Finally, St. Augustine Beach honors our Black and Civil Rights history. Thanks to SAB Commission and. Mayor Dylan Rumrell. The City of SAB once had an insensitive, inscrutable mayor whose hick hack husband once yelled at me "we don't need a civil rights museum!" on camera, during an SAB City meeting. Believe it or NOT! (Then-SAB Mayor Andrea Samuels' spouse, Robert Samuels and the St. Augustine Beach Civic Association long refused to allow SAB Farmer's Market venders to take SNAP cards. SABCA was run by unserious people, who charged venders an extra $3/week for parking, attempted to ban Commissioner J. Kenneth Bryan from talking to voters, violating free speech rights and harassing former Code Enforcement Board Chair William Rosenstock using police powers. God forgive these satraps. Pray for these people. And thanks and a hat tip to former County Commission Chair I. Henry Dean and County Commission for seeking bids for the market for the first time; after 20 years, SABCA's reign of error was ended.
Watch eloquent video here, with Greg White:https://www.youtube.com/live/KHGKu1yuKV0
From St. Augustine Record:
St. Augustine Beach will recognize February as Black History Month
Greg White, founder and president of the West Augustine Historical Community Development Corp., will be on site to receive the proclamation.
“I’m proud to bring this stand-alone proclamation to the City of St. Augustine Beach,” he told the St. Augustine Record via email. “I appreciate all that the African-American community has done in the city of Saint Augustine Beach and in St. John’s County to make our communities a better place to live.”
White, who spearheaded the building – now underway – of the West Augustine Health and Wellness Center, a resource center for West Augustine's most vulnerable residents, regardless of their ability to pay, underscored the importance of the gesture.
"What an amazing opportunity to put a spotlight on uncovering the Black history of St. Augustine," he told the St. Augustine Record. "To uncover some of the history that has never been told before."
According to a news release issued by the city, its recognition of Black history also includes the ACCORD Freedom Trail marker erected in 2009 at the St. Augustine Beach Pier Park, the 2022 expansion of the St. Augustine Beach Hotel and Beachfront along with its addition to the National Register of Historic Places, and the 2024 St. Johns Cultural Council’s "Waves of Change" exhibit.
This year's theme for Black History Month focuses on “African Americans and Labor."
"During Black History Month all Americans are encouraged to reflect on the rich history and teachings of African Americans and bear witness to the progress, beauty, and achievements they have made throughout society," the release said.
Proclamation
WHEREAS, Black History Month was formally adopted in 1976 to honor and affirm the importance of Black History throughout our American Experience; and
WHEREAS, the theme for 2025, “African Americans and Labor”, focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds intersect with the collective experiences of Black people; and
WHEREAS, African Americans have played a significant role in the history of the United States from the early days of the pioneers to our present-day leaders in such industries as aerospace, finance, government, and international trade; and
WHEREAS, during Black History Month all Americans are encouraged to reflect on the rich history and teachings of African Americans and bear witness to the progress, beauty, and achievements they have made throughout society; and
WHEREAS, the wade-in protests at St. Augustine Beach in June 1964, among other rallies, marches, sit-ins, and wade-ins across St. Augustine and St. Johns County as part of the St. Augustine Campaign, directly led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and
WHEREAS, that contribution to the City and Nation’s history has been memorialized at the St. Augustine Beach Pier Park by an ACCORD Freedom Trail marker in July 2009 and expanded upon in January 2022 with the St. Augustine Beach Hotel and Beachfront’s addition to the National Register of Historic Places and in June 2024 by the St. Johns Cultural Council’s ‘Waves of Change’ exhibit.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Commission of the City of St. Augustine Beach, does hereby proclaim February 2025 as BLACK HISTORY MONTH in the City of St. Augustine Beach.
IN WITNESS of which, I, Dylan Rumrell, hereunto set my hand and cause the Official Seal of the City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida, to be affixed this 3rd day of February 2025.
The St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement Spotlight
The history of Black Americans is deeply embedded in St. Augustine’s history. America's oldest city played a pivotal role in the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The St. Augustine Record has covered numerous stories that date to 1964 when the Civil Rights Act, which was first proposed by President John F. Kennedy, languished by filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
As America remained steeped in the Cold War while facing the onset of the Vietnam War, St. Augustine’s Lincolnville, a residential Black community sitting west of the railroad, became a nucleus for violence.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. descended upon St. Augustine with members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to assist Dr. Robert B. Hayling, St. Augustine’s civil rights leader, to tame the violence through peaceful marches, sit-ins and wade-ins. Those wade-ins included the city's beachfront property to protest the designation of Butler Beach as the only beachfront Blacks were permitted to use.
What now stands as the St. Johns Cultural Arts Center once stood as the St. Augustine Beach Hotel, which also entered center stage on June 25, 1964, as photographs of the vicious attacks on Black protesters wading in the waters of the white-only beach caught the attention of multiple news outlets. One picture landed on the front page of the New York Times.
As St. Augustine’s drama unfolded, the U.S. Senate ended its 83-day filibuster and signed the Civil Rights Act into law on July 2, 1964.
The St. Augustine Beach Hotel eventually served as St. Augustine Beach's City Hall until the St. Johns Cultural Council assumed responsibility for its preservation 25 years ago.
In 2022, the St. Augustine Beach Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for the role it played during the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement.
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