156 M. L. King Avenue

Note: This is a private residence. If you plan to visit this site to view the historical marker, be respectful.

Mrs. Janie Young Price was born and raised in St. Augustine. As a girl, she studied at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic School. She graduated from Excelsior High School in the Lincolnville Historic District in 1944.

Right after graduating from Excelsior, she studied nursing at Grady Hospital in Atlanta.

On the weekends, nursing students and locals gathered in a pop-up juke joint in the school's basement. Janie mingled with a 16-year-old named Martin King, who was attending Morehouse College and dating one of Janie's fellow nursing students.

St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement

Nearly a decade later, in 1964, Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) mobilized in St. Augustine. Janie and Martin reunited at a local rally as Mrs. Price and Rev. Dr. King.

In the summer of 1964, Dr. King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were moving from house to house for their safety.

They stayed here the night before the infamous demonstration at the Monson Motor Lodge on June 18, 1964. The publicity of this event (and the St. Augustine Movement as a whole) earned global attention and support for the American Civil Rights Movement.

Mrs. Price's Legacy

Mrs. Janie Price, who passed away in 2022, left an indelible mark on her hometown of St. Augustine, Florida.

Along with being dubbed the "Housemother for Civil Rights," Mrs. Price is also called the "Florence Nightingale of  St. Johns County" by local historian David Nolan.

Mrs. Price was a dedicated public servant who always answered the call of duty. She worked at Flagler Hospital for over 50 years, until the late 1990s. During her tenure, in 1989, the hospital moved from the location of the San Sebastian Winery (157 King St) to its current location on SR-312 and US-1.

Lincolnville Museum's Women Who Made a Difference Exhibit

In May of 2021, the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center — which sits on the same street as Mrs. Price's home — unveiled the Women Who Made a Difference exhibit.

This interactive touchscreen exhibit highlights six local historical figures through interviews, family photos, and original documents. In addition to Mrs. Janie Price, Women Who Made a Difference also includes Mrs. Barbara Henry Vickers, Mrs. Katherine "Kat" Twine, Mrs. Mildred Larkins, and Debby McDade.

Read the Lincolnville Museum's Women Who Made a Difference Exhibit Announcement here.

Resources

Tap the blue underlined text to view the following online resources.

Online Resources

156 M.L. King Avenue marker text, from the Historical Marker database.

"Janie Price: Housemother of the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement," 2014 article from The St. Augustine Record.

"St. Augustine woman knew Dr. Martin Luther King before the world did," 2023 article, from First Coast News.

Mrs. Janie Price's obituary, from Legacy.com.

Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center's Women Who Made a Difference exhibit press release.

Further Reading

St. Augustine, Florida, 1963-1964: Mass Protest and Racial Violence, edited by David Garrow, 1989.