By KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 09/28/09
Henry White has fond memories of attending an all-black school as a child in the 1940s and being taught by an all-white staff.
White attended the St. Benedict the Moor Catholic School in 1944 to 1948 for grades second through sixth. The school, built in 1898, still stands at 86 Martin Luther King Ave. in Lincolnville, and it is St. Augustine's oldest surviving brick schoolhouse, according to historical documents.
The Sisters of St. Joseph taught children such as White at the school, said Sister Catherine Bitzer, archivist for the order and the Diocese of St. Augustine. She said Katharine Drexel, a wealthy philanthropist who was later canonized a saint, donated $7,500 to have the large school built so African-American children would have a school in St. Augustine.
"The sisters who taught there made such a major impact on my life," said White, a retired educator at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. "I just feel it's a building that needs to be restored."
Adjacent to the school is St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church, a part of Cathedral Parish.
White said he has incredible respect for the sisters who worked at St. Benedict School during a time when white and black people were segregated.
"Back in those days people didn't want whites to have much to do with blacks," he said. "I'm pretty sure the sisters had people frown on them."
It got much worse than that, Bitzer said.
Before schools were integrated in 1964 it was illegal for white people to teach African Americans, she said.
In 1916, three sisters were put under house arrest for violating a state law prohibiting whites from teaching blacks.
"But after a few days it was found that the law only pertained to public schools," Bitzer said. "St. Benedict was a private school."
The Sisters of St. Joseph came from LePuy, France, at the invitation of the Diocese of St. Augustine's Bishop Augustin Verot. Bitzer said eight nuns came in 1866 to St. Augustine specifically to teach African-American children. Several years later, they taught at St. Benedict school when it was built. She said the sisters didn't let the criticism they got for teaching there get to them.
"That was their purpose. That's why they came to St. Augustine," Bitzer said. "As sisters, we try to do whatever the need is in society."
After the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, the schools were integrated. The building was used as headquarters for the Northeast Florida Community Action Agency in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the book "A Guide to Historic St. Augustine."
The Community Action Agency, which is still active, helps thousands of low-income families through its programs.
White is founding chair of the St. Benedict the Moor School Restoration committee. In 2006, the group had the building's deteriorating roof and much of its rotted interior removed, White said. Grant funding from the Florida Department of Historical Resources came through, and the walls were reinforced and the brick was reworked. A new roof is pending more funding, he said.
Future plans for the building call for it to be used for community and Cathedral Parish meetings, tutoring and mentoring programs, receptions, picnics and workshops.
White said the committee is still fundraising and applying for grants to finish renovating the old school, but the poor economy has made it tough. However, it's a project on which he won't give up.
"The sisters treated us very well," White said. "Those sisters did a fabulous job."
About the school
St. Benedict the Moor School was built in 1898 with $7,500 from Sister Katharine Drexel of Philadelphia. She was canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 2000, and the ceremony in Rome was attended by Barbara Vickers of St. Augustine, an alumna of St. Benedict the Moor School, and Viola White, wife of Henry White, an alumnus and founding chair of the restoration committee. The school closed in the 1960s as Catholic schools were integrated.
In 2007, the school building was placed on the Florida Black Heritage Trail by the Florida Department of State.
You can help
The principal restoration committee contacts are available to make presentations about the project to groups and others interested, according to White. Contact Rai Schwecke, committee chair, at 824-4778; Art Boccieri, treasurer, at 824-3708; or White at 794-5609.
Approximately $30,000 has been raised in addition to the state grant. At least $150,000 is needed for a new roof and new windows, he said.
Tax-deductible donations may be made to St. Benedict the Moor School Restoration, P.O. Box 588, St. Augustine, FL 32085.
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