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Count Prokaski
How the waiters of the Ponce de Leon Hotel became African-American.

The first season of the hotel the waiters were white, mostly Irish and German. However after the first season the newspaper on April 29, 1889 reported a problem.

Count Prokaski took a percentage of the tips and waiters had to take silver and glassware to make up.

From 1889 till World War I the waiters at the hotel were African-American men. They were the original members of the
Cuban-Giant team in the African-American league. Florida started the tradition of wintering baseball teams at the Ponce de Leon Hotel.
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