Abstract
From June 2020 to February 2022, a group of cultural and academic institutions in St. Augustine, Florida worked together to develop and facilitate the “Resilience: Black Heritage St. Augustine” project. This year-long collaboration aimed to bring together the many threads of Black history interwoven into the city. In this chapter, the authors explore the successes and challenges of developing a broad collaborative project, drawing attention to successful community engagement strategies and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the project. The chapter offers an exploration of the white and European-centered narratives embedded in the interpretation of St. Augustine's history and the ways in which the resilience project combats these narratives and articulates a commitment to diversified and inclusive collections, language, and storytelling.
TopBackground
St. Augustine is located in the northeastern region of Florida, approximately 40 miles south of Jacksonville, and holds the distinction of the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the present-day United States (Deagan, 1980). The city's recorded histories focus primarily on its deep Hispanic roots. Although this is undoubtedly a significant part of St. Augustine and Florida's story, this European and white-centric focus leaves out the stories of the many diverse members of this historic community. These stories began even before St. Augustine existed. In 1513, two free Black men sailed with Spanish Conquistador Juan Ponce de León on the first-known expedition to La Florida. Subsequent Spanish expeditions to the peninsula included free and enslaved Black people, who served in various roles as translators, soldiers, sailors, and artisans, among other roles. When Spanish conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine in September 1565, his ships landed with approximately 50 free and enslaved Black men and women, and the first recorded births and baptisms of Black St. Augustinians appear in parish records as early as the 1590s (Parker, 2014). All of this occurred before the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619.
Not all St. Augustinians of African descent identified as Black, African, or African American. Under Spanish rule, St. Augustine boasted a rich and complex society that blended African, Spanish, and Native American beliefs and traditions (Parker, 2014). Many of St. Augustine's colonial Black population came from various regions in West Africa and Cuba, Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, Venezuela, Colombia, and the Canary Islands. Identity then and today is a complex and ever-changing social construct that the authors of this chapter endeavor to understand and respect. The term Black will be used in this text, not to diminish but rather to acknowledge the diverse cultures, people, backgrounds, and experiences of the African Diaspora.
Unlike British colonialism, Spain's institution of slavery granted enslaved people certain rights and protections. Spanish laws, derived from ancient Roman traditions, held that slavery was an unnatural condition not based on race, for God created man free. As a result, their laws established how enslaved people could become free. These laws extended to St. Augustine. By the 1700s, the multi-cultural city became a sanctuary for those escaping slavery in neighboring British colonies. This precursor to the Underground Railroad spurred the creation of the first-legally recognized free Black community in 1738 – known as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, or Fort Mose (Landers, 1990).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Digital Humanities: Application of computing or digital tools to traditional humanities disciplines.
St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement: A political movement in the 1950s and 1960s to abolish institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United States of America. St. Augustine's Civil Rights Movement, between 1963-1964, was a part of the broader movement and played a role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Antiracism: A range of ideas and actions meant to oppose prejudice, racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups.
Colonialism: A practice of domination over other people or areas. In the process of colonization, colonizers impose their ideas, values, and beliefs over the colonized people and region to pursue economic or strategic benefits.
St. Augustine Historical Society: The oldest continuously operating museum and historical society in Florida. The St. Augustine Historical Society acquires, preserves, and interprets the historical influence of St. Augustine, Florida. Founded in 1883.
Eurocentric: The process of focusing on Europe and Europeans as the focal point of history, culture, and economics to exclude the wider world. It also entails interpreting everything through the lens of European values, attitudes, and interests.
Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center: A museum that preserves, promotes, and perpetuates over 450 years of the African American story in the Lincolnville Historic District of St. Augustine, Florida. Established 2005.
Governor’s House Library: An affiliate of the UF George A. Smathers Libraries with the mission of preserving and providing access to the historical resources that enhance our understanding and appreciation of St. Augustine's built heritage. Established in 2010.
Mutual Aid: A voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources, services, and strategies for mutual benefit; individuals and institutions take responsibility for caring for one another instead of competing.
Flagler College: A private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida. Founded in 1968, the campus comprises the Ponce de León Hotel, a Gilded Age resort built-in 1888 by Standard Oil co-founder Henry Flagler.