Story published July 15, 1993 in the Atlanta Constitution “A Man and His Museum”

In 1971 legislation was passed in Florida that mandated the creation of a repository to “serve the state by collecting and preserving source material on and about African Americans from ancient to present times.” Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University became home to that repository.

Dr. James N. Eaton was a history professor at FAMU and embarked on the task of collecting black memorabilia and artifacts.

The pictures news article states that Eaton is standing at a podium once used by Booker T. Washington and other well known African American orators. “Eaton was cruising interstate 95 in Georgia…he was in a truck stop when he saw near the Rebel flags and ceramic Jesus statues a ‘Jolly N****r Bank’…a relic of Jim Crow times.”

The Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum was renamed Meek- Eaton Black Archives after Dr. James N. Eaton’s passing in 2004 🕊

[source: FAMU & Kenan Research Center]