SPLC Hopeful for Affirmative Resolution of Hungerford Property After Court’s Ruling

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Ninth Judicial Circuit Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on behalf of plaintiffs, the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community (P.E.C.) and Hungerford descendant Bea Leach Hatler. The litigation was filed by the SPLC against the School Board of Orange County, Fla., to protect the community from a massive commercial redevelopment of the property. The land is the former site of the Robert L. Hungerford Normal and Industrial School, located in Eatonville, Fla. 

“We are reviewing the court’s decision, and plaintiffs are considering their next steps after the court’s ruling,” said Kirsten Anderson, SPLC deputy legal director for economic justice. “Importantly, the court did not reach a decision on the merits of the lawsuit but only decided that the court lacks jurisdiction because there is no longer a pending sale of the Hungerford property. This means that the significant legal questions presented by this lawsuit remain to be decided for another day.”

“This lawsuit was about protecting the land and ensuring that the School Board followed its legal duties to safeguard the Hungerford property,” said N.Y. Nathiri, executive director of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community. “This is sacred land and was set aside by the community of Eatonville and charitable donors, including the Hungerfords, who are Ms. Hatler’s ancestors, for the education of the Town’s children.”

The lawsuit, brought in March 2023, when the School Board was in the process of selling the Hungerford property, alleged that the Orange County Public School Board was acting outside of its legal authority in seeking to dispose of the remaining 100 acres of the historic Hungerford Property, without following a state statute governing disposal of surplus school property. SPLC also asked the Court to declare that the School Board failed to legally release the 1951 deed restriction requiring the property be used for educational purposes. The intended sale of the Hungerford property was cancelled shortly after the lawsuit was filed.  

In November 2023, Judge Vincent Falcone III issued a preliminary decision in favor of the plaintiffs. In October 2024, a hearing was held before Judge Chad K. Alvaro and SPLC defended against the School Board of Orange County’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. Judge Alvaro denied that motion as moot, instead dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction because there is no longer a proposed sale of the Hungerford property at issue.

“We continue to call on the School Board to return the property to the people of Eatonville,” continued Nathiri “so that we may exercise control over our land for the future benefit of our Town.”

Incorporated in 1887, Eatonville was one of the first self-governing all-Black municipalities in the United States and is home to acclaimed Harlem Renaissance Writer Zore Neale Hurston. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Eatonville, Florida, to its 2024 listing of  America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

SPLC continues to uplift the voices of the people of Eatonville and the need for historical preservation.