March, 1960,
Congress, at the urging of Florida Senators Spassard Holland and George
Smathers, passed a resolution authorizing the establishment of a
Quadricentennial Celebration Commission to plan for the 400 th Anniversary
of the founding of St. Augustine for 1965. When committee named, no one from
the Black community was represented
March 15, 1960, Six students from Florida Normal College, a
Black school located on West King St at
Holmes
Boulevard, launched a Sit In at the
Woolworth’s Lunch Counter (Viola Edwards, Clayton Pittman, Robert J. Lovett,
Josephine Williams, Calhoun Christian, and Alfred Lee)
March 16, 1960, another Sit In was staged by the students. They
were not arrested but sat until closing
No complaint
filed by the management of Woolworth and students arrested on Tuesday, March
15th were
released
to the custody of the school. Students were represented by Daytona Attorney
Joseph W. Hatchet who later became a Federal Judge
March 17, 1960, eight more students stage a Sit In at the Woolworth’s Lunch Counter and were
beaten by an angry mob as they came out of the store
1961 Mr.
Hank Thomas is arrested for a one man sit in at the McCrory’s lunch counter on
St. George
Street.,
An attempt was made and to label him insane and committed to a mental
institution, but this never happened. Rev. Thomas Wright said that Hank’s bail
was paid by Mr. Sammy Davis, Jr. Hank Thomas went on to become one of the
original Freedom Fighters, who rode Greyhound Buses through the south, protesting
segregated facilities at bus stations. He was also a founder of SNCC (the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) one of the leading civil rights
groups of the 1960’s
March 1963,
Mrs. Fannie Fulwood & Mrs. Eliza Hawthorne, representing the St. Augustine
NAACP,
wrote
President John F. Kennedy, asking that he oppose a federal grant for the city’s
celebration because
they
excluded Blacks and would not meet with them to iron out the city’s racial
problems
June, 1963 picketing
continued with sit ins at area lunch counters
July 23, 1963 sixteen blacks, seven of which were teenagers,
were arrested at local lunch counters. Four
of
the juveniles, Samuel White, Audrey Nell Edwards, Joe Ann Anderson, and Willie
Carl Singleton who
were
arrested at Woolworth’s were held because their parents would not sign a form
stating that they
would
refrain from further demonstrations until age 21
The four teens who became known as The St. Augustine Four spent a month in the county jail and five
months
in reform schools in Marianna and Ocala for having attempted to be served a
hamburger at the
lunch
counter Demonstrations continue by the black community under the leadership of
Dr. Hayling
Labor Day, 1963 NAACP Black Leaders and citizens have a mass
protest at the Slave Market. Rev.
Goldie
Eubanks arrested along with twenty six others. Rev. Eubanks was sentenced to
six months in jail,
and
others fined $100
September 18, 1963 Ku Klux Klan hold a rally on US1 South where the
Big Lots Store is now located.
Four
civil rights activists Dr.Hayling, James Hauser, Clyde Jenkins, and Jimmie
James Jackson went to
observe
from a distance, but were captured and taken into the rally where they were
beaten unmercifully
and
stacked like firewood to be burned. Another sympathetic observer, a Daytona
minister, Rev. Cheney
sneaked
away and called the FBI and the Governor who in turn called Sheriff L.O. Davis
to rescue the men before they were killed
October 23, 1963, white racists threw gasoline filled bottles at
the homes of George Smith and his
neighbor
on Gault Street near the Fountain of Youth
October 24, 1963, racists had been riding through town shooting
into Black homes. One of them, William
Kinard
was shot in the head and killed near the intersection of Martin Luther King Ave
and Duero Street.
Rev.
Goldie Eubanks was arrested along with Richard Eubanks but later let go for
lack of evidence against them. No one was ever charged for the murder
January 14, 1964, The St. Augustine Four were ordered released from
reform school by Governor Ferris
Bryant
and the Florida State cabinet. This was in response to national publicity about
the injustice of their
case
January 21, 1964, the car belonging to the Brunson’s was set afire
outside the Fullerwood School while
they
were at a PTA meeting. They were among the first Black families to send their
children to a
previously
al lwhite school.
February 7, 1964, the home of Dr. Hayling was shot up with
buckshot narrowly missing his pregnant wife
and
killing the family dog name Madonna The Gault Street home of the Bungum
Roberson family was firebombed by racists and burned. Today only the steps
remain. The Robersons were active in the civil rights movement, and had sent
their children to Fullerwood School.
