{"id":305679,"date":"2026-06-12T21:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/305679\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T21:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:29:10","slug":"lavilla-heritage-trail-unveiled-at-lift-evry-voice-and-sing-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/305679\/","title":{"rendered":"LaVilla heritage trail unveiled at Lift Ev\u2019ry Voice and Sing Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

LaVilla<\/a> is a cornerstone for the history and culture of Jacksonville. Those contributions will be celebrated in the LaVilla Lift Ev\u2019ry Voice & Sing Heritage Trail that was unveiled Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Urban planner Ennis Davis<\/a> notes there is far more history in LaVilla than the 22 markers that were unveiled. For Davis, whose book Jacksonville\u2019s Gullah Geechee Heritage was published in April, the unveiling was a beginning, not a culmination.<\/p>\n

After Friday\u2019s fanfare subsided, Davis led nearly three dozen people on a walking tour of LaVilla. Noelle Barber was among those who participated. Barber will host an art installation about Black life and autonomy that opens at The Ritz Theatre & Museum<\/a> on June 18.<\/p>\n

\"\"Urban planner Ennis Davis says there is far more history in LaVilla than the 22 markers that were unveiled as part of the the LaVilla Lift Ev\u2019ry Voice & Sing Heritage Trail on Friday, June 12, 2026. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is more than just a ribbon cutting,\u201d Jacksonville City Council member Ju\u2019Coby Pittman says. \u201cIt\u2019s about being intentional and getting to the finish line. It is our homecoming today. \u2026 Long before many of us was born, these streets were filled with entrepreneurs, educators, nonprofits, musicians, faith leaders, railroad workers and visionaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

These markers will highlight local legends like Eartha M.M. White and John Rosamond Johnson.<\/p>\n

\"Blacksonville:<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more: The Blacksonville 100<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also an opportunity for people to learn about the likes of Thomas Long, an African Methodist Episcopal church leader who was once enslaved in Jacksonville, settled in LaVilla and, eventually, became the superintendent of public schools in Madison County, Florida, during Reconstruction.<\/p>\n

Markers were erected to memorialize Brewster Hospital, the Richmond Hotel, old Stanton High School, Ritz Theatre & Museum and more.<\/p>\n

They are in a 1.7-mile loop that could take visitors from Lift Ev\u2019ry Voice and Sing Park<\/a>, along Davis Street, across Beaver Street and weaving through blocks of Broad, Ashley, Duval and Jefferson streets.<\/p>\n

They were grouped into themes that incorporate the lyrics of Jacksonville\u2019s most famous song.<\/p>\n

Out From The Gloomy Past, celebrated LaVilla\u2019s connection to resistance and resurrection following the American Civil War.<\/p>\n

Let Our Rejoicing Rise chronicles the impact of the Black church and the hope that the Old Stanton High School provided.<\/p>\n

True to our Native Land spotlights Lift Ev\u2019ry Voice and Sing Park and the residences in the once-thriving neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Sing A Song remembers those on the Chitlin\u2019 Circuit, and later Ray Charles, who performed in LaVilla.<\/p>\n

If one were to walk along Bay Street from the marker that recognizes the importance of the Jacksonville Terminal, east toward the marker that remembers the impact the First South Carolina Volunteers made in establishing Union headquarters during the American Civil War, they would pass the intersection of Clay Street and Bay Street. That location was the site of the first successful challenge of Southern segregation laws on public transportation in 1905.<\/p>\n

The LaVilla Heritage Trail and Gateway Committee devoted years ensuring the history of the historic Black community is shared with new generations.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jerry Urso details the history of the Masonic Temple on Broad Street during a LaVilla walking tour of some of the sites that are part of the LaVilla Lift Ev\u2019ry Voice & Sing Heritage Trail on Friday, June 12, 2026. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today<\/p>\n

Pittman, the longtime CEO of the Clara White Mission, was on the committee. Davis was as well. Historians, urban planners, cultural leaders, community griots and others on the committee pressed the Downtown Investment Authority, as well as the city of Jacksonville, to ensure the history was thoroughly and accurately presented.<\/p>\n

Jacksonville-based photographer Malcolm Jackson was instrumental in creating the request for proposal that allowed local artists and storytellers to design the markers, the banners that hang along streetlights in LaVilla and more.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jacksonville artist Erin Kendrick created the graphics for the streetlight banners that are along the LaVilla Lift Ev\u2019ry Voice & Sing Heritage Trail. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DIA actually listened to our feedback and gave us the ability to create a committee of stakeholders that were actually connected to the story,\u201d committee member Adrian Swanigan said. \u201cI want to thank them again. Hopefully, in the future,\u00a0 we could take this example that was displayed here in LaVilla and apply it to some of our other projects around town \u2014 where we have local hands and local people who are connected to\u00a0these stories to actually tell our own story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Erin Kendrick, City Council Member Ju\u2019Coby Pittman, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and Carla Jones celebrated the unveiling of 22 markers that were part of the the LaVilla Lift Ev\u2019ry Voice & Sing Heritage Trail that was unveiled Friday, June 12, 2026. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today<\/p>\n

Erin Kendrick was among the artists who conjured the graphics for the trail. She considered it an honor to be tasked with helping tell LaVilla\u2019s story to a new generation and to visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to preserve these stories, because we can see, clearly, how all of these stories are being erased.\u201d Kendrick says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s legacy work for me. Putting these markers up in these neighborhoods makes information available to anybody. It was very important to us to put actual pictures on the marker so people could see the living history as well as read about the living history.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LaVilla is a cornerstone for the history and culture of Jacksonville. Those contributions will be celebrated in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-305679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}