St. Augustine's Black History Uncovered and Celebrated at the Resilience Family Fest in West Augustine

Nan Nkama Pan-African Drum and Dance Ensemble

St. Augustine's black history was celebrated in West Augustine as the Resilience Family Fest took over the Solomon Calhoun Center. The Nan Nkama Pan-African Drum and Dance Ensemble, the St. Augustine High School Jazz Band and the Melvin Smith Jazz Ensemble performed for the guests, and many St. Augustine museums and organizations showcased exhibits about black history in St. Augustine and more.

Caroline Davis, Kimberlyn Elliott and Regina Gayle Phillips from the Lincolnville Museum at the Resilience Family Fest.

"We're here as part of this program of resilience, where we've all been trying to do stories of African American history for the whole year," said Regina Gayle Phillipps, executive director of the Lincolnville Museum. "Kimberlyn Elliott has been the one behind this whole festival, because she wanted to bring it to this community and to showcase not just what we do at the Lincolnville Museum, but what other museums have been doing throughout the year in terms of African American programming and history bringing things from their archives and putting it on display. Today she has brought all of it together, and I think we've had over 300 people come out to enjoy these festivities."

The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center educates the public about 450 years of African American history in St. Augustine.

"This is partly a celebration of Black History Month, but it is also a celebration of the end of the Resilience Project, which was a year-long exploration of St. Augustine's black history and culture put on by the Archives Club," said Kimberlyn Elliott, the associate director of the Lincolnville Museum. "In 2020 in the wake of George Floyd's murder and the unrest around the world, the white members of the Archives Club were asking us at the Lincolnville Museum, how could they be better allies to us, and how could we work through history to put more of an emphasis on the black narrative and culture especially here in St. Augustine." 

Elliott explains how each individual site has had some sort of exhibit as part of the resilience project, and how she wanted the community celebration at the end of the project to be in West Augustine.

Jeanette Kaizar and her family

Jeanette Kaizar had brought her family along to the Resilience Family Fest. "We heard there were a lot of different resources and history that we didn't know about, and it's been fantastic. My son has been learning about some different things at school, and he got to see some of them in action here, which was really cool. We've got a lot of history in this town that a lot of people don't know about, myself included, and we need to get more involved in that and in our community."

Dalonja Duncan from the ACCORD Museum in St. Augustine, FL.

"I'm here to represent ACCORD to remember, recognize and honor the civil rights movement," says Dalonja Duncan from ACCORD, the civil rights museum in St. Augustine. ACCORD (The Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations, Inc) was created for the purpose of 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, and it is behind the St. Augustine Freedom Trail. "Most of the people I talked to today were from out of town, so I did educate some people about the civil rights movement here in St. Augustine," says Duncan. "Dr. Robert B. Hayling received the highest award from the City of St. Augustine, which can be seen at the museum. He is the reason, why Martin Luther King came to St. Augustine." The ACCORD museum located at 79 Bridge Street is open by appointment only, call 904-347-1382 to make a reservation.

Ximenez-Fatio Museum

Stefanie Kite from the Ximenez-Fatio Museum was excited to be at the event. "We're here today with the Ximenez-Fatio Museum, and we are promoting our brand-new performance event I Lived Here As Well: A Woman's Story, which talks about the story of urban slavery in St. Augustine and other southern cities in the United States pre-emancipation." 

Gigi Best-Richardson, author of Thomas the Melungeon, from the Best-Richardson African Diaspora Literature & Culture Museum.

"We were in Tampa for 22 years, but there was so much history here in St. Augustine, and we felt a call to come here," says Gigi Best-Richardson from the Best-Richardson African Diaspora Literature & Culture Museum in St. Augustine located at 30 A St. George Street. "Our bookstore was developed because when many Africans were enslaved, they were forbidden to read or write, and they could be punished and killed. I went to graduate school for literature, and I learned so much about writers of the African Diaspora. I learned that the first novel written by an African American was written in 1847, so I want to give people the information through our museum and our bookstore about the culture and the history, because sometimes they get misdirected." 

The West Augustine Improvement Association and the West Augustine Nature Society shared a table inviting everyone to come join and participate in two upcoming West Augustine clean-up events. The Pinehurst and San Sebastian cemeteries Restoration Day, where two of the oldest African American cemeteries in Florida will be receiving a lot of love and the Earth Day, Every Day Clean-Up event starting at the Trendy Way Plaza on West King Street.

Sarah Miller, director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network Northeast and East Central (FPAN) hosted by Flagler College, Dr. Lori Lee, professor at Flagler College, Kathrine Sims, research and collections archaeologist for the City of St. Augustine and Emily Jane Murray, public archelogy coordinator from FPAN at the Resilience Family Fest in St. Augustine

"I'm here to support the community says Sarah Miller, director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network Northeast and East Central (FPAN),which is hosted by Flagler College. "We've been a part of the Resiliency Project all year and the Washing Away History, where there were some great online presentations, and we got to interact with the public and the descendants and tell them about what is happening in a lot of these historic sites and also about what is going to be happening. Resiliency is for us two prong: cultural resiliency and also our community being resilient from the climate crises and other crisis that fall upon us and how we work together to overcome these challenges."

Nyk Smith from the Corner Market in Lincolnville, St. Augustine, Florida

Nyk Smith brought her baked goods and beet products from the Corner Market in Lincolnville, one of the last remaining black-owned businesses in Lincolnville, a community which was built by freed slaves, and which until just recently used to be mainly African American. 

Flagler's Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority, the Proctor Library at Flagler and the Flagler Honors program were also at the Resilience Family Fest in West Augustine, and the children at the event were excited to participated in different crafts. 

The St. Augustine High School Jazz Band at the Resilience Family Fest in West Augustine Florida

The St. Augustine High School Jazz Band performed at at the Resilience Family Fest in West Augustine Florida.

"We're just glad to be able to perform for the community, whenever we can. Our jazz band has been working real hard this semester, and we're happy to perform any chance we can get, especially in this community, where we have not been much," said Jonathan Peters, the band director at St. Augustine High School.

The Resilience Family Fest at the Solomon Calhoun Center showcased not only black history in St. Augustine but also how the coming together of many different organizations can bring forth strength in the community in a way that one sole organization cannot do by itself. It was a powerful presentation of a part of St. Augustine's history, which for years had been hidden, and the message of African American influence and participation in St. Augustine's history rang loud and clear to everyone participating in the event.