Last month, the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach unveiled “LaFrance Hotel: Havens of Joy,” an exhibit based on the book The LaFrance Hotel and the Charles Patrick Family, which chronicles the trailblazing family that built the hotel in the 1940s and ’50s. The exhibition was co-curated by Violet Asmara Tafari and is on view through January 3.
Charles and Francina Patrick built The LaFrance Hotel in the 1950s. The Patricks were the first Black family to own and operate a hotel in Delray Beach. Named for Francina, the LaFrance Hotel was the “home away from home” for many African-Americans. During segregation, the hotel served Black migrant workers, service workers, and musicians, some of whom learned of it through The Green Book.
In the exhibition, Tafari utilizes oral storytelling and visual curation of the handmade fashions of daily life that invite viewers to journey into the legacy of the sanctuary that was the LaFrance Hotel. Drawing from archival research and the fashion of the era, the show explores the lived experiences of those who found refuge and joy within the vibrant gathering place.
The LaFrance Hotel is now affordable senior-living housing that preserves its longtime service to the Black community of Delray Beach.
For more information, visit spadymuseum.com.
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