ACCORD Freedom Trail-222 Riberia Street
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 29° 53.048 W 081° 18.966
17R E 469477 N 3305988
Part of the Freedom Trail located in St. Augustine.
Waymark Code: WMGAJK
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 02/06/2013
Views: 4
Bethel Baptist Church was founded in 1939 by Rev. William Banks, the former pastor of St. Mary's Baptist Church on Washington Street, and other members from that congregation. Land was acquired on Riberia Street, and the church building constructed in 1943. From its earliest years, the picturesque church, with its distinctive coquina shell-dash stucco finish, has attracted the attention of artists. It became famous around the country through its appearance in many paintings.
In 1963, the church provided meeting space for the NAACP Youth Council, advised by Dr. Robert B. Hayling and Rev. Goldie Eubanks, Sr. which picketed restaurants and lunch counters in the downtown area that refused service to black people.
When Dr. Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) came to town in 1964, civil rights meetings took place at Bethel Baptist Church. A "Freedom School" held here under the direction of Rev. Andrew Young, taught black history and the history of the civil rights movement. Young went on to serve as congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, mayor of Atlanta, and president of the National Council of Churches. He returned to St. Augustine in 2004 to take part in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the campaign here that led to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Marker Number: None
Date: July 2, 2008
County: St Johns
Marker Type: Plaque
Sponsored or placed by: Northrop Grumman
Website: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark.
Please post a photo at the marker location.