The Cool History of a Jacksonville, FL Neighborhood
Lavilla is a neighborhood in the Downtown area of Jacksonville, Florida. Lavilla at one point was its own city before being annexed into Jacksonville in 1887. Lavilla was a very lively and vibrant African American Community until the 1980s and had one point was known as the Harlem of the South due to its cultural influence during the Harlem Renaissance.
Lavilla was originally a city for freed African American slaves, and it was from around the time of the civil war until around the time of the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. Lavilla contained hundreds of black owned businesses, restaurants and hotels and was a cultural hub.
As stated in the introduction the city was annexed into Jacksonville in 1887 and a fire occurred in 1901. destroyed much of the original Lavilla but they quickly rebounded. Lavilla contained the original Stanton High School and James Weldon Johnson who was the creator of Lift Every Voice and Sing (the black national anthem) was at one time the principal of that school[1]. Lavilla had a very vibrant cultural scene and it was an area that never slept, as it always had something going on with clubs, concerts, plays and other performances by people such as Ray Charles who got his start in Lavilla. Lavila is home to the Ritz Theatre which put on shows and performances during Jim Crow that is still in existence today, along with a museum to compliment the theatre. The Ritz Theater and museums may be the only ones left to preserve the history as gentrification is a major threat to the neighborhood legacy. [2]
There are ways to receive primary sources as the Ritz theater also now has a museum component of the history of Lavilla. The museum I would assume the museum would have primary sources, and therefore would contact the museum and see what can be worked out. I would also attempt.to go to what is now Stanton College Prep High School and see what primary sources they have left from their old school in Lavilla, especially from when James Weldon Johnson was principal. I would respectfully engage would community members in the way I currently interact with them as I’m frequently in Lavilla. I used to live in Lavilla. While normally I would research the area and learn about the community before I try and engage the community members in this particular case since I very recently lived in Lavilla I know quite a bit about the area and its members. I would, however, because I am not a native of the area Jacksonville be very polite in how I word questions being asked in a way that’s not offensive. While I am African American and this is an African American history topic I still have to ensure I’m not offensive and watch for any biases I could still have.
.
There have been significant changes to the neighborhood as it’s no longer a significant African American Cultural hub with over 600 black owned businesses. While Lavilla rebounded from its downturn that began in the 1970s and worsened in the 1980s due to the crack cocaine epidemic: Lavilla is beginning to face the threat of gentrification that has already wiped much of the history that was present away. There are a few local news articles and YouTube videos are the history of Lavilla, and the Ritz Theatre which has a museum with it has information so it wasn’t terribly difficult.to find sources, as long as scholarly peer reviewed sources isn’t the expectation because those are hard to come by on this topic.
[1]“History of Lavilla.” YouTube, February 23, 2021. https://youtu.be/KQlQxpBZPK8.
[2]”Ritz Museum.” Ritz Theatre and Museum. Accessed May 10, 2023. https://www.ritzjacksonville.com/p/events-and-tickets/ritz-museum.
