Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Florida Road Trip: Following in His Footsteps

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A tireless defender of American civil rights, fighting for black voices amidst racist oppression and violence across the country, he has faced countless personal threats, harassment and arrests. I was facing assassin’s bullet stopped his life, not his legacy.

Among many other things, King Montgomery bus boycottorganized non-violent protests in Alabama, led marches in Washington, won the Nobel Peace Prizehelp organize two Marching from Selma to Montgomery While advocating for non-violent protest for the rights of black voters, we emphasized racial injustice wherever possible.

And he spent a good deal of time in Florida. Sunshine State is Maximum number of lynchings per person First half of the 20th century. Mobs of white men attacked, burned, and ravaged black communities. Ocoee When rosewoodIn 1951 Miami’s Carver Village was bombed, Harry and Harriet Moore were killed in the Christmas Eve bombing In the same year at Mims. Jim Crow law is Discrimination housing When sunset townblacks could work within city limits, but had to leave before dawn.

Their fight, in their words:Americans changed history by standing up to racism in 1961

more:Florida revisits violent, brutal past as racist protests roil US

But marches and protests for civil rights and sit-ins at white-only restaurants, businesses, pools and beaches increased and began to gain national attention.In the years leading up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , especially that year, when King came to add his powerful voice to the people here.

This is where King spent his time and effort in Florida.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of St. Augustine: Demonstrations, Arrests and Bullets

Of all the Florida locations King frequented, the country’s oldest city may have been the most important. Historian David Nolan King said he was told to come here because it was a good place to expose racism, with plenty of segregated hotels, motels, and restaurants. King called it the most isolated city in America.

During his time in St. Augustine, King stayed in several homes, spoke at various locations, was arrested and imprisoned on the steps of an isolated motor lodge, and had the cottage he was trying to stay in shot and destroyed. . Many historians believe that newspaper images of these and other events helped build demand for the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

King’s Footprints: The St. Augustine area site is associated with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Monson Motor Lodge: King was one of several, including Reverend Ralph Abernathy. Arrested for participating in an attempted sit-in at a lodge June 1964. A week later, King and others planned a swim-in where black and white protesters jumped into the lodge’s pool. James Bullock, motel manager Hydrochloric acid was poured into the pool to drive them outThe hydrochloric acid used to clean the pools would not have caused protesters any serious harm, but Horace Court’s photo had a huge impact nationwide.

The Motor Lodge was demolished in 2003, despite long-standing requests to keep the site as a Civil Rights Historic Landmark. Bayfront Hilton The staircase where King was arrested has been preserved.

Mimi Jones:Woman in famous St. Augustine pool acid photo dies at 73

st. John County Jail: King and many local civil rights activists were brought here. King hailed them as the movement’s “infantry,” according to the nonprofit. Day to Commemorate Civil Rights Demonstrations.

A photo of King’s fingerprints from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has been on display in the Florida State Capitol since 2011.

5480 Atlantic View: This was the missionary winter home that opened the home to King and other members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King, who had stayed at various locations around town to ensure his safety, had not yet arrived, but St. Augustine Records got word that he was there and printed his address. The house was shot, burned and destroyed in his two attacks.

A photo of King pointing to a bullet hole has become “one of the iconic images of the civil rights movement,” according to the property’s marker, which is from the Accord Freedom Trail.

Save history:St. Johns County Couple Buys Home Associated With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Preserves It

st. Paul Ame Church, 85 DR. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Lincolnville: King spoke at this church during the Civil Rights Movement, and so did Jackie Robinson. Hundreds more attended a rally at the church and marched to Constitución Square in downtown St. Augustine to demand civil rights.

81 Bridge Street: Cora Tyson It hosted King and other prominent civil rights leaders many times in the 1960s.of Accord Civil Rights MuseumAcross the street is , which honors King and many local civil rights activists.

