As Seen In EVOLVE Magazine: St. Augustine's African-American Heritage

The below appeared recently in a special print edition of EVOLVE Magazine. I’m grateful for the time I spent with Gayle Phillips and Greg White - two St. Augustinians making a positive impact on our storied community.

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If you - dear reader, are consuming this article in St. Johns County, perhaps you are simultaneously subject to the sights and sounds of concrete mixers, nail guns and saws.  More than likely, a new home, apartment complex, or store is being built within a stone’s throw of you - or decorating  your daily commute. Without question, St. Johns county is experiencing an expansion, a transformation. Projects proliferate left and right. But today, we’re going to zoom in on the development of two specific, storied parts of our culturally rich city. Namely, Lincolnville and West Augustine. 

Greg White served as director of West Augustine’s Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) for about 17 years. “The birth of the CRA would be the mechanism that has actually moved the needle to improve historic West Augustine,” says Greg. Established in the year 2000, the CRA drills down on various components of improvement for West Augustine.These include affordable housing, infrastructure improvement, economic development, and the curating of activities. There was a time in recent history when there was no guarantee that West Augustine residents would have access to running water. After partnering with the City of St. Augustine at the turn of the 21st century, about 97% of West Augustine residents currently enjoy runnning water.

He is now founder of the West Augustine Historical Community Development Corp (WAHCDC). Board members often organize events that unite the community. They have partnered with the likes of Flagler Hospital, The Bailey Group and The Solomon Calhoun Center with a view to improving the quality of life in West Augustine. “We are currently working on a medical complex,” shares Greg. They were able to secure $5 million from St. Johns County to build the 14,000 square foot complex. The builder, architect and engineers for the project are in place, and the design phase is now underway. Epic Behavioral Health will also have a presence at the facility to provide services for those dealing with substance abuse and mental health challenges.

A Putnam County native, Greg grew up fishing and swimming almost daily with his brother, John. By his teens, he was living in St. Augustine. Greg remembers marching from Murray High School (now Murray Middle School) to the slave market, which is now known as the Plaza de la Constitución. “My heart would race like it’s going to come out of my chest,” Greg recalls. He felt like a grain of sand among the vastness of the Civil Rights movement. During those fateful marches, he sang a freedom song called “We Shall Overcome” along with his peers. In part, he sang:

We’ll walk hand in hand

We shall live in peace.

St. Augustine was truly a small town in those days. The older generation risked losing their livelihood if they were seen marching with the young ones. During the marches, adults gathered in the teachers lounge at Murray High School to pray on behalf of the youth activists while they strode to the slave market. 

Lincolnville is a stone’s throw from the edge of West Augustine. The Freedman’s Town began to be settled in 1866 by returning Civil War veterans and their families. It was the center of many demonstrations that eventually led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was home to many figures of note such as entrepreneur Frank Butler, Dr. Adolphus Gordon and Dr. Thomas G. Freeland. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself and representatives of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference spent time in Lincolnville during the 1960’s to hold strategic meetings with Dr. Robert Hayling - an activist who took the lead during the local Civil Rights Movement. Hayling marched shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Andrew Young, Barbara Vickers and the St. Augustine Foot Soldiers. He also served the community by running a dental practice at 79 Bridge Street. 

Gayle Phillips is Executive  Director of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center. Gayle grew up in rural Mandarin, north of St. Augustine. “As a child, we visited Butler Beach (the Black Beach), crabbed in the Guana River, and pulled oysters from the San Sebastián,” she shares with EVOLVE Magazine. After settling into St. Johns County, and a brief stint in Alabama, Gayle and her husband returned to St. Augustine in 2010. Her first visit to the formerly named Excelsior Museum was in 2015. “I saw a place with a lot of character and history, but in need of help. I actually said out loud, ‘Wow, this place needs help! What can I do?’” And so began Gayle’s journey of pivotal storytelling and restoration, which led her to her current role as museum director.

It is not lost on the St. Augustine community that Lincolnville has been touched by the double-edged sword of gentrification. Still, Gayle acknowledges that “most of the long term residents still attend community events and work to help preserve the legacy of Lincolnville as a heritage community.” For example, the Lincolnville CRA has secured institutional loans which fund emergency home repairs and the preservation of historic Black churches. On the one hand, increased property values have come with welcome funding for community reinvestment. Meanwhile, it is ironically becoming more difficult for young black families to move to the area.

The Lincolnville Museum shines a light on 500 years of the African American presence not only in St. Augustine, but in the United States at large. The museum recently enjoyed a new designation as it joined the National Park Service African American Civil Rights Network. They will soon file for inclusion in the Reconstruction Era Heritage Trail. Such affiliations will advance the proliferation of Lincolnville’s story before audiences of state, regional and national historic leadership entities.

The face of St. Augustine is dynamically changing before our very eyes. The efforts of ones like Greg White, Gayle Phillips, and their colleagues will help ensure that our beautiful city does not slip into an  unrecognizable state. May its original fabric - its original color - forever remain a part of the modern tapestry, and that which is yet future.