Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center
St. Augustine, FL
March 24th, 2022
https://www.lincolnvillemuseum.org
Description
The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center is an African American history museum in Lincolnville. The museum occupies the historic Excelsior School Building, which served as the first public black high school in Saint Johns County in 1925. After desegregation, the school was closed and the building housed government offices until the mid 1980s. After the offices were phased out of use, a group of former Excelsior students and community members rallied to save the building from demolition. First operated as the Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center in 2005, the museum obtained its current name in 2012. The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center's mission is to preserve and promote over 450 years of the African American story through the arts, educational programs, lectures, live performances and exhibits.
Exterior Photo #1
Exterior Photo #2
The kora is a stringed instrument tied closely to the cultures of West Africa. Found throughout modern-day Senegal, Mali, Gambia, and Guinea, the kora has been deeply embedded in Griot (Jali) culture for hundreds of years. The kora has deep roots as an instrument of storytelling and folklore in West Africa, and has been played by the same musical guilds since the 16th century.
Until recently, it was only played by men.
Artifact #2
Manillas are a form of money used in West Africa. They are particularly associated with the Atlantic slave trade. They're made of bronze or copper and were produced in large numbers in a wide range of designs, sizes, and weights. Originating before the colonial period, perhaps as the result of trade with the Portuguese Empire, Manillas continued to serve as money until the late 1940s and are currently still used as decoration in popular culture.
In Conversation Image #1
https://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=390139
A shrine dedicated to the Buffalo Soldiers reminded me of Bob Marley's song. “Buffalo Soldier” is a famous song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. The lyrics of the song recount the illustrious fight put up by the members of the legendary 10th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army during the American Indian Wars. The Buffalo Soldiers were established by the United States Congress in September 1866 and were famed both for their valor and for the fact that they were the first peacetime regiments made up of only black men in the United States Army. A main task of the Buffalo Soldiers was to protect the white men who settled on Native American lands. They protected these men from being attacked by the Native Americans.
In Conversation Image #2
https://www.floridashistoriccoast.com/blog/african-american-history-sea-floridas-historic-coast/
Much like the Buffalo Soldier shrine, there was a shrine dedicated to a black man named Frank B. Butler. He moved to St. Augustine in the early 1900's. He settled in the predominantly African-American area known as Lincolnville. At the time of Butler’s arrival, Lincolnville was a thriving community with its own commercial areas, churches and schools along with an arts and entertainment district. In 1914, at the young age of 29, Butler opened his own Palace Market adjacent to his home at 87 Washington Street. The financial success of the market, allowed him to get involved in real estate. Butler’s personality and business sense made him popular with many of the leaders of St. Augustine’s elite white society. As a result, he became privy to information about local foreclosures and other real estate opportunities. In 1925, he established the College Park Realty Company whose slogan was “Own Your Own Home: Pay Rent to Yourself and Provide for the Future.” Like his market, his real estate company was a great success. Selling to black St. Augustinians, Butler was known as a generous real estate salesman and landlord. At that time, Florida's beaches were for white use only. In 1927, Butler took action on the injustice and purchased oceanfront property on Anastasia Island. He eventually acquired a tract that stretched across the island from the Atlantic to the Matanzas River, and made it an African American beach called Butler Beach.
Passage/ Concept from ENG202
A passage from ENG202 that reminds me of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center is "We Aren't the Only Species" by Craig Santos Perez. The poem addresses the comparison of man to animal. Its goal is for us to acknowledge that we in fact aren't the only species. The poem is essentially a list of "who" followed by a verb, all being things that both us and animals do but we fail to compare them as equal to us. The comparison of this poem and the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center become evident as people neglect the fact that animals are equivalent to as just as St. Augustine fails to acknowledge civil rights and black history in this town are just as important as other parts of our history. It is by far one of the greatest impacts in our cities history and it is truly embarrassing that trolley tours don't even ride through Lincolnville. It again is the failure to acknowledge something extremely relevant and equal.
Creative Component
For my creative component, I decided to make a collage of popular recipes from the 1920's layered under a photo I found in the Palace Market shrine in the Lincolnville Museum. I made the black and white photo of African Americans in the Palace Market in the shape of an orange slice, representing produce in the market. The Palace Market was opened by Frank Butler. His reasonable prices, high quality goods, and free delivery services prospered Butler's business to the community. There he offered roasts, steaks, ham, sugar, milk, and other foodstuffs to St. Augustine's residents. I made this collage using recipes from an article titled "11 Scrumptious 1920s Recipes Straight From the South"and an app called Collage Maker for the orange slice and Photo Collage Maker PicJointer for the recipes in the background. I have used collage apps before, but neither of these two until I made this creative component.
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