St. Augustine has seen the African American experience from a very unique angle-from the first free black town to the final thrust for the Civil Rights Act. Racial struggles of the past have become dramatic victories of the present. In fact, some eyewitnesses of these events still live in St. Augustine today. Browse our stories and pictures. You're sure to find some interesting surprises.
This amendment granted Black people the right to vote in the United States. With its passing, seven Black men were elected to the Congress and the Senate. These men...
An unnamed Black citizen who attended a meeting between NAACP and St. Augustine city officials on June 16 receives an anonymous threat to "Watch out for the KKK." Th...
The House of Representatives created a judiciary committee to hear proposals for federal civil rights legislation. Over the course of the summer, the representatives...
Troops who were stationed in Fort Marion under the Confederacy are ordered to withdraw from St. Augustine. For a few days, the city was empty of military forces...
Juan Ponce de Leon lands in La Florida and claims the land for Spain. Within his party is Juan Garrido, who is thought to be the first free Black person in the Ameri...
An epidemic kills many of the paid Indigenous workers constructing the Castillo de San Marcos. Thirty enslaved African people were purchased from Havana, Cuba...
Martha B. Aikens is hired as the Castillo de San Marcos Superintendent. She was the first Black person to hold this position and said people had a "wait and see" att...
With the signing of the Adam-Onís Treaty, Florida went from a Spanish colony to an American territory. To Americans, this opened up what had been an international so...
Confederate troops occupy Fort Marion (now Castillo de San Marcos). The White citizens of St. Augustine were generally supportive of this change of government, excep...
Twelve years after the original settlment was destroyed, Fort Mose is rebuilt near the site of the original community. Many African-descended residents are ordered t...
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