ACCORD Freedom Trail-St. Augustine Beach Wade-Ins
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 29° 51.397 W 081° 15.954
17R E 474317 N 3302927
Part of the Freedom Trail located in St. Augustine.
Waymark Code: WMJ73D
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/04/2013
Views: 8
Some of the most widely-publicized events of the civil rights movement took place at St. Augustine Beach in the summer of 1964, when wade-ins were conducted at what had historically been a beach reserved for “Whites Only”. Many courageous local residents took part in the wade-ins, along with a number of staff members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), including Rev. C.T. Vivian, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Dorothy Cotton, Al Lingo, Rev. LaVert Taylor, Benjamin Van Clarke, Golden Frinks, Rev. S. B. Wells, Dana Swan, Willie Bolden, and J. T. Johnson.
Black and white supporters came from different parts of the country during a campaign organized by Dr. Robert B. Hayling that brought Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and SCLC to St. Augustine. The many rallies, marches, sit-ins, and wade-ins that took place here led directly to the passage and signing of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed racial segregation in hotels, motels, restaurants and other public accommodations, and job discrimination against blacks and women.
Images broadcast internationally, of peaceful demonstrators being brutally attacked, yet holding their ground, helped to change American attitudes and inspired the world for generations to come. Dr. Martin Luther King went on from here to receive the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1964. The inside story of how law enforcement protection was finally provided to demonstrators, after a number of beatings had taken place, is told by Dan Warren in the book If It Takes All Summer, published by the University of Alabama Press in 2008. The events at St. Augustine Beach, and their wide-ranging historic significance, form an important episode in Jeremy Dean's award-winning movie "Dare Not Walk Alone," and in books by Pulitzer Prize winning authors Taylor Branch and David Garrow.
Marker Number: 0
Date: July 2, 2009
Marker Type: Plaque
Sponsored or placed by: Northrop Grumman
County: Not listed
Website: Not listed
|
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.