Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center

St. Augustine, Florida

March 24, 2022

          The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center is located in the Lincolnville neighborhood of St. Augustine and occupies the former building of Excelsior High School, the first public black high school in St. John's County. The museum contains many pieces of African American history, particularly during the post-Civil War and 1960s civil rights eras, and seeks "to preserve, promote, and perpetuate over 450 years of the African American story through the arts, educational programs, lectures, live performances and exhibits."

Official website: https://www.lincolnvillemuseum.org/

Exterior Image 1

Exterior Image 2

Artifact Image 1

          This is a photo of Obelisk Art 450, one of 25 different replicas of the Monumento a la Constitucion located on St. Augustine's Plaza de la Constitucion. This rendition was done by Joe Segal, and is based on the nails and shards traditionally imbedded in Nkondi power figures from Congo. These nails symbolize trials and hardships that the figure's tribe had to endure, while the upright position of the obelisk symbolizes pride and strength amidst pain and suffering. The artwork was also constructed around the values of Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights and Compassion, and thus the obelisk's tall form also represents the strong resolve to uphold these values.

Artifact Image 2

          This gallery shows a number of news articles and photos related to the life of Willie "The Wisp" Galimore, a professional football player for the Chicago Bears and an Excelsior High School graduate. In his seven-year-long career, he returned a 99-yard kickoff in his NFL debut, broke a team record with four touchdowns in one game, and became one of the fastest running backs in pro football to date. Outside of football, Galimore was also a supporter of local St. Augustine civil rights movements, and was the first African American to stay at the Ponce de Leon Hotel following its desegregation in 1964. Unfortunately, his life was tragically cut short when he was fatally injured in a car accident that same year. Galimore's legacy endures, however, both as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame (having played at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University) and by having the Willie Galimore Center on Riberia Street named after him.

Image in Conversation 1

Image source: https://www.thoughtco.com/abraham-lincoln-and-the-gettysburg-address-1773573

          This is an artist's rendition of Abraham Lincoln giving his famous Gettysburg Address on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1863. Amidst the great casualties and conflicts of the Civil War, Lincoln's speech instilled hope in those who witnessed it that the fighting would eventually draw to a close, and that the nation would become ever stronger when it did. This speech followed not long after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the same year, which declared all African slaves within any state, either Union or Confederate, to be free. An artist's illustration of the proclamation's effects hangs on the wall of Lincolnville, as a testament to a leader who spoke for the minorities when they were unable to speak for themselves. This same notion inspired Martin Luther King, Jr.'s own speeches, with both historical figures aiding blacks in taking great strides towards freedom and equality.

Image in Conversation 2

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix

          This is a photo of 1960s guitarist Jimi Hendrix, one of the most influential rock musicians of all time. In the early 1960s, Hendrix originally joined the military, as service was one of the best ways for young black men to make a living during that time. After being discharged due to an ankle injury, Hendrix began to become an avid listener of R&B, and eventually picked up the guitar and began to play shows at African American dance clubs throughout the southern and eastern United States. Once his music career finally took off, Hendrix used his music to break into and influence mainstream music--including white music--like no other black musician before him, while using his music as an outlet for social change. His career is similar in scope and influence to the likes of Louis Armstrong, another famous black musician celebrated in Lincolnville.

Literature in Conversation

          Parable of the Sower is primarily centered around the struggles of a black family amidst rampant poverty, but there are several instances throughout the book where allusions are made to real-life treatment of African Americans. One of the most grim is on page 105, where Lauren Oya Olamina and her neighborhood accomplices happen upon a severed arm in a tree while searching for Lauren's father. Notably, Lauren states, "It was fresh and whole. A black man's arm, skin just like the color of my father's" (Butler, 105). The placement of the severed arm in a tree of all locations is likely an allusion to the lynching of blacks in trees that frequently occurred at the hands of terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1900s. Drawings of these atrocities are present in Lincolnville's displays, showing one of the many horrors suffered by blacks in America throughout history.

Creative Component

          This is an edit I made of the St. Augustine Trolley route that puts Lincolnville in the path of tourists, while simultaneously omitting the major tourist destinations in St. Augustine. The history of blacks in Florida is not widely considered a "tourist-friendly" topic, but with this revamped route, the stories of African Americans in St. Augustine can finally be told to the general population.