Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center

In 2005, St. Augustine's first public high school for Black children was re-invented as the Excelsior Museum. Now called the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, this important site in St. Augustine's History has been a center of Black education since 1902 when the school (then referred to as 'School #2') first opened. The museum is open seven days a week.

St. Augustine's Black Heritage

The museum features several displays about St. Augustine's Black heritage and history. Their exhibits trace the stories of Black people in Florida from the beginning  — from Juan Garrido's arrival in La Florida alongside explorer Ponce de Leon in 1513, all the way to the city's present-day figures. Prominent exhibit topics include the music, businesses, and military service of Black St. Augustinians.

Black people (African Americans AND African-descended people from other countries) have played a significant role in St. Augustine's history for more than 450 years. The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center showcases this rich history, which includes periods of triumph and strife. When restrictive laws like the "Black Codes" allowed unjust arrests and suppressed civil rights, Black entrepreneurs focused inward and created a thriving business district. When segregation and violent racism from the Ku Klux Klan became too much for Black St. Augustinians, local activists banded together to protest, which earned the support of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as national attention from the press.

Civil Rights Efforts in 1964

In the spring of 2024, the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center enhanced their exhibit focusing on the local civil rights movement events and the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The exhibit highlights artifacts from 60 years ago and features an interactive display. That display includes interviews of national and local civil rights activists and how they worked together in St. Augustine.

One protest caught the eye of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In July 1963 four brave teenagers — JoeAnn Anderson Ulmer, Samuel White, Audrey Nell Edwards, and Willie Carl Singleton entered the local Woolworths, sat at the "Whites Only" counter, and tried to order hamburgers. They were taken to jail for this 'crime.' Though they were minors, the police put this group — now called 'The St. Augustine Four' — in an adult facility, intimidated them, and attempted to convince them to betray Dr. Robert B Hayling, the leader of the local Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter. The St. Augustine Four stood strong throughout these attempts. They were praised by Jackie Robinson and called "my warriors" by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center has an exhibit that recognizes the St. Augustine Four: a section of the original Woolworth lunch counter that has been preserved to commemorate the civil rights history of St. Augustine. Truly a special addition to the museum's collection and a powerful part of history, this original counter is displayed in the same room as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s fingerprint card from his 1964 arrest in St. Augustine.

The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center offers everyone a chance to see St. Augustine through the eyes of the town's Black community. To learn more about Black American history in St. Augustine, see this article, and visit our Black History App.