS IT WAS
THE STRAND IN THE GLOW THEN AND
THE FROLIC THEATERS. IT HAD
RESTAURANT. IT HAD HOTELS.
LAVILLA AT ONE POINT IN
THE 20’S.
>> AT 6. A 100 BLACK OWNED
BUSINESSES. MOST OF THEM WERE
ON
THE STREET.
>>LAUREN VERNO: HISTORIAN AND
MUSEUM CURATOR CAROL ALEXANDER
REMEMBERS WHEN THIS AREA WAS
KNOWN AS THE HARLEM OF
THE SOUTH MUSICIANS AND WRITERS
WOULD TRAVEL FROM NEW YORK TO
JACKSONVILLE BECAUSE THIS WAS
THE SPOT TO BE.
>> THE LIGHTS NEVER
WENT OFF ON ASHLEY STREET IN
THE VILLAGE AND THEY WOULD THEN
HERE THEY WOULD STAY IN
PEOPLE’S HOMES AS WE SAID
EARLIER FOR THE 2 SEGREGATED
HOTELS AND THEN THEY WERE OFF
TO PLACES LIKE CHICAGO WHILE
BUT HEY.
♪
IF
♪ IF YOU WERE AND AS THE STRAND
TONIGHT
AND THE PROBLEM WAS STILL
ROLLING YOU GOING TODAY AND YET
WE HAVE BEEN
TESTED AND.
>> YOU CAN SEE IT CAN YOU KNOW
WHEN YOU OPEN DRY.
>> EYES YOU
SEE THIS.
>> THE OLD STANTON HIGH SCHOOL
WHERE THE PRINCIPAL WAS JAMES
WELDON JOHNSON. THE MAN WHOM
WROTE LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING
THAT NOW SITS EMPTY AND FALLING
APART DOWN THE STREET, THE CLUB
WERE FAMOUS SINGER AND
SONGWRITER RAY CHARLES
PERFORMED NOW AN
♪
EMPTY SHELL.
>> IT DOES LIKE DROOPING LIVES
ON A TREE.
IT CUTS OFF THE JET THE DREAM
THE SHADE JUST CUTS OFF
THE DRINK.
>> FOR SOME LAVILLA WAS THE
DREAM. IT HOUSE THE TRAIN
STATION HAD WATER ACCESS TO
TRANSPORT GOODS IN THE STREETS
WERE FILLED WITH THRIVING
AFRICAN AMERICANS UNTIL IT
STARTED TO DECLINE AROUND THE
START OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS HERE
IN THE 70’S, THE UNION
TERMINAL SHUTDOWN AND BY THE
80’S LAVILLA HAD A NEW
REPUTATION FOR DILAPIDATED
BUILDINGS AND CRIME.
>> IT’S PAINFUL.
IN FULL FOR THE
LEGACY OF OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THIS COMMUNITY, IT’S PAINFUL FOR
THE MEMORY OF THE GREAT
EDUCATION THAT CAME OUT
OF HERE.
>>LAUREN VERNO: THERE WERE
EFFORTS OVER THE YEARS FOR
REVITALIZATION IN THE 90’S
MAYOR AT AUSTIN LAUNCHED HIS
GRAND RIVER CITY RENAISSANCE
PLAN WAY THE RITZ THEATER WAS
RESTORED. ALEXANDER WAS THE
FOUNDING THEATER DIRECTOR AT
THE TIME. AND IT WAS A START
BUT THERE WERE MANY STOPS.
BUT I THINK THE PLAN.
♪
>> DISAPPEARED WAS SOMEBODY SQUASH THE PLANE. BECAUSE WE SHOULD BE HERE
♪
BY NOW.
I THINK NOW IS THE TIME AND THAT IT WILL TAKE.
>> CHANGE
IS HAPPENING. THE NEW
COURTHOUSE CONDOS, THE NEW JTA
BUILDING. THERE’S A LEVEL OF
OPTIMISM BUT STILL AS YOU LOOK
THROUGH THE NEW YOU SEE THE
STRUGGLE RIGHT IN THE MINUTES.
>> AT MY AGE.
THE STRUGGLE AND THE PASSION THAT I HAVE ABOUT BLACK FOLK IN THE PASSION THAT I HAVE ABOUT
CHANGE AND I SEE THAT.
♪
IT
♪ IT ♪
IT ♪ MAKES ME CONFUSE.
BUT WHEN I SEE YOU TELLING A
STORY.
>> IT GIVES ME HOPE.
>> REALLY POINTED
OUT THAT THERE IS SOME CONFUSION HERE IN LA BELLA YOU HAVE THE TENT CITY THAT’S RIGHT
AROUND THE CORNER, BUT YET YOU
HAVE ALL THIS NEW LIFE THAT’S
COMING
AS WELL. SO YOU KNOW, SHE’S
REALLY HOPING THAT THIS CAN
BLEND TOGETHER THAT PEOPLE CAN
STAY HERE AND THAT IT CAN ONE
DAY FLOURISH AGAIN, I JUST WANT
TO GIVE A QUICK
SHOUT OUT OF THIS IS A BOOK
THAT YOU CAN CHECK OUT IN OUR
LOCAL LIBRARY, ITS IMAGES OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE IN
JACKSONVILLE AND IT IS JUST
FILLED, WHICH IS BEAUTIFUL
IMAGES THAT REALLY HELP YOU
PAINT THAT PICTURE AND
UNDERSTAND WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE
SO MANY YEARS AGO IT WAS
INTERESTING. CAROL ALEXANDER
SAID WE SHOULD BE HEALED BY
NOW.
>>BRUCE HAMILTON: AND THERE’S
SOME REASONS WHY THAT HEALING
HASN’T HAPPENED AS QUICKLY AS