February 10, 1964, Dr. Hayling paid a visit to Governor Ferris
Bryant’s office to let them know of the
seriousness
of the St. Augustine racial crisis and of the need for protection for its Black
Citizens
March 6, 1964, Dr. Hayling, Henry Twine, Rev. Goldie Eubanks,
Mrs. Katherine Twine and others travel
to
Orlando to seek help from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference
(SCLC)
March, 1964, SCLC starts mobilizing their forces to St.
Augustine under the direction of Dr. King’s
special
projects director Rev. Hosea Williams in order to capture national attention
March 22, 1964, the first wave of college students from the North
convene on St. Augustine to participate
in
demonstrations
March 25, 1964, a white minister and college students from the
North picket the Visitors Information
Center
March 26, 1964, many students as well as 72 year old, Mrs. Mary
Peabody, wife of an Episcopal Bishop
and
mother of Governor Endicott Peabody of Massachusetts, along with several
distinguished friends
come
to St. Augustine to help with the movement
March 28, 1964, Mrs. Barbara B. Allen former resident of St.
Augustine who lived in New York at the
request
of Dr. Robert B. Hayling came down to help with feeding the demonstrators but
found her way to a sit in at St. George Street Pharmacy requesting to be served
“…coffee, black like me”, and was
immediately
arrested and placed in the back seat of a police car with a snarling dog. Allen
was charged
with
inciting a riot and conspiracy to overthrow the American Government
March 30, 1964, Mrs. Peabody and a group of black citizens seek
admission to Trinity Episcopal Church
in
downtown St. Augustine and are not allowed: church doors locked
March 31, 1964, Mrs. Peabody arrested and jailed for
participating in a biracial sit in at the Ponce de
Leon
Motor Lodge Restaurant along with Mrs. Donald J. Campbell, wife of the dean of
the Episcopal
Theological
Seminary at Cambridge, Mass., and Professor J. Lawrence Burkholder, a Harvard
Divinity
School
professor, and five St. Augustine Negroes, Mrs. Nellie Mitchell, Mrs. Lillian
Roberson, Mrs.
Georgia
Reed, Miss Kuter Eubanks, and Mrs. Rosalie Phelps
May 19, 1964, St. Augustine Mayor Joseph Shelley and Earle
Newton, director of the Quadricentennial
Celebration
give an interview to NBC News Reporter Ray Scherer in Washington, D.C.
criticizing Mrs.
Peabody
and saying that there were no racial problems in St. Augustine
June 5, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holds a press
conference and declares that he may summon a,
“…nonviolent
army” here from all over the South for massive demonstrations against racial
discrimination
June 7, 1964, beach cottage of Dr. & Mrs. Canright at 5480
Atlantic View, on Anastasia Island, where Dr.
Martin
Luther King, Jr. was to stay was riddled with bullets after directions to it
were printed in the local
paper
June 11, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King was arrested in St.
Augustine on the steps of the Monson Motor
Lodge
Restaurant: the only place in Florida that he was arrested
June 12, 1964, State Attorney Dan Warren calls the St. Johns
County Grand Jury into session to probe the violent racial conflicts in St.
Augustine.
J. B. Stoner, a lawyer and member of the Ku Klux Klan, the
National States Rights Party and other hate
groups,
stood at the market where slaves were once sold, and told an eager audience of
white men, women, and children, that, “the
only way to white supremacy is to rid congress of all those who voted for the
Civil Rights Act and get that ‘nigger’ loving Lyndon Johnson out of Washington”. Later that evening white segregationists marched
through the Negro section of town 200 White segregationists marched once again
through Lincolnville waving confederate flags and a huge banner that said, “Don’t Tread on Me”. Negroes lined the streets laughing and singing, We Love Everybody
June 15, 1964, Jackie Robinson, first Negro to break major
league baseball’s barrier, flew to Florida to
support
racial demonstrations. Robinson, the next day, spoke at a rally at one of the
local churches and said President Johnson should use “action instead of words” in the civil rights situation
June 15, 1964, Governor Ferris Bryant issues Executive Order #3
ordering each and every officer of the
Division
of Corrections as assigned by the Director of the Division of Corrections shall
become a member
of
the Special Police Force as created by Executive Order #1 and remain in effect
until revoked by further
order
June 16, 1964, Jackie Robinson, former infielder for the
Brooklyn Dodgers and first black athlete to break
the
color barrier in professional baseball, spoke at St. Paul A.M.E. Church on
Martin Luther King Avenue
to
a group of about 600 people and encouraged them to maintain the struggle
June 17, 1964, Sheriff L.O. Davis sends a telegram to Governor
Farris Bryant requesting permission to
transport
prisoners (civil rights demonstrators) to Duval County Jail , including Arthur
Funderberk, Russell
Perkins,
Vertell Duncan, Loucille Plummer, Jeanette Smith, and others Demonstrators had
a pray in
at
the steps of the Monson Motor Lodge Restaurant during a night demonstration
June 18, 1964, Monson manager James “Jimmy” Brock is captured in a photo broadcast around the
world,
pouring muriactic acid into the pool to get demonstrators out Two whites and
seven Negroes integrated the Monson Motor Lodge Pool, an off duty police officer,
Henry Billitz jumped into the pool to get the demonstrators out
and was photographed. The picture was broadcast around the world
The
largest contingency of Rabbis were arrested for peaceful demonstrations at the
Monson Motor Lodge
and
local restaurants along with Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, and others
June 19, 1964, Revs. Andrew Young, C.T. Vivian, and Hosea
Williams were arrested and later bonded out of the SJC jail
June 20, 1964, Peter Bancroft and Charles Al Lingo were attacked
at the “Whites Only” beach along with
a
15 year old Negro girl was also attacked
and suffered a broken nose.
