Week Three: Reflections on the 2024 Afrofuturism Conference as Public History

 Week Three: Reflections on the 2024 Afrofuturism Conference as Public History

    Last week, I had the privilege and honor of attending the 2024 ZORA! Afrofuturism Conference to hear from speakers on public memory and acts of preservation rooted in the issues circulating Eatonville. This conferences was a quite literal representation of "putting history to work" as Public History requires. The main thing I understood in this conference was the importance of a communal input to the practice and reconciliation of public memory. I listened to representatives from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Dr. Walter Greason, community activists John Beacham and Julian Johnson and Orlando Sentinel reporter Desiree Stennett to find out the gravity of the Eatonville situation and the dedication of preservation; Eatonville is more than a building or a town, but rather the survival of a fight against systematic oppression. 

A Matter of Chance: The Hungerford School in the African-American Place-Making Tradition

Dr. Walter Greason, A Matter of Chance:
The Hungerford School in the African-American Place-Making Tradition
    Dr. Walter Greason's A Matter of Chance: The Hungerford School in the African-American Place-Making Tradition was a presentation based on the legacy of the Hungerford School, understanding how tradition and Eatonville's history coincide with it's survival. Dr. Walter Greason understood the importance of Hungerford as not just the importance of Black history, but the foundation in which places like Eatonville can exist. His claim is a call against the propaganda for book bans, affirmative action, and diversity inclusion policy. He ends with a quote, saying "We would've all been criminals, having this conversation 50 years ago." his work is true, understanding the recollection and memory of Black history and history in general  terms as the uniting and construction of public memory. 

Eatonville’s Historic Hungerford School Property and the 21st Century Struggle for Preservation, Economic Revitalization, and Community Control: A Live Q&A

Dr. Scot French, Eatonville’s Historic
 Hungerford School Property
    The second portion of the Thursday afternoon time was dedicated to a presentation led by Dr. Scot French that illustrated the history of Eatonville and the arguments for the preservation of the Hungerford school. French eloquently survey the years of the foundation of Hungerford school and it's importance in the years following the Civil War alongside the implementation and success of the Tuskegee system. More so, by understanding the arguments made by Booker T. Washington, we can understand how the unequal in funding by the Orange County School Board led to the closing and selling of the Hungerford property. It goes against the very claim that the property was not handled on the basis of race. 
Eatonville’s Historic
 Hungerford School Property, Live Q&A

    French followed the time with a panel of community activists dedicated to the fight for Hungerford; activists John Beacham and Julian Johnson and Orlando Sentinel reporter Desiree Stennett answered numerous questions both on the public and personal level, let attendants know the personal and political stake they had put themselves in. For men, I thought Desiree Stennett's input on the situation via newspaper was very interesting. She wrote her first publication on December 2022, understanding the Hungerford has a "development the people didn't approve of," but then understood it as a battle between a community that existed for over a hundred years and a stubborn school board that believed it was out of their hands. All the examples and stories told from the panelists showed the importance of what is often the beginning of a Public History project:: A public outcry. Without the public voices, Hungerford and Eatonville would have been swallowed into the depths and forgotten. 

Sothern Poverty Law Center: The Struggle in the Court

Southern Poverty Law Center, update on
 Hungerford School
The Southern Poverty Law Center ended the time by showcasing the progress of the case presented on the preservation of Hungerford, presenting facts and claims against OCPS. Amongst claims, the prevalent one is on the basis of the OCPS' ability to sell the property; Does the 1951 deed restriction give them ability to sell despite the release of the deed in 2022? The Southern Poverty Law Center led an amazing discussion, expanding on the talk by providing law and's importance in the decisions of the 1950s and the actions of OCPS today. They shared not only an public involvement, but a personal dedication to the revival of the Hungerford school by all means necessary. 


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