Oldest House Museum Complex

St. Augustine, Florida

February 17, 2022

          The Oldest House Museum Complex is a property that encompasses the oldest Spanish Colonial residence in Florida, the Surf Culture Museum, the Webb Museum, the Page Edwards Gallery, and ornamental gardens connecting each structure. The titular house, known officially as the Gonzalez-Alvarez House, combines both Spanish and British elements in its architecture, reflecting the lives of the families who came to reside in it. The coquina walls of the structure reflect the signature construction element of St. Augustine. Each of the other exhibits tells a piece of St. Augustine history through the perspective of several different groups, including the Spanish, British, and African Americans.

Official website: https://staughs.com/oldest-house-museum-complex/

Exterior Image 1

Exterior Image 2

Artifact Image 1

          This was the camera frequently used by African American photographer and Lincolnville resident Richard A. Twine in the 1920s. As one of only two photographers in Lincolnville, Twine's photography studio encountered great success among residents, despite his career as a photographer only lasting five years. Twine would photograph many of Lincolnville's weddings, funerals, parades, and other events, cementing the town's place in St. Augustine history as a nucleus of African American heritage and activity.

Artifact Image 2

          This is a reenacted dining room scene on the top floor of the Gonzalez-Alvarez House, reflective of late 1700s and early 1800s British furnishings. The top floor of the house draws heavy inspiration from typical British cedarwood construction during this time period, compared to the late 1600s Spanish feel of the ground floor with coquina walls and low lighting. The table and chairs are made of dark, durable wood, while fine tableware, saucers, plates and candlesticks allow for a traditional British air of elegance.

Image in Conversation 1

Image source: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/early-photo/early-photo-france/a/louis-jacques-mande-daguerre-the-artists-studio-still-life-with-plaster-casts

          This is Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre's famous daguerreotype, The Artist's Studio / Still Life With Plaster Casts. Considered to be one of the oldest surviving photographs in the world, this piece was created in 1837 in order to bridge the gap between still life and paintings, while also taking steps forward for the fields of both art and science. While this image predates most of Richard Twine's work by nearly a century, both photographers sought to portray the world around them in unique ways that were widely uncommon at the time. As a black photographer, Twine likely felt an obligation to show the world his often-neglected African American neighborhood for what it truly was, much like how Daguerre went beyond the conventional limits of still-life painting by photographing the reality of physical objects.

Image in Conversation 2

Image source: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-contemporary-apah/20th-century-apah/a/jaune-quick-to-see-smith-trade-gifts-for-trading-land-with-white-people

          This is a mixed-media collage by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, entitle Trade (Gifts for Trading Land to White People). The artwork consists of a drawing of a traditional Native American canoe covered in vibrant bands of yellow, green, and red, with various Native American-based memorabilia and souvenirs strung on a band on top of it. These include professional and college sports teams logos (such as the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, and the Florida State Seminoles), as well as tomahawks, Indian dolls, and moccasins. The artwork was created to "non-celebrate" the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in America, an event which began the steady downfall, deposition, and eventual commoditization of Native Americans. The exhibits in the Indigo Room and the Cotton, Rice, Sugar and Citrus Room of the Oldest House Museum Complex similarly utilize materials from the history of African American discrimination to paint a grim portrait of oppression and disharmony between races in the United States.

Literature in Conversation

          In Parable of the Sower, the burning of Lauren's town Robledo is similar in many ways to the British burning of St. Augustine in 1702. By comparison, the siege of Robledo seemingly had more casualties during the initial assault, as very few of Lauren's neighbors are shown alive following the arrival of the crazed arsonists. Lauren's Earthseed quote during this scene is perhaps one of her most iconic: "In order to rise from its own ashes, a phoenix first must burn." (Butler, 122). Similarly, the strong coquina foundation of the Gonzalez-Alvarez House was only constructed after the initial structure was all but destroyed by the blazes. Only after this initial test of fire did the house reform to endure to the present day.

Creative Component

Nestled by the inlet's coast

This house of mine resides

Of its structure, there's little to boast

Nor much of what's inside

But these walls of solid silver shell

Conceal from you something more

Though walls alone may never tell

The troubled stories of yore

This town of saints, and sinners too

Was once ravaged by blaze

To think my house now stands anew

Is a truth that will amaze

This house has sheltered many here

In ages now long past

And yet, I still express no fear

If I should be the last

For this house of solid silver shell

Shall stand forevermore

And when I leave, it still shall tell

The troubled stories of yore