May 20th Stop 14 on the ACCORD Tour: The Old Excelsior School Building, 102 Martin Luther King Avenue

The School has an iconic nameplate, note the OO's are intertwined

Today, the School is the Lincolnville Cultural Center and Museum

102 M.L. King Avenue ACCORD Freedom Trail

Inscription. This area in the heart of Lincolnville was associated with black education for nearly a century. This lot was the site of the Presbyterian Parochial and Industrial School, headed by Rev. James H. Cooper. It was demolished in 1940 and the grounds became part of Excelsior School. Across the street there were two school buildings dating back to the Flagler Era of the late 1800s, before the existing Excelsior School was built in 1925. It was the first public high school serving black students in St. Augustine. Before that, a public high school education had only been available to whites. One of the early teachers at Excelsior was Edward D. Davis (1904-1989), who became president of the Florida NAACP and worked with civil rights martyr Harry T. Moore and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall on a campaign in the 1940s to equalize the pay of black and white teachers. At the time, blacks were paid only about half as much as their white counterparts were. Davis published his autobiography A Half Century of Struggle for Freedom in Florida in 1981. Many Excelsior alumni made important contributions to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, including Henry Thomas (one of the original Freedom Riders), members of the Eubanks family, Henry and Katherine Twine, and College Football Hall of Famer Willie Galimore. In  2005, the Excelsior building opened as the city's first museum of African American history. This Historical Marker Presented this 2nd Day of July, 2009 by Northrop Grumman Erected 2009 by The 40th Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations, Inc. (ACCORD). Marker series. This marker is included in the Florida, St. Augustine Freedom Trail marker series. Location. 29° 53.141′ N, 81° 18.888′ W. Marker is in St. Augustine, Florida, in Saint Johns County. Marker is on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave.. There was an additional plaque at this location, placed by the Reunion Committee

102 M.L. King Avenue
ACCORD Freedom Trail

Inscription. This area in the heart of Lincolnville was associated with black education for nearly a century. This lot was the site of the Presbyterian Parochial and Industrial School, headed by Rev. James H. Cooper. It was demolished in 1940 and the grounds became part of Excelsior School.

Across the street there were two school buildings dating back to the Flagler Era of the late 1800s, before the existing Excelsior School was built in 1925. It was the first public high school serving black students in St. Augustine. Before that, a public high school education had only been available to whites.

One of the early teachers at Excelsior was Edward D. Davis (1904-1989), who became president of the Florida NAACP and worked with civil rights martyr Harry T. Moore and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall on a campaign in the 1940s to equalize the pay of black and white teachers. At the time, blacks were paid only about half as much as their white counterparts were. Davis published his autobiography A Half Century of Struggle for Freedom in Florida in 1981.

Many Excelsior alumni made important contributions to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, including Henry Thomas (one of the original Freedom Riders), members of the Eubanks family, Henry and Katherine Twine, and College Football Hall of Famer Willie Galimore.

In  2005, the Excelsior building opened as the city's first museum of African American history.

This Historical Marker Presented this 2nd Day of July, 2009 by Northrop Grumman

Erected 2009 by The 40th Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations, Inc. (ACCORD). Marker series. This marker is included in the Florida, St. Augustine Freedom Trail marker series. Location. 29° 53.141′ N, 81° 18.888′ W. Marker is in St. Augustine, Florida, in Saint Johns County. Marker is on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave..

There was an additional plaque at this location, placed by the Reunion Committee