Peaceful Protest for Civil Rights

At this location on June 9th, 1964, Civil Rights Movement Leader Andrew Young led a march from Lincolnville to the Plaza de la Constitucion where they met violent opposition. Young had been sent to St. Augustine by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. a close friend and fellow advocate, to organize a peaceful protest for human rights. When Young led the group of demonstrators across the street to this location he was beaten by a large white mob that had been waiting for the marchers to arrive.

Young recalls being struck down several times in the melee. The activists, being true to Dr. King's non-violent strategy walked away. Civil rights historians agree that this was one of the pivotal events that eventually lead to the passage of the Civil Rights legislation. National press coverage of the protests in 1964 helped break Congress' filibuster on the Civil Rights Act vote. On July 2nd, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Bill into law.

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Show me all markers in:  Saint Augustine, FL  |  St. Johns County  |  32084  |  Florida  |  United States of America

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