First Congregation Sons of Israel

 St. Augustine, FL

April 7, 2022

The congregation was founded by Eastern European immigrants in the late 1800s and chartered by the State of Florida in 1908. Religious services were originally held in members' homes until the synagogue was completed in 1924. The stained glass windows were installed in 1958 by Rabbi Tarlinsky's three daughters. The Sanctuary was badly damaged in Hurricane Matthew and underwent extensive repairs to restore the beauty of the historic building.

First Congregation Sons of Israel

Artifact 1: Stained Glass Windows

The stained glass windows in the Sanctuary were obtained from a synagogue in Georgia that was being demolished. Rabbi Tarlinsky's daughters obtained them and had them installed in the Sanctuary in 1958. In 2013, Ken Hardeman, the great-grandson of the windows' original designer, restored the windows based on the original sketches of them.

Artifact 2: Star of David

Due to damage from Hurricane Matthew, the ceiling collapsed, causing the original chandelier to fall to the floor. The entire Sanctuary had to be restored, including the ceiling. A Flagler College student designed and installed the Star of David currently on the ceiling of the Sanctuary. 

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This is the Congregation Rodeph Sholom synagogue in Tampa. The architecture catches my eye every time my family drives down Bayshore Boulevard. I grew up surrounded by Jewish peers, so stepping into the First Congregation Sons of Israel synagogue felt like it was reconnecting me to some of my friends from home. 

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This is a picture of a dreidel, which is a four-sided top that Jewish kids play with during Hanukkah. As mentioned above, I grew up with a lot of Jewish friends and although I'm not Jewish, every holiday party before winter break, I spent hours playing dreidel with my friends. I still remember the words to the song, and I remember the joy of squabbling over gelt and the competitiveness we all took on every time the top would spin. 

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Literature in Conversation

"Not all of the people living within our neighborhood walls are Baptists, but those who need to go to church are glad to come to us."

-Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

This passage reminds me of the First Congregation Sons of Israel because it reflects how when there are limited choices, religious communities put aside differences and come together. There are various denominations of Judaism, and in bigger cities, there are typically synagogues that represent this, but when the First Congregation was founded, they were the only ones to from a congregation. They may not have all had the exact same beliefs or followed the same denomination had they been given the choice, but they came together and found a community in one another because ultimately, religion is a way that people build bonds between themselves and the greater world.

Creative Response

Boat Cushions - For the innovative reconstruction of the pews

Flood - For all the ordeals the Sanctuary has been through

Hardeman - For the family who designed and restored the stained glass windows

Bimah - For the bimah

Lightboard - For the lightboards at the back of the Sanctuary

Tarlinsky - For Rabbi Tarlinsky and his daughters

Star - For the Star of David and chandelier on the ceiling

Eternal Light - For the Eternal Light above the Ark

Restoration - For all the hard work put into keeping the Synagogue beautiful

Castillo de San Marcos

St. Augustine, FL

March 31, 2022

The Castillo de San Marcos is a National Park Service site that represents 450 years of United States history from the time the Spanish founded the first colony up to the present day. The fort is made of coquina stone and stands at the edge of the Oldest City, overlooking both the town and the water. The Castillo housed citizens of St. Augustine in 1702, during a siege by the British from Charles Town. It once again fell under siege by James Oglethorpe in 1740. The Castillo has only traded hands through treaty, never through conquest. The Castillo was also referred to as Fort Marion by the British. After the 1700s, the fort was used to incarcerate various groups of indigenous people. In more modern times, the fort was used by the Coast Guard for training and patrol during WWII.

Castillo De San Marcos

Artifact 1: Emergency Door

In the Castillo's original design, the area in the center of the photo was an emergency exit door. To distinguish where the door is, look for the trapezoid-shaped keystone, and the area beneath it is the door. The door was likely closed up by those who later used the Castillo and rebuilt the interior rooms.

Artifact 2: Hotshot Furnace

This device was used by soldiers to heat cannonballs that would set enemy ships on fire. First, a soldier would load many cannonballs into the furnace and tend to the coals. Second, they would wait for roughly 30 minutes until the cannonballs glowed red, and then remove them with a pair of tongs. Third, they would file them smooth and carry them to the seawall. Soldiers at the Castillo never used hotshot, though they did drill for it.

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This is a picture of the Spanish American War Memorial in Plant Park in Tampa. This old cannon reminds me of the cannons at the Castillo because it's also a well-maintained relic of past warfare. I was always amazed by the cannon when my family and I would go downtown, and when I first came to St. Augustine, I was amazed by the cannons at the fort. I grew up surrounded by historic artifacts, and I love that St. Augustine can evoke these memories in me.

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This is a drawing of Fort Mose, another Spanish settlement in the St. Augustine area. Fort Mose no longer stands as the Castillo does, but the current site commemorates the settlement's history. Fort Mose was the first free Black settlement in the US. Unfortunately, it wasn't preserved as the Castillo was because it wasn't made of coquina. The decay of Fort Mose versus the longevity of the Castillo demonstrates how important coquina is as a building material in St. Augustine.

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Literature in Conversation

"Our neighborhood is too small for us to play those kinds of games."

-Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

In the novel, Lauren and her entire neighborhood are forced to live inside walls to protect themselves from the violence outside. After reading this, the story of how all of St. Augustine had to pile into the Castillo to escape the British siege was more poignant than when I'd heard it before. The novel's first-person perspective puts the experience of living inside walls in more simple, emotional terms. The first section of the novel makes me more capable of imagining what the experience in the Castillo may have been like. 

Creative Response

Bay - For Matanzas Bay

Hotshot - For the hotshot furnace

Mortar - For the materials the Spanish used

Moss - For the moss growing on the fort

Ledger - For the ledger art

Coquina - For the unique building material

Marion - For when the Castillo was named Fort Marion

National Park Service - For the NPS and their care of the facility

Unconquered - For the fort that has never been taken in a military operation, despite many attempts

Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center

 St. Augustine, FL

April 5, 2022

The museum is in the Excelsior High School building, which was the first black public high school in St. John's County. Post-segregation, the building became home to government offices until the mid-80s, when it was meant to be demolished. The building became the Excelsior Museum and Culture Center in 2005, and it changed to its current name in 2012. The LMCC's mission is to "preserve, promote and perpetuate over 450 years of the African American story through the arts, educational programs, lectures, live performances and exhibits."

LMCC

Artifact 1: Tinted Photo of United States Colored Troops during the Civil War

This photo from the Civil War era was taken in front of the Castillo de San Marcos, which was called Fort Marion at the time. The Union Army's 10th Corps was organized in South Carolina and traveled throughout South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, where they arrived in St. Augustine in 1861. 

Artifact 2: Letter from the FBI to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This letter sits on a case that contains J. Edgar Hoover's boots. Hoover was the first director of the FBI, and he was known for his unethical and unlawful methods both on his way into office and during his time in office. This letter came in a package on November 21st, 1964, alongside a tape recording of the alleged sexual acts discussed in the letter. Coretta Scott King first received the package, which she then passed along to her husband. King believed the letter to be from the FBI, though it was anonymous, and he was correct as a copy of the letter remains in Hoover's confidential files. 

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This is a picture of visitors at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. The featured exhibit is a simulation of what a sit-in at a lunch counter would have been like for activists in the Civil Rights Era. The Woolworth's counter in the LMCC reminded me of this exhibit because sit-ins are one of the aspects of Civil Rights that schools teach most about. 

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This is an image from the Civil Rights documentary "Eyes on the Prize," which is a series made in 1986 about the Civil Rights Years. We watched it in my senior year history class, and I remember the firsthand accounts from those in the documentary and how they added to the narrative. The LMCC does a great job of personalizing the narratives it displays, as well as telling the less mainstream narrative of Civil Rights in St. Augustine as it's a location often left out of textbooks and documentaries such as "Eyes on the Prize."

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Literature in Conversation

"His father and my grand-father both assumed Yoruba surnames during the sixties."

- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

In this line of dialogue, Lauren, the novel's main character discusses how she finds comfort in another traveler because of a shared aspect of their identities. When people's identities are erased - as those of enslaved people brought to the US were - they find comfort in the identities they find and create for themselves. The LMCC helps people find an aspect of their identity and the city's identity that often goes unnoticed or suppressed.

Creative Response

Excelsior - For the school the building used to house

Vickers - For Barbara Vickers

Zora - For Zora Neale Hurston

King - For Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Pride - For Lincolnville's legacy

Lincolnville - For the rich area surrounding the museum

Foot Soldiers - For all those who contributed to the Civil Rights movement in St. Augustine

Jazz - For the contributions to jazz Lincolnville residents made

Twine - For the Twines

Lightner Museum

St. Augustine, FL

March 10, 2022

The Lightner Museum sits on King Street, just across from Flagler College. Named after its' founder, Otto C. Lightner, the museum houses artifacts that demonstrate various periods in art, architecture, and history. The building became a museum in 1948, but before that, the space was Henry Flagler's Alcazar Hotel. Currently, the museum houses several arts and geological exhibits and a café in the former swimming pool.

Lightner Museum

Artifact 1: "Woman on Garden Bench"

This lead and enameled glass window panel was likely created by the Rudy Brothers Glass Company in Pennsylvania around 1900. The company rivaled Tiffany with their drapery glass and human forms. The studio also trained other well-known glassmakers.

Artifact 2: Achilles and Patroclus

This statue is bronze, crafted by Edme Anthony Paul Noel around 1880. The Latin at the base translates to "one having been plucked, another is not lacking." The statue depicts the moment Achilles vows to get revenge after Patroclus is killed by Hector. The French origin of the piece suggests that it's an allusion to the French hope for revenge after they were defeated by Germany in Sudan.

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This is a picture of the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. It houses one of the largest collections of Dali's art and frequently hosts temporary exhibits from other artists. The museum itself is built to reflect the content and style of Dali's art. The Lightner Museum reminds me of this because the lavish exterior reflects the pristine, expensive artifacts housed inside. The architecture and features of museums are incredibly important in creating the atmosphere and immersing visitors in what they'll see inside.

