I’m Casey—a graduate student at the University of Central Florida (UCF). I completed my undergraduate degree in History in 2017 and began my Masters on the Public History track in Fall 2021. Two of my favorite aspects of attending UCF are project-based learning and faculty support. These two combined helped me see the possibility of being a historian—a possibility I hadn’t considered realistic for myself before coming to UCF. In undergrad, I worked on multiple projects that gave me hands-on experience with bridging the gap between academic and public history. My experience and a shared goal with UCF have more clearly defined my career aspirations—making exciting history-based content that audiences want to engage with in a museum or other public history setting. For graduate school, I am excited to work with the UCF History Department to continue pursuing this goal while compiling a toolbox for a career in public history.
Site
This internship centers on Club Eaton, a music venue space with liquor and food service, in Eatonville, Florida—one of the oldest incorporated Black townships in the United States. Adjacent to Maitland, the two communities developed an interconnected history as they grew alongside one another. Located on 426 E. Kennedy Ave, the former Club Eaton is located on the main thoroughfare through Eatonville. The venue lived three lives as Club Eaton, Heroes Nightclub, and Club KOHA (Keeping Our History Alive).
The façade—altered from its original construction—now features two murals from the club’s last life as Club KOHA. One features famous Black entertainers; the other, scenes and figures which evoke Black accomplishment through adversity. In one window (possibly an admissions window) is a poster outlining the dress code from the venue’s life as the Heroes Nightclub. A separate entrance next to the main entry once served as a liquor or package store. Across the street are a hotel and a vacant building. According to John Beacham, the former welcomed Club Eaton’s performers while the latter offered food and entertainment as a diner/pool hall.
Today, Eatonville’s streets are active with tourists and residents still drawn to its sites of memory. We encountered one group from Texas—an anthropology student drawn to Eatonville for its connection to Zora, accompanied by two relations, came to Eatonville to walk the same streets as one of (if not the most) renown Black anthropologists. The group was surprised to hear the building’s history from Mr. Beacham and Dr. French. Not only is Eatonville culturally and historically significant for its association with Zora, but its significance also attracted other notable people such as Chuck Berry, James Brown, and Etta James to play at Club Eaton. However, now far removed from its glory days, Club Eaton does not currently draw much attention—despite the relatively high amount of pedestrian and vehicle traffic that its front street sees. While many tourists come to Eatonville aware of Zora and her work, fewer know that Club Eaton saw many greats of its own.
For this project, I intend to explore, preserve, and interpret the history of Club Eaton for public audiences—reintroducing its narrative within the fabric of Eatonville’s community memory to wider audiences. Information I uncover will be posted here, accompanied by interpretations and insights.
Significance and Community Impact
An early photograph, dated from the 1950s-60s, shows the establishment offering live music and dining, as well as liquor and beer. These services created a vibrant entertainment venue where patrons could enjoy performances while dining, drinking, and dancing. At the center of Eatonville’s social and entertainment scenes, Club Eaton was on the Chitlin’ Circuit—a network of Black musical entertainment venues traversed by musicians and performers. Club Eaton’s ability to attract Black talent to its stage placed the club at the center of nightlife in Central Florida. It was one of the few establishments which celebrated Black music and culture.
As a locus of Central Florida nightlife, the club saw large crowds of black and white patrons on weekends. The venue’s environment and energetic, at times highly charged, atmosphere could also attract trouble. Legal exceptions allowed the club to sell alcohol later than anywhere else in Central Florida—leading to raucous, and sometimes criminal, behavior. While some residents appreciated the liveliness of the venue, others saw it as hazardous to the health and safety of their community. With the venue attracting patrons from around Central Florida, many residents expressed hesitancy about how outsiders might impact their community.
Conflicting opinions of residents on these subjects reflect centralizing themes which run throughout the narrative of the site’s memory—that of morality or community integrity versus capitalism, and outsiders versus insiders. Church organizations purchased much of the land adjacent to the club to curb the spread of entertainment and tourism businesses, which—historically and presently—threaten the fabric and character of the community. Residents and community leaders are not fundamentally against the development of businesses. However, there is a wariness concerning the motivations of outside project developers and a diligence to ensure projects benefit the community.
Internship Goals
As the maintenance of community integrity is central to Eatonville’s development, collecting and presenting the history of one of its most vibrant sites will facilitate remembrance and reinforcement of community identity with the eventual hope of revitalization. I hope to contribute to the site’s history by supplementing or filling in information to create a digital narrative. By interacting with the historical record, I hope to learn more about the site’s history and methods of engaging the public. I hope to put my local history knowledge and research skills to the test while utilizing digital tools to expand reach of projects to different audiences.
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