1619 - 2019: Commemorating 400 Years of African American History
Museum MeetUps
Let's meet at the museum! Current SJR State students, faculty, and staff are welcome to explore these local treasures on the date and time provided below for free! Transportation to and from the event is not provided.
The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens
Artist Augusta Savage was born in Green Cove Springs in 1892 and there is currently an exhibit of nearly 80 of her sculptures, paintings, and other works at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville. As part of the College’s events commemoration of 400 Years of African American History, on Friday, April 5, at 1pm, we are sponsoring a “Museum MeetUp” at the Cummer to see her work, and all SJR State students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend!
Humanities professor Cristy Furr will be joining us and leading our tour of the exhibit.
We will meet-up at the entrance of the Cummer at 1:00 p.m. SJR State students who have their College ID or schedule and meet our group at 1:00 p.m. will get in for free and receive a commemorative t-shirt!
The catalog that accompanies this exhibition, Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman, is available for check-out at the Palatka Campus Library.
Event Date and Location
April 5 at 1:00 p.m.
The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens
829 Riverside Avenue
Jacksonville, 32204.
Lincolnville
Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center
102 M L King Avenue
St. Augustine, FL, 32084
Meet & Greet with the Highwaymen
Meet & Greet with the Highwaymen
On June 1, several of the original Highwaymen will be at the Orange County Regional History Center for a meet & greet. Visitors are welcome to drop in from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to meet the artists and view works currently for sale. Tickets to this event are free and available online. Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!
This event is on a Saturday and is not a College-sanctioned student field trip. As with our other Museum MeetUps, transportation to and from this event is not being provided by the College for students.
Related event: The Road Well Traveled: Celebrating the Art and History of Florida’s Highwaymen - An exhibit at St. Johns River State College
Pictured: some of SJR State's Museum MeetUp attendees with Al Black.
Ritz Theatre and Museum
The Ritz Theatre and Museum was constructed in 1999 on the site of the 1929 Ritz Theater movie house in Jacksonville’s historic African American community of La Villa. During La Villa’s height of activity in the 1920s -1960s, it was known as the “Harlem of the South.”
About the museum: "The Ritz Museum connects and celebrates our rich African American heritage through the stories of some of our greatest Floridians. Listen to Jacksonville’s native sons, James Weldon and John Rosamond Johnson tell you how their song Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing became the African American National Anthem. Peek into Clara White’s Mission. Feel the vibe of the “Harlem of the South” nightclub in the 1940’s. Find your relative or neighbor in the society photographs of Ellie L. Weems. Experience a sit in at the Woolworth’s counter as the Civil Rights Protestors did in the 1960’s.
Reflecting on the triumphs and tribulations in our past guides our own personal stories and gives us a road map for our collective future. Please join us on our path of discovery."
Current SJR State students who bring their SJR State student ID or schedule as well as current SJR State faculty & staff will receive free admission to the museum and a commemorative t-shirt!
Staff from the museum will conduct a group tour for us. If you need an interpreter, please email Dr. Will at least 1 week before the event.
Due to the size of the museum, this event is limited to 50 people. This is a ticketed event. Reserve your ticket now.
Ritz Theatre and Museum
829 North Davis Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Space is limited - reserve your ticket now
Related resources: Learn about the Johnson Brothers and their famous song, Lift Every Voice and Sing, before or after our visit.
Ritz Theatre & Museum Photo Gallery
Fort Mose
"Established in 1738, Fort Mose was the first free black settlement in what is now the United States. Located just north of St. Augustine, Florida, Fort Mose played an important role in the development of colonial North America." - Fort Mose Historical Society
Current SJR State students who bring their SJR State student ID or schedule as well as current SJR State faculty & staff will receive free admission to the park and a commemorative t-shirt!
Staff from the park will conduct a group tour for us. If you need an interpreter, please email Dr. Will at least 1 week before the event.
Event Date and Location
October 11 at 1:00 p.m. at the Visitor's Center
15 Fort Mose Trail
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Please get a free ticket online to reserve a spot on the guest list
Books may be checked out by community patrons as well as SJR State students faculty and staff. If a title is located at another campus, the book may be sent to another campus upon request.
Fort Mose: colonial America's Black fortress of freedom by Call Number: Palatka and St. Augustine -- F319.F734 D43 1995ISBN: 9780813013527Publication Date: 1995-05-20"In 1738, when more than 100 African fugitives had arrived, the Spanish established the fort and town of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first legally sanctioned free black community in what is now the United States." "This book tells the story of Fort Mose and the people who lived there. It challenges the notion of the American black experience as simply that of slavery, offering instead a rich and balanced view of the African-American experience in the Spanish colonies from the arrival of Columbus to the American Revolution."--BOOK JACKET.
Fort Mose : Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose : a free Black town in Spanish Colonial Florida by Call Number: Palatka and St. Augustine -- F319.S2 L36 1992Publication Date: 1992
Fort Mose: and the story of the man who built the first free black settlement in colonial America by Call Number: St. Augustine Children's Books -- F319 .F734 T87 2010ISBN: 9780810940567Publication Date: 2010-09-01"Follows the history of slavery from West Africa to America, recounts what daily life was like, and describes the founding of the Spanish colonies." - publisher
El Norte: the epic and forgotten story of Hispanic North America by Call Number: St. Augustine and Orange Park -- E40 .G53 2019ISBN: 9780802127020Publication Date: 2019-02-05"Because of our shared English language, as well as the celebrated origin tales of the Mayflower and the rebellion of the British colonies, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, the nation has much older Spanish roots--ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims by a century, and has been every bit as important in shaping the nation as it exists today. El Norte chronicles the sweeping and dramatic history of Hispanic North America from the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century to the present--from Ponce de Leon's initial landing in Florida in 1513 to Spanish control of the vast Louisiana territory in 1762 to the Mexican-American War in 1846 and up to the more recent tragedy of post-hurricane Puerto Rico and the ongoing border acrimony with Mexico. Interwoven in this stirring narrative of events and people are cultural issues that have been there from the start but which are unresolved to this day: language, belonging, community, race, and nationality. Seeing them play out over centuries provides vital perspective at a time when it is urgently needed. In 1883, Walt Whitman meditated on his country's Spanish past: 'We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents, and sort them, to unify them,' predicting that 'to that composite American identity of the future, Spanish character will supply some of the most needed parts.' That future is here, and El Norte, a stirring and eventful history in its own right, will make a powerful impact on our national understanding"-- Provided by publisher.
Celebration • Education • Reflection
H.R.1242/Public Law 115-102, the 400 Years of African American History Commission Act, establishes 2019 as a year of "commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Africans in the English colonies, at Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1619." The commemoration is intended “to recognize and highlight the resilience and contributions of African-Americans since 1619; to acknowledge the impact that slavery and laws that enforced racial discrimination had on the United States; and to educate the public about the arrival of Africans in the United States; and the contributions of African-Americans to the United States.” In recognition of this commemoration and with the Act serving as a guide, the SJR State Library has organized a year-long series of events that will provide educational experiences and resources to students and the community that celebrate the history and culture of African Americans.
Site created and maintained by Dr. Christina Will. Pages will be added and maintained throughout 2019.
Maintenance will cease at the end of 2019 but this site will remain accessible.