Eatonville+and+Other+Black+Towns

(A general location, in Florida)


 * [|A satellite image of Eatonville]. (Courtesy of [|Google Local])**

Eatonville and its Relation to Their Eyes Were Watching God
 * A History Of Eatonville**
 * Other Black Towns**


 * A HISTORY OF EATONVILLE**

A group of 27 black men including Joseph E. Clark voted on the question of incorporation of the Town of Eatonville in Orange County, Florida in August of 1887. This was a response to a recent legal notice advertised in the "Maitland Courier." The incorporation of the municipality was agreed on unanimously.Eatonville, name for Captain Josiah Eaton of Maitland, is recognized today as the oldest incorporated all-black town in the United States.

Immediately following the Civil War, freedmen moved to Central Florida in search of jobs. They participated in many productive activities, but racial tensions continued and they were deemed "inconducive to an upscale town." The proposed solution was to let the freedmen buy land a couple miles from Maitland and create their own town. This would become the aforementioned town of Eatonville.

Eatonville then and dominantly today is "incorporated by African-American people, inhabited by African-American people and the officers of the town are African-American people." Although the occurrence may seem odd it is an accepted reality. 
 * Other Black Towns**

//Examples of black towns in the south and approximate populations//

The efforts and triumphs of the black pioneers who partook in the "town-building" frenzy following the civil war and often unfairly neglected. These men and women, forced to endure a harsh social environment, managed to overcome the racial inadequacy of current affairs by constructing black towns throughout the US.

The first black town would be established in the 1820's in Brooklyn, Illonois. It would be a magnet for black fugative slave escapees, and later migrant blacks. Eventualy the face of slavery would be abolished and more and more of these black towns would appear. Through black towns, African-Americans were able to live relatively free from opression and obtain support from thier neighbors and friends so that they might escape the claws of the racist masses and have an easier time of living in a world filled with social injustices. Most were made conscientiously, with the purpose of establishing black communities in which everyone would support one another so that they might manage to get by and to carve out thier own culture and lifestyle in a close knit community. In extreme cases, black towns were a form of black seperatism against whites, where black's wished to lead thier own lives completley apart from the whites whom with which they had mutual despise.

Black towns often existed in relative seclusion near swamp lands, deserts, sand dunes or along rocky cliffs. They could be found in every state; some were even constructed in Canada and Mexico. Many black towns would be established and would be succesfull for a while, but many would be undone by factors, such as the Depression, Jim Crow laws, intimidation by whites, and urbanization.

Today, most black Towns have disolved but a small percentage of these towns are intact and still have overwhelmingly black populations. Cities such as Langston, Boley, and Eatonville still exist today and continue to promote the African-American culture.


 * Eatonville and its Relation to** __**Their Eyes Were Watching God**__

Hurstons life was focused in the south, where she both grew up and eventually died in. She was born in Alabama, but was later raised in Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville was the first all-black town in America, made possible by the emancipation of slaves following the civil war. Eatonville was founded by Joe Clarke (Who also become mayor of the town), which Hurston makes allusion to with Joe Starkes.

The atmosphere of Eatonville as Hurston was raised laid the foundation for the setting of the novel. This allowed her to capture the communal tensions of the black-dominated town with great accuracy. In this way, the establishment of Eatonville, the author's hometown, as the setting lends credibility to __Their Eyes Were Watching God__ and its social commentary.

Sources: http://www.wikipedia.com http://www.townofeatonville.org http://www.gradesaver.com http://www.soulofamerica.com http://www.press.uillinois.edu/f02/chajua.html