7 Black Facts About Jax You Didn't Already Know!

1. The Father of the Lindy Hop and Swing Dancing was from Jax



Destroyed by the construction of I-95, Campbell Hill is a lost early 20th century African-American neighborhood along McCoys Creek near downtown Jacksonville. One of Campbell Hill's most famous residents was Frank Benjamin "Frankie" Manning. During the Great Migration, Manning's mother, who was a dancer, left Jacksonville, moving the family to New York in 1917. Learning to dance at an early age, Manning eventually became known as one of the founding fathers of the Lindy Hop and Swing Dancing. During his career he toured with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and others. He also appeared in movies including Jittering Jitterbugs and Hot Chocolate, Malcolm X and Stomping at the Savoy.