Inscription
This house was built in the 1920s and purchased a decade later by Jutson Ayers, who worked as an alligator wrestler for a quarter of a century at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm before his death in 1958. His widow, Mrs. Rena Ayers, gave important support to the civil rights movement of the 1960s by providing lodging for out-of-towners who came here to support the movement.
In March 2005, when she was 100 years old, Mrs. Ayers had a visit from one of those she had hosted 41 years before. He was Alvin J. Bronstein, an attorney who had come to St. Augustine in August 1964 with the idea of spending his two week summer vacation aiding the movement with his legal skills. Instead, he wound up spending the next four years as staff counsel for the Lawyers' Constitutional Defense Committee (LCDC), handling important civil rights cases in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana (including getting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. out of jail in Mississippi). He was one of many people whose lives were deeply influenced by their time in St. Augustine.
On his 2005 return, he walked through the front door of this house pointed to the left and said, "That's my room".
When the U.S. Postal Service issued a set of stamps, commemorating the Freedom Movement in August 2005, Mrs. Ayers was honored as one of the legendary "Housemothers of the Civil Rights Movement" in St. Augustine.
This Historical Marker Presented this 2nd day of July, 2008 by Northrop Grumman Corporation.
In March 2005, when she was 100 years old, Mrs. Ayers had a visit from one of those she had hosted 41 years before. He was Alvin J. Bronstein, an attorney who had come to St. Augustine in August 1964 with the idea of spending his two week summer vacation aiding the movement with his legal skills. Instead, he wound up spending the next four years as staff counsel for the Lawyers' Constitutional Defense Committee (LCDC), handling important civil rights cases in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana (including getting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. out of jail in Mississippi). He was one of many people whose lives were deeply influenced by their time in St. Augustine.
On his 2005 return, he walked through the front door of this house pointed to the left and said, "That's my room".
When the U.S. Postal Service issued a set of stamps, commemorating the Freedom Movement in August 2005, Mrs. Ayers was honored as one of the legendary "Housemothers of the Civil Rights Movement" in St. Augustine.
This Historical Marker Presented this 2nd day of July, 2008 by Northrop Grumman Corporation.
Details
| HM Number | HMBQH |
|---|---|
| Series | This marker is part of the Florida: St. Augustine Freedom Trail series |
| Tags | |
| Year Placed | 2008 |
| Placed By | The 40th Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations, Inc |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Friday, September 19th, 2014 at 12:41am PDT -07:00 |
Pictures
Photo Credits: [1] HALDOCK
Locationbig map
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 17R E 469469 N 3306199 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 29.88603333, -81.31618333 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 29° 53.162', W 81° 18.971' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 29° 53' 9.72" N, 81° 18' 58.26" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 904 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 120 De Haven St, St Augustine FL 32084, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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Show me all markers in: St Augustine, FL | St Johns County | 32084 | Florida | United States of America
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