The ACCORD Civil Rights Museum houses a collection of items and photos from Dr. Martin Luther King's visit to St. Augustine in the 1960s.

ACCORD Freedom Trail

Visit and learn about Civil Rights destinations in St. Augustine

ACCORD Freedom Trail

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was contested in Congress until televised demonstrations in St. Augustine pushed legislators over the edge. Local activists risked their lives and some lost their jobs and homes to make it happen. That story is illustrated through a series of local landmarks called the ACCORD Freedom Trail. The Trail was created by the 40th ACCORD Organization and sponsored by The Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Brochures for the Freedom Trail's self-guided tour are available at the St. Augustine Visitor Information Center in downtown St. Augustine.

The logo of the 40th ACCORD Organization. In all capital letters, the word ACCORD is spelled out in red. The 'O' in ACCORD is replaced by a drawing of a Black person and a White person's hands holding each other.

The 40th ACCORD (Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations), Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established in 2003. The group has sponsored many events to commemorate the heroes and she-roes of St. Augustine's Civil Rights Movement. There mission is thus:

"Remembering, Recognizing, and Honoring all those who risked their lives to attain civil rights for all and celebrating St. Augustine's pivotal role in the Civil Rights Act of 1964." 

Click here to visit the ACCORD's website. 

Click here to learn more about the ACCORD Civil Rights Museum.

Click here to learn more about the Black History museums of St. Augustine, Florida.

Stops on the ACCORD Freedom Trail —

A photograph of the Rudcarlie building in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a whit building with a brown shingled roof. The steps are painted red and there is a small cement path connecting the house to the sidewalk. The picture was taken on a sunny day and the plants and grass are a bright green. There is a wheelchair ramp on the side of the building that faces the street.

Dr. Hayling's Dental Office 

79 Bridge Street 

Dr. Robert Hayling has been called the "father" of St. Augustine's civil rights movement. In his dental office, he coordinated demonstrations and provided office space for out-of-town lawyers and leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

A photograph of the Korner Market in Lincolnville, St. Augustine, Florida. It is a beige one-story building facing Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in St. Augustine. It has a bright orange and black sign out front.

Lincolnville Public Library 

97 M.L. King Avenue 

The Lincolnville Public library was one of the training camps for civil rights activists. Here, Reverend Thomas Wright trained college students in nonviolent techniques before they began sitting-in at local lunch counters. 

A photograph of a house in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a two-story home with sea foam green paneling on the outside and white accents on the porch, windowsills, etc. There is a small plaque in front of the house.

Willie Galimore's House 

57 Chapin Street 

Willie Galimore, St. Augustine's most famous athlete, returned here to help with his hometown's civil rights movement. As a Chicago Bears NFL star, he became the first black registered guest at a white-only hotel local demonstrators had been protesting. 

A photograph of a turquoise colored house in St. Augustine, Florida. The sunny yard is filled with plants and there is a white car in the dirt driveway. The ACCORD Trail plaque can be seen behind the chain link fence in the yard.

Janie Price's House 

156 M.L. King Avenue 

Like many locals, Janie Price offered her home to civil rights activists who came from out of town to support St. Augustine. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his colleague stayed here the night before their demonstration and arrest at the Monson Motor Lodge. 

A sunny photograph of a white church in St. Augustine, Florida. The church steps face the camera, and lead up to a covered porch. On either side of the porch are two towers — one with a pyramid-shaped roof, and other with a flat roof.

Zion Baptist Church 

96 Evergreen Avenue 

Zion Baptist Church hosted rallies to encourage support for the civil rights movement in St. Augustine. A guest speaker here was the Freedom Riders' famous attorney, William Kunstler. 

A photograph of a one-story house in St. Augustine, Florida. The house is pea green with white windowsills and accents. To the right of the sun-soaked driveway, the ACCORD freedom trail plaque for the site can be seen in the grass.

Dr. Hayling's House 

8 R.B. Hayling Place 

Dr. Robert B. Hayling has been called the "father" of St. Augustine's civil rights movement. For his efforts to end segregation, he was severely beaten by the KKK, and shots into his house killed his dog and barely missed his wife. 

A photograph of an empty lot in St. Augustine, Florida on Gault Street in West King. Trees cast shadows on the sunny grass yard that used to be the Roberson home. In front of the steps is the ACCORD freedom trail plaque.

Roberson Family's House 

(firebombed - Gault Street) 

Bungum Roberson served as local treasurer of Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After his sons braved the dangerous trek as black students entering the all-white Fullerwood School, the family lost their house to a firebomb; only the steps remain. 

A photograph of a one-story house in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a dark grey house with white awnings and accents. It is surrounded in palm and oak trees.

Loucille Plummer's House 

177 Twine Street 

Loucille Plummer hosted a special houseguest who first put St. Augustine in the spotlight of national news. Her guest, Mary Parkman Peabody, the 72-year-old mother of the Governor of Massachusetts, was arrested for trying to be served in a racially integrated group at the Ponce de Leon Motor Lodge. 

A photograph of several storefronts on King Street in St. Augustine, Florida. Taken from across the street, there are cars parked on both sides. The building has a brick red roof and large store windows are framed with brickwork on the exterior.

Woolworth's Department Store 

31 King Street 

In the summer of 1963, local black high school students sat-in at the segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. They were arrested, and four of them spent the next six months in jail and reform school for refusing to quit demonstrating. 

A photograph of a two story building in the Lincolnville neighborhood of St. Augustine, Florida. Taken at a three-fourths angle, the building has a pink stucco facade and rows of windows. A dirt parking lot is in the foreground and there are cars parked on the street, on the lefthand side of the image.

