Experience Fort Mose
Monthly living-history event featuring re-enactments, interesting lectures, and more on St. Augustine and Fort Mose history.
Experience Fort Mose events will include living history demonstrations, informative and interesting lectures, and more all centering on the foundations of the Fort Mose settlement and St. Augustine's history.
This event is part of the monthly Experience Fort Mose program the park hosts. This month's theme will be "The Black Experience Through the Years in Saint Augustine." Re-enactors will be on site portraying the era of legalized segregation and the civil rights movement.
Since 2014 marks the 50th Anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 49th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 Fort Mose has chosen to trace the heritage of African-Americans in the ancient city at this event.
Visitors to this event will enjoy living history demonstrations, interesting lectures, and more on the far-reaching history of African-Americans. Visitors will learn about the fascinating history including how African-Americans first came over to the new world with the Spanish explorers as a form of labor and thus began their fight for civil rights. The program is possible through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council.
History of the Founding of Fort Mose: In 1738, Spanish Governor Manuel de Montiano officially proclaimed the establishment of the first free African community in what is today continental US. He named this settlement El Pueblo de Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose in honor of the Spanish king, Santa Teresa de Aviles and the Native American refugees from the British invasion of 1702 who called the site Mose.
He also named Captain Francisco Menendez, head of the African militia since 1726, as the community's leader or "Chief" as he was called. Mose was primarily a farming community but it also served the very important role of helping to guard against a British invasion from the north.
Admission: Regular park fees are required - $2 per person museum fee.
Where? Fort Mose State Park located at 15 Fort Mose Trail St. Augustine, FL 32084.
When? 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, 2014.
For more information on this event or on the park please call (904) 823-2232 or Visit Here.
Fort Mose is the site of the first legally sanctioned free African settlement in what is now the United States. The settlement was chartered by the Spanish governor of Florida in 1738, and was called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose. It served as a haven for those fleeing slavery from the English colonies in the Carolinas. Fort Mose has been recognized for its national significance and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994.
