More progress needed on African-American and Civil RIghts tourism in St. Augustine, Florida

Our view: Black heritage tourism making progress
Created 02/27/2011 - 1:17am
St. Augustine Record editorial

St. Augustine's African-American history used to consist of stories handed down from one generation to another, rarely shared outside the black community.

St. Augustine's African-American history used to consist of stories handed down from one generation to another, rarely shared outside the black community.

African-Americans are rooted in the city's history back to its founding in 1565 by Pedro Menendez of Aviles. By 1738, Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (Fort Mose) -- was the first free black town in what is now the United States. Two centuries later, the acclaimed leader of the civil rights movement, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., answered the call for help from Dr. Robert B. Hayling, a local dentist. St. Augustine's place in the nation's civil rights history was assured for the pivotal role the city's strife in the summer of 1964 played in the passage of the Civil Rights Art.

St. Augustine's African-American heritage now comes to life in the well-documented and highly visible markers along the 40th ACCORD Freedom Trail, in the visitor center of Fort Mose Historic State Park and in the Excelsior Museum & Cultural Center in the heart of Lincolnville, the city's historically African-American community.

Ambassador Andrew Young, a former Atlanta mayor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has donated the interviews linked to a documentary, "Crossing in St. Augustine," to Flagler College for a digital archive. The documentary tells the story of Young and other demonstrators who were beaten by whites in the city's Plaza de la Constitucion in June 1964.

St. Augustine updated its official tour guide test/manual to expand its black history information in 2009. Walking tours and trolley and trailer train tours now highlight Lincolnville and the city's black history as they do other parts of our heritage.

The Foot Soldiers Remembrance monument, a sculpture honoring the heroes and sheroes of St. Augustine's civil rights era, is expected to be installed this year in the Plaza.

Looking ahead, First America Foundation, Inc., the non profit organization formed to create events for the city's 450th anniversary, 2012-2015, will focus in 2014, the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement in St. Augustine.

Mayor Joe Boles has organized a steering committee to consider the creation of a St. Augustine Civil Rights Museum, too.

Certainly St. Augustine will play a role in the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, another point for African-American history to be showcased.

A future link is in the works to the National Park Service's Gullah-Geechee Cultural Corridor. It emphasizes the route slaves took in the 1600s to Spanish St. Augustine and freedom via an "underground railway."

On Monday, the Tourist Development Council will discuss the upcoming contract with the St. Johns County Cultural Council as the new manager of the Category II Art and Culture bed-tax grants starting in October. The Category I bed-tax tourism promotion funds are administered by the Visitor and Convention Bureau. Both these categories can bring more visibility to our African-American heritage tourism opportunities.

The goal of the bed-tax, the county's four percent tax on overnight paid lodging, is to get visitors to stay longer.

As we conclude Black History Month in St. Johns County, we see much progress in telling the city's African-American story but much more to be done. We encourage the TDC to establish a committee to formally link the TDC with 40th ACCORD, the Excelsior Museum & Cultural Center, Fort Mose Historic State Park, First America Foundation, Inc., and Flagler College to ensure that the our African-American story becomes as well known to residents and visitors as our place in history as the nation's oldest continuing European settlement.