Florida Headquarters for SCLC 

64 Washington Street 

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was founded in 1957 by Dr. Martin Luther King. This was the organization's Florida headquarters, run by Loucille Plummer, a local nurse who lost her job because of her civil rights activities. 

A photograph of a home in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a one story house with a screened in front porch. The awnings for the front are white with small green stripes. The property is fenced in with a chain link fence and there are bushes growing in the yard.

Washington-Davis House 

33 Bernard Street 

This was the home of Rose Etta Washington and Alfred Eugene Davis, two of the first black students to attend segregated schools in St. Augustine. The majority of black students to brave all-white schools lived on this street. 

A photograph of a church in the Lincolnville neighborhood of St. Augustine, Florida. The sky is a perfect blue and the greens of the palm and oak trees are bright. The church is made of a yellow-toned brick, with white window frames and a dark brown shingled roof. A tower shaped like a rectangular prism is in the middle of two wings of the church, and has a pyramid shaped roof above an open section that holds the church bells.

Trinity United Methodist Church 

84 Bridge Street 

Trinity United Methodist Church hosted many rallies to encourage locals to protest racial discrimination. Nightly public marches began and ended here, with the marchers enduring verbal and physical attacks as they made their way back to the church. 

A photograph of a white, one story house in St. Augustine, Florida. The house has a screened in porch on the right side of the image. Its window frames are painted light blue. The background is filled with Florida foliage of palm trees and oak trees.

Reverend Halyard's House 

570 Christopher Street 

Reverend Halyard traveled to Tallahassee, Washington, and Orlando to find powerful help for the racial situation in St. Augustine. He drove to Jacksonville to retrieve Dr. King from the airport. He and his wife also provided lodging for General Patton's cousin, Sarah Patton Boyle, who helped with the civil rights movement. 

A photograph of a home in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a beige house with white accents and a dark grey shingled roof. The roof has a dormer window, suggesting a second floor. There are also two red chimneys visible above the roof. The yard, which is fenced in by chain link, is bright green with bushes and grass.

Rena Ayers' House 

120 DeHaven Street 

Jutson Ayers worked as an alligator wrestler for a quarter of a century at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. After his death, his wife Rena used their home to host out-of-towners who came to support the civil rights movement. 

A photograph of a beige home in St. Augustine, Florida. The house is two stories with white accents on the window frames and doors. There is a tall and thin tree in the front yard.

Reverend Wright's House 

111 Lincoln Street 

This house was the parsonage to St. Mary's Baptist Church, where Reverend Thomas Wright was pastor. As president of the St. Augustine NAACP, Reverend Wright worked hard to end segregation in St. Augustine. Threats against his family led him to move them to Gainesville, where his daughter became the first black graduate of Gainesville High School. 

A photograph of a three-story home in St. Augustine, Florida. It is white wood with green window frames and doors. Facing the street on the ground floor is a ramp for the resident's accessibility. The ACCORD Freedom Trail Plaque can be seen behind the chain link fence.

Bell Family's House 

112 M.L.King Avenue 

The Bell family was active in the civil rights movement, and their daughter, Veronica, was one of the first brave students to attend an all-white school. Among the visiting activists who were hosted in the Bells' home was Dr. King's aide, J.T. Johnson, who took part in the famous swim-in at the Monson Motor Lodge when the manager poured acid into the pool. 

A photograph of a one story Ranch style house in St. Augustine, Florida's Lincolnville neighborhood. Palm trees line the sidewalk facing the street, and between them the ACCORD Freedom Trail marker stands. The house is tan with a flat shingle roof and there is a white car in the driveway, which is on the right hand side of the image.

Reddick Family's House 

56 Park Place 

James G. Reddick was a longtime principal of Excelsior School and editor of this town's first black newspaper, The St. Augustine Post. His wife Maude was the supervisor of black schools in St. Augustine before integration. The Reddicks gave lodging to two bishops' wives who brought national attention to racism in St. Augustine by getting arrested in demonstrations here. 

An image of a large church building in St. Augustine, Florida's Lincolnville neighborhood. The church has a red tin roof with a yellow brick structure. Facing the street, a rectangular-prism shaped tower stands. At the base of the tower, a red awning marks the front door of the Bethel Baptist Church.

Bethel Baptist Church 

222 Riberia Street 

Bethel Baptist Church provided a meeting space for the NAACP Youth Council, where Dr. Hayling taught students peaceful protest techniques. The church also hosted a "Freedom School," where Reverend Andrew Young taught black history and the history of the civil rights movement. 

A photograph of a two story house in St. Augustine, Florida. The house is bright orange in the sunlight, and surrounded by palm trees and oak trees. There is a porch facing the street with white pillars. A blue pick up truck is parked out front.

Shepherd Family's House 

84 Benedict Street 

St. Paul A.M.E.'s Reverend Shepherd Hunter and his wife Alberta lived here, while their church hosted mass rallies with Dr. King and Jackie Robinson. Their granddaughter, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, became the first black woman to attend the University of Georgia, and correspondent for the television program "MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour." 

A sunny photograph of a house in St. Augustine, Florida.The house is wooden and beige with orange accents. Trees surround and shade the yard. The ACCORD Freedom Trail marker plaque faces the street near the chain link fence.

Georgie Mae Reed's House 

1074 West King Street 

This was the home of Georgie Mae Reed, a polio patient who accompanied several elderly women in St. Augustine's first nationally broadcasted civil rights protest. The women, important political figures, asked for service at the Ponce de Leon Motor Lodge restaurant and were arrested because they were a racially mixed group.