June 21, 1964, White segregationists and Negro demonstrators
march pass one another in a double
demonstration
downtown near the Slave Market
June 22, 1964, Peter Bancroft along with four Negroes try to integrate the
local First Methodist Church
and
were arrested when they refused to leave the church steps. The group was
charged with trespassing
with
malicious intent, breach of peace, and conspiracy. Bond was set at $100 per
charge. (Forty years later the church would apologize for having people
arrested and turning them away from their doors in 1964). Civil rights
demonstrators held two Wade Ins at St.
Augustine Beach. White males armed with clubs and sharp objects ran toward the
demonstrators who were swimming and according to a state police report by Major
J. W. Jourdan, “…several white people
arrived…proceeded into the water, starting a fight with the Negroes.” An hour later another riot ignited when whites
again attacked the Negroes
July 2, 1964, In a historic moment, President Lyndon Baines
Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
outlawing
segregation in hotels, motels and restaurants, and outlawing job discrimination
(not just against
Blacks,
but also against women)
July 4, 1964, Governor Farris Bryant appoints State Attorney
Dan Warren to play a key role, peace maker, in stopping the race violence in
St. Augustine. September 3, 1964, Charles Al Lingo and Arthur
Funderberk
file suit in federal court against St. Johns County Sheriff L.O. Davis for
conspiring with the
City
of St. Augustine to deny them their civil rights
July, 1964, Negroes
continue to test the new Civil Rights Act by integrating the motels, hotels,
restaurants, and the theatre. Some demonstrators were turned away with excuses
from managers stating that their policy was not to serve locals
July 14, 1964, Henry Twine and a New York attorney, Robert
Preiskil were beaten outside the Congress
Inn
(now Howard Johnson's Express on San Marco Avenue) after the manager, William
Chew (head of the White Citizens Council) refused to serve them
July 15, 1964, White segregationists picketed motels and
restaurants that served the Negroes
July 21, 1964, the Ku Klux Klan threw a fire bomb into a motel
that had temporarily integrated
Judge Bryan Simpson of Jacksonville ordered Flagler Hospital to
integrate after a suit by Dr. Robert B.
Hayling.
July 22, 1964, State Attorney Dan Warren launches an
investigation into so called, “...anti Semitic
And
lawless groups…” operating in St. Augustine which were a constant threat to the
tranquility of the State of Florida. He issues arrest warrants for the KKK
July 23, 1964, Restaurant operator, Louis S. Connell, of the
Santa Maria Restaurant, testified that he was
scared
to serve Blacks in his restaurant, because of threats from white racists.
Willie Bolden of SCLC was
turned
away when trying to integrate the Santa Maria Restaurant. (In 2003, on a return
visit to St.
Augustine,
he finally ate at the restaurant, with his grandson) Russell R. Allen of Marty’s
restaurant on U.S. 1 at State Road 16 turned Blacks away also
August 5, 1964, a Biracial
committee of 10 was appointed by the Grand Jury includes 5 blacks and 5
Whites
but most whites refuse to serve, and the effort collapses
August 13, 1964, Negroes test 17 restaurants in the city and were
accepted at all of them. Representatives of the FBI and the Department of
Justice looked on from a distance to see that restaurateurs complied with the
Civil Rights Act
On
October 14, 1964 it was announced that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
had won the Nobel Peace Prize.
St.
Augustine Police Chief Virgil Stuart told The
New York Times: "I consider it one
of the biggest jokes
of the year. How can you win the peace prize
when you stir up all the trouble he did down here?"
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