Florida Catholic | Florida’s Black Heritage Trail

Catholicism on Florida’s Black Heritage Trail

Published: 02.15.08

Florida officials in the early 1990s began identifying landmarks around the state that are important to the history and culture of African-Americans and publishing a listing known as the “Florida Black Heritage Trail Guide.” The latest edition of the guidebook, published last year, lists six sites of special significance to Catholic as well as black Floridians. These excerpts are reprinted with permission of the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources and Visit Florida. For further information, call 1-800-847-7278 or visit www.flheritage.com.

ST. BENEDICT THE MOOR CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SCHOOL

78 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Augustine

Photo Courtey of Diocese of St. Augustine

The block of property in the Lincolnville district is owned by the Catholic Church and contains historic buildings important to St. Augustine’s African-American heritage. It was part of the Yallaha orange grove plantation before the Civil War and was conveyed to the church by the Dumas family in 1890.

The first building constructed in 1898 was the school, originally called St. Cecelia, later St. Benedict. It is the oldest surviving brick schoolhouse in St. Augustine. With a tower and original wraparound porch, it is a landmark of Victorian architecture. It was the gift of St. Katharine Drexel, a wealthy Philadelphia heiress who founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People and established more than 60 Catholic parochial schools around the country. The Sisters of St. Joseph, who came from Le Puy, France, in 1866, operated the school. They were involved in a civil rights case in 1916, when three sisters were arrested for violating a 1913 Florida law that made it a criminal offense for whites to teach black children.

St. Benedict the Moor Church, on the north end of the property, designed by Savannah architects Robinson and Reidy, was completed in 1911. The rectory was built in 1915 and housed the Josephite Fathers from Baltimore, who pastored here for many years. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited the rectory in 1964.

ST. RITA’S BLACK HISTORY MUSEUM

314 N. Duss St., New Smyrna Beach

Florida Catholic | File

The Old Sacred Heart/St. Rita (Colored) Mission Church building, constructed in 1899, was one of the few houses of worship for black Roman Catholics in this area and the only one left standing. Moved to this site, the building now houses exhibits with more than 100 replicas of African-American inventions, Florida East Coast Railway artifacts and photographs from Chisholm High School, the first black school in Volusia County.

ST. PETER CLAVER SCHOOL

1401 Governor St., Tampa

Photo Courtesy of St Peter Claver School

St. Peter Claver is the oldest black school, public or private, still functioning in Hillsborough County. Opened Feb. 2, 1894, it was destroyed by arson 10 days later.

The Catholic Church rebuilt the school one year later at its present location, in what was then called “The Scrubs” area. Nuns faced persecution by authorities in 1916 when they continued to teach black students, but were cleared because the school was privately operated.

KEY WEST CEMETERY

Windsor Lane, Key West

Frank E. Adams, a black man, was the first law enforcement officer in the Keys to be killed in the line of duty. Adams carried a gun and a badge as a deputy sheriff when few blacks in the nation held such jobs. Adams died Oct. 7, 1901, and was buried the next day. The location of his grave remained a mystery until it was discovered that Adams was not buried in the traditional black section of the cemetery because he was Catholic.

GRACIA REAL DE SANTA TERESA DE MOSE (FORT MOSE)

Saratoga Boulevard, two miles north of St. Augustine, off U.S. 1

In 1693, King Charles II of Spain decreed runaway slaves were to be given sanctuary in his colonies. Black fugitives from the British colonies made their way south and fought against a British retaliatory attack on St. Augustine. In 1728, the territorial governor abolished the slave market and freed any remaining soldiers who were slaves.

Ten years later, Gov. Don Manuel de Montiano established Fort Mose as the first free black settlement in North America and the northernmost outpost protecting the capital of Spanish Florida. The Spanish encouraged enslaved Africans to flee British settlements in the Carolinas, promising freedom if they converted to Catholicism.

Fort Mose was a diverse community made up of people from widely varied backgrounds: Mandingos, Congos, Carabalis, Minas, Gambas, Lecumis, Sambas, Gangas, Araras and Guineans.

The fort and village were abandoned in 1763 and for more than 175 years the remains of this first free black town lay forgotten in a salt marsh north of St. Augustine. Although nothing remains of the fort, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994 and is a tangible reminder of the people who often lost their lives in the struggle to attain freedom.

A festival is held annually to re-enact the journey to freedom.

OLD CITY CEMETERY

Bounded by East Union, Jessie and Washington streets, Jacksonville

Opened in 1852 on land donated by steamboat captain Charles Wiley, the Old City Cemetery was the primary burial ground for Jacksonnville’s pre-1880 residents. Sections were designated for Freedmen, confederate soldiers, Jews, Masons and Catholics.

Members of Jacksonville’s pioneer black families, such as Clara and Eartha M.M. White, are interred here.

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