7. 1563 Franklin Street
A year after Asa Philip Randolph left for New York, his family moved from 830 Jessie Street. At the time his older brother James, Jr. had become a clerk at the post office. Between 1912 and 1916, the family lived briefly in several Eastside addresses before finding some stability once James, Jr. became a Pullman Porter in 1917. One of those structures still stands today and is located at 1563 Franklin Street. This is where Randolph’s parents and older brother lived in 1915.
8. Pinehurst Cemetery
Randolph’s father passed on September 14, 1924 at the age of 60, while the family resided at 1564 Van Buren Street. He was buried at Pinehurst Cemetery. Pinehurst is one of a large African-American cemetery district off Moncrief Road established by Abraham Lincoln Lewis in the early 20th century. In 1901, Lewis helped to organize the Afro-American Industrial Benefit Association which later became the Afro-American Life Insurance Company. Assisting Booker T. Washington to create the National Negro Business League in 1901 to “promote the commercial and financial development of the Negro”, Lewis was well known for being one of Florida’s first African-American millionaires and for his philanthropic efforts in the black community. This included establishing Nassau County’s American Beach oceanfront resort and the prestigious Lincoln Golf and Country Club in Jacksonville, and his generous gifts to Edward Waters College, Bethune-Cookman University, Florida Memorial College and Florida A&M University. Lewis eventually helped establish the Memorial Cemetery Association to operate several African-American cemeteries in Northwest Jacksonville including Memorial, Sunset and Pinehurst Cemetery. Over the years, the center of Memorial and Sunset became “fashionable” places for burials while Pinehurst was considered to be an “ordinary” location.
9. & 10. Ritz Theatre & LaVilla Museum and Old Stanton High School
In Jacksonville, Randolph’s older brother James, Jr. worked as a pullman porter when the massive Jacksonville Terminal opened in 1919. Following the death of their father in 1924, A. Philip Randolph undertook the lead role in organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), eventually becoming the first African-American labor union in the country.
In September of 1929, the Ritz Theater opened at the corner of State and Davis Streets. Designed in the Art Deco style by local architect Jefferson Powell, it quickly became LaVilla’s primary performance venue and an important stop on the Chitlin’ Circuit.
The “Chitlin’ Circuit” was the collective name given to a series of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper mid-west areas of the country that were safe and acceptable for African American entertainers to perform in during segregation. Other notable venues on the Chitlin’ Circuit were the Cotton Club and Apollo Theater in Harlem, the Royal Peacock in Atlanta, the Fox Theatre in Detroit and the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Typically associated with James Weldon Johnson, A. Philip Randolph would speak to Stanton’s students during his visits to Jacksonville.
The Ritz Theatre building was also the long time home of the local BSCP office. Visiting Jacksonville every year, Randolph regularly spoke at Old Stanton High School, churches and meetings of the local BSCP which were held the second Tuesday and fourth Friday of each month. In 1941, Clara White Mission’s Eartha White also joined him in an effort to protest job discrimination. This effort led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802, which banned discrimination in the federal government, defense industries and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee. As a part of Mayor Ed Austin’s 1990s River City Renaissance Plan, the theatre was partially demolished and renovated into a new theatre and museum. The new Ritz Theatre opened on September 30, 1999.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com