St. Augustine—America’s oldest city, a precious place—speaks to us profoundly here in the year of our nation’s 250th birthday. This is a city named after an African saint, a person of color. It is a city that had the first freed community of former slaves on American soil, but it is also a city where slaves were brought to future America well ahead of 1619 (and its famed “Project”). It is a city that fought on both sides of the Civil War. It is a city that has, even now, an open-air pavilion in its central plaza known as the “Slave Market.” And it is a city that in 1964 became a violent battleground for civil rights, ... view more »
St. Augustine—America’s oldest city, a precious place—speaks to us profoundly here in the year of our nation’s 250th birthday. This is a city named after an African saint, a person of color. It is a city that had the first freed community of former slaves on American soil, but it is also a city where slaves were brought to future America well ahead of 1619 (and its famed “Project”). It is a city that fought on both sides of the Civil War. It is a city that has, even now, an open-air pavilion in its central plaza known as the “Slave Market.” And it is a city that in 1964 became a violent battleground for civil rights, involving Martin Luther King, the Ku Klux Klan, and an extraordinary cast of characters.
Original City, Original Sin is published by Cambridge University Press and available for purchase at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
“Martin Dobrow reveals St. Augustine as a crucible of the Civil Rights Movement, where national injustices met local courage. Told through the actions of everyday people and known heroes, he shows both the triumphs and challenges of answering history’s call. Woven with journalistic rigor and lyrical wonder, this is a timely and beautiful book.”
Ken Burns
ABOUT ORIGINAL CITY, ORIGINAL SIN
A Klan rally where four Black men were almost burned alive. A hotel manager pouring acid into a pool to chase out Black swimmers. Brutal assaults of peaceful demonstrators at the site of a former slave market downtown. A shooting into the cottage rented for Martin Luther King, Jr. Each form part of a rarely told and riveting story of civil rights in the nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida. At the height of his fame, King found his treasured doctrine of nonviolence challenged as never before-all as the fate of the Civil Rights Act, the most consequential legislation of the twentieth century, hung in the balance. In this intimate exploration based on hundreds of interviews, Martin Dobrow introduces an extraordinary collection of idealists-Black and white, young and old, gay and straight-who were drawn into the movement, putting their lives on the line for racial justice.
Learn more about Martin Dobrow and his publications at civilwriter.com.
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