Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center
By Amy Howard
Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center
102 Martin Luther King Ave.
St. Augustine, FL 32084
(904) 824-1191
HOURS: Tuesday - Thursday 12 PM - 5 PM
Excelsior
Cultural Center Web Site
Excelsior School was St. Augustine's first black public high school.
Its historic building is now a growing cultural center showcasing the city's
rich African-American history.
Excelsior Presents Lincolnville
Since its establishment after the Civil War by freed slaves,
Lincolnville has lived every phase of America's racial journey. What began as a
cluster of plantation squatter shacks known as 'Africa' eventually boasted the
city's largest collection of Victorian homes. In 1991, the U.S. Department of
Interior listed Lincolnville in the National Register of Historic Places. The
following year, the tour trains added a Lincolnville leg to their route. But for
all its significance, by 2005, there was still no public facility for visitors
to really learn about this vital component of St. Augustine's history.
The Friends of Excelsior are changing that. In 2005, St. Augustine's
first black public high school was re-invented as Excelsior Museum and Cultural
Center. The historic doors open today onto displays of the city's African-American
heritage: when runaway slaves from Carolina built Fort Mose, America's first free black
town; when the Civil War freed American slaves; when Black Code laws allowed
unjustified arrest and re-enslavement; when black entrepreneurs created a thriving
black business district; when black students learned in black-only schools and
went on to achieve great things; when black and white activists fought the
terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan; when Martin Luther King made St. Augustine the
final straw in America's civil rights movement. Excelsior Museum is a place for
people to see St. Augustine through the eyes of the town's foremost
African-American community.
Excelsior School
The site where Excelsior now stands held segregated black schools
since 1901. Up to 1921, it was St. Augustine's only black school, called "School
#2" or "Colored School." By 1919, the thriving black community had outgrown the
worn, wooden building and began to petition the St. Johns County School Board to
build a new school for Negro children. When the school board could not find budget
room for a new building, local black residents raised $750 and presented it to the
school board with a request for funding to repair the old school. Their request
was rejected again.
After five years of rejections, the school board finally approved
funding for a new building. But not just any building. St. Augustine's leading
architect, Fred Henderich, was hired to design a lasting masonry structure. A New
York City native, Henderich had lived and worked in St. Augustine for twenty years.
The area's natural resources inspired him to bring the Mediterranean Revival style
to Florida, which he used to design the Plaza Bandstand, Flagler Hospital, Florida
Normal College, Hastings High School, the Visitors Center, and in 1925, Excelsior
School. Excelsior's impressive structure was completed just as construction began
on the historic Bridge of Lions.
The elegant new building became Lincolnville's main educational and
community center for the next fifty years. The campus evolved through variations of
the name "Colored School" before it became "Excelsior" in 1928. Excelsior reared
many of St. Augustine's top educators, nurses, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and
athletes, including NFL star Willie Gallimore and civil rights leaders Henry and
Kat Twine. Some of these people are still around to share their memories of
Lincolnville's glory days.
In 1968, Excelsior retired as a school and spent some thirty years
housing a variety of local government offices. The building's historical value was
widely recognized when Lincolnville was listed in the National Register of Historic
Places in 1991. In the past decade, residents and city officials have been working
through ways to renovate the building into a cultural center.
Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center
Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center opened in 2005 thanks to the
efforts of the Friend of Excelsior.
In the museum, visitors can browse the rich cultural heritage of the
Lincolnville community. Sections are dedicated to historic black churches,
activities of Martin Luther King, black historical and social societies, and
various business entrepreneurs. On proud display is Kat Twine's Freedom Hat, the
sign board saved from the demolished Monson Motor Lodge, and the delightfully
dilapidated piano that Ray Charles played at the School for the Deaf and Blind.
Likewise, Lincolnville's older residents can wander through rooms of
memories, both joyful and painful, thanks to donated memorabilia. They can see
pictures of their teachers and classmates, and exciting media prints of those who
achieved success both great and small. Local artwork dons the walls.
In addition to the museum, Excelsior school has returned to some of its
original purpose in educating the community. Retired St. Augustine teacher Barbara
Smith coordinates Excelsior's Learning Center. She offers free after-school tutoring
and homework help. Children and adults can use the center's books, reading room,
computers, and internet access. Elderly folks can come there for a basic computer
class. The center also hosts a family fun day and launches a Freedom Trail black
history tour.
Friends of Excelsior
The Friends of Excelsior is nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing
and protecting the historic school. The group is governed by a board of directors
led by Lincolnville native Mr. Otis Mason. After graduating from Excelsior, Mason
went on to graduate from Florida A&M and then New York University, plus served in
the Korean War. In his lifetime of service to America and the local community, Mason
spent eighteen years as supervisor of St. Johns County's elementary schools.
Dalonja Duncan is the center's manager. Her grandfather appears in the
Shriners exhibit there. Some Excelsior students, such as Gabriel Holiday and Fannie
Willis, have returned to their childhood school to volunteer their time in sharing
Lincolnville's story. As more people recognize Excelsior Museum's existence and
critical value to St. Augustine, more residents will donate memorabilia to share with
the public.
Excelsior's Mission Statement
"We believe that the basic purpose of Excelsior is to provide a
historically significant edifice to support the preservation of a rich cultural
heritage of the Lincolnville community, by housing comprehensive programs to help
prepare all who seek its services for fuller participation in society. We believe
that all programs and activities of Excelsior should enrich the lives of all and
raise their levels of aspiration and accomplishment to promote the social, economic,
cultural, moral and ethical development of the Lincolnville Community, serving as a
stimulus to learning and providing services to St. Johns County at large.
"Self-reliance, open access, equal opportunity, expanded learning,
cultural awareness and historical enlightenment will become the paradigm of Excelsior.
These virtues, we believe, will help all individuals make a worthwhile contribution to
the society in which they live. Our open door policy will enable all to avail
themselves of the multi-faceted opportunities Excelsior provides. Lives will be
refurbished, attitudes reshaped, skills honed, spiritualities atoned, goals measured. . .
a renaissance of a proud culture awakened to its full potential."
Last modified 10-15-08. | 
Lincolnville history and more.
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