St. Augustine’s Civil Rights Movement:See the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

more:Members of the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement Gather to Unveil MLK Figures

“Trouble doesn’t always last”:Activists Remember King, St. Augustine’s Civil Rights Struggle

Miami: King dreamed earlier than you think

King returned to Miami several times. As early as February 1958 he Bethel AME Church At the campaign to double the number of registered black voters and at the American Jewish Congress in Miami Beach.

historic Hampton House, 4240 NW 27th AVE.: If you want to stay in black, safe, and upscale Miami in the 50’s and early 60’s, Hampton House.

Built in 1953 and originally called Booker Terrace, the two-story hotel features a sparkling palm-fringed pool, about 20 ensuite rooms, a lunch bar and a popular jazz club. bottom. King and Malcolm X were regular visitors, as were Muhammad Ali (when he was still known as Cassius Clay), Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jackie Robinson, Nat King his Cole, and others. was Much of the hotel was recreated for the iconic night with Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke in the movie One Night in Miami. King famously captured a rare moment of relaxation in the pool wearing swimming trunks.

First MLK Day:Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday in 1983.

Historians believe that King An early version of his famous “I have a dream” speech At Hampton House in 1960, three years before the March on Washington. King is said to have given different versions of the speech in Miami and Huntsville, Alabama, and developed it before his iconic speech on the National Mall.

After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when blacks were allowed to stay in places previously reserved for whites, and middle-class black families began to move to more affluent parts of Miami, Hampton House found its niche. lost, fell into disrepair, and was eventually closed. 1976.A Heritage Trust interveneswhich secured its historic designation and transformed the last remaining Green Book Hotel from the Jim Crow era into a museum and cultural center.

University of Miami: king Lecture at University of Miami May 1966, on “Church Involvement in Civil Rights Programs.” Some films of his speech were rediscovered in 2016.

Dr. King of Florida:5 Interesting Connections Between Martin Luther King Jr. and Florida and the Space Coast

Daytona Beach and Bethune Cookman

Bethune Cookman College, Daytona Beach: King made several trips to Daytona Beach to speak with black leader and educator Mary McLeod Bethune. According to Dr. Headley White, Associate Professor, B-CU University of Education. In May 1958, King visited his beach in Daytona, Commencement speech at what was then known as Bethune Cookman Collegenow Bethune-Cookman University.

An article in the Daytona Beach Evening News quoted King warning graduates that hatred and bitterness would only lead to “endless and meaningless chaos.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. secretly stopped by the Space Coast

In 1964, while driving across the state, King wanted to visit the coast quietly and privately. Former Freedom He was a rider, then president of his NAACP in Brevard and pastor of Greater St. Paul.

Greater St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, 213 STONE STREET, Cocoa: “King called me and said he was in the area and needed a place to stay. Wells told Florida Today that he broke a house rule to allow King to smoke.

King and Wells talked about NASA’s hiring practices, and King helped organize young people to join him on his march in St. Augustine. He was gone by morning, Welles recalled.

Orlando: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Takes the Mound at Tinker Field

Dr. King responded to a plea in 1964 from Reverend Curtis J. Jackson, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church and adviser to the NAACP Youth Council, to come and speak in Orlando.

Tinkerfield, 287 S Tampa Ave: King held a workshop at the church, talked to Mayor Bob Carr, made his only speech in central Florida, “Consolidation Now”, from Tinkerfield’s pitcher’s mound where Jackie Robinson played in 1950. He addressed an audience of about 2,000 people.

“The winds of change are wiping out the old order in America, wiping out the new order,” he said, according to the site’s monument. The funeral will be held.

It was the first time black attendees were allowed to sit in an all-white grandstand.

Tinkerfield fell into disrepair and part of it was sold for development. However, in 2015 parts of the Diamond and Field were designated as Historic Monuments. king the same as Robinsonand other prominent baseball players.

Contributors: Sheldon Gardner, The Daytona Beach News-Journal. JD Gallop, Florida Today

CA Bridges is a digital producer for the USA TODAY Network and works with several newsrooms in Florida. Local journalists work hard to keep you informed about what interests you. local news outlets. Click here for more articles by Chris follow him on twitter @cabridges