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This is a picture of the Tiffany stained glass windows in Flagler College's dining hall. I love stained glass, as I grew up going to churches with intricate stained glass windows. The Lightner Museum housed a temporary exhibit of stained glass, much of which was from the Tiffany Company. The crisp geometric shapes in the Lightner's exhibit remind me of the ones in the dining hall, and I could stare at any stained glass forever.

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"Why do you imagine golden birds?   

Do you not see how the blackbird   

Walks around the feet   

Of the women about you?"

- "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens

This stanza discusses enjoying the beauty of the world around us rather than focusing on unattainable concepts of beauty. Otto Lightner collected a variety of artworks and historical objects, all because it happened to suit his taste. Most museums have a theme or focus (natural history, war history, local history, science, etc.), but the Lightner Museum is unique to me because it doesn't follow a particular theme, it simply displays objects and exhibits that pique people's curiosity.

Creative Response

Swimming Pool - For the iconic swimming pool in the center of the museum

Stained Glass - For my favorite exhibit when I visited

Gardens - For the beautiful gardens outside the museum

Alcazar - For the hotel's old name

Otto - For Mr. Lightner himself

Summer Home - For all the wealthy people who stayed at the hotel to escape the cold of their homes up north

Flagler - For Henry Flagler

Collector - For Lightner's legacy

Koi Pond - For the pond out front

Tolomato Cemetery

St. Augustine, FL

February 24, 2022

Tolomato cemetery houses around 1,000 deceased, all in less than one acre. It includes the oldest marked burial in the state of Florida, as well as burials from the First Spanish Period, British Period, Second Spanish Period, and Florida's time as US Territory. Those buried in Tolomato come from a variety of backgrounds, including Menorcan, Irish, Spanish, Cuban, African, and Haitian. There are also soldiers from both sides of the Civil War, buried just yards away from one another. The cemetery exemplifies St. Augustine's complex, diverse history.

Tolomato Cemetery

 

Artifact 1: Elizabeth Forester's Grave

Elizabeth Forester was the daughter of well-off merchants from the North. Her gravesite is the oldest marked burial in Florida. It's an above-ground crypt made from Georgia marble. Her grave was robbed for her clothes by Spanish soldiers from the Castillo de San Marco, prompting the building of the first fence around Tolomato Cemetery.

Artifact 2: Father Felix Varela's Mausoleum

Father Felix Varela was born in Cuba and brought to St. Augustine at an early age. He studied under Father Miguel O'Reilly, an Irish priest who studied in Spain (and who is also buried at Tolomato). He returned to Cuba at 14 to study for the priesthood and founded the first philharmonic orchestra in Havana. He was heavily involved in politics and supported women's rights, abolition, and Cuban independence. When he returned to the US, he worked in New York with Irish immigrants. He remained influential in Cuban politics throughout his life. In his mausoleum, everything is from Cuba. In the mausoleum's cornerstone, his speeches lie untouched in a lead box. His remains are not in the mausoleum but in Cuba.

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This image depicts guards standing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in the rain. The guards are known for their extraordinary commitment to their jobs, and the site commemorates all US service members whose remains have never been identified. Tolomato Cemetery made me think of this site because we unfortunately have nothing like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for Tolomato. There are so many buried there whose names we'll never know, but we have no visual marker for them. Every historical cemetery with unidentified remains should have a marker similar to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier because it's important to remember all those who came before, even if we cannot identify them.

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This image is a radar map of a suspected African American potter's field found on King High School's campus in Tampa. The survey estimates that there are about 145 graves in the area, all of them unmarked. This discovery was made while I was still living in Tampa, and it was very jarring to think about how many unmarked graves there must be under the entire city. Visiting Tolomato and hearing about the uncertainty of where graves are in St. Augustine reminded me of this case, and it made me wonder how many unknown graves there are around the world.

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ENG 202 Passage

"They explored the poles 

for offshore drilling. 

Once, we blocked them, 

In that we understood 

The risk of an oil spill

For a glacier."

- "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Glacier" by Craig Santos Perez

These lines evoke the idea of preservation as a reflection of cultural values. The lines refer to how people once chose to preserve the environment over their own comfort, but imply that our culture no longer values the environment as much as we value the comfort and wealth fossil fuels bring us. People in the past valued those with wealth and resources, which is why grave markers, a major form of preservation, were only accessible to the upper class. We can tell that historically, people in St. Augustine heavily valued the class system because there's a clear distinction in what classes are preserved and what classes are forgotten.

Creative Component

Marble - For the various types of marble the grave markers are made of

Spanish Moss - For the famous plant full of bugs that tourists love to grab when visiting

Varela - For Father Varela

Verot - For Bishop Verot

Unmarked - For all those who are buried and forgotten

Iron Gate - For the cemetery gates

Headstone - For all the headstones in the cemetery

James - For the young boy every ghost tour tells us to look for

Forester - For Elizabeth Forester

Oldest House Museum Complex

St. Augustine, FL

February 17, 2022

The Oldest House contains several pieces of St. Augustine's history curated by the St. Augustine Historical Society. Currently, the museum complex contains several exhibits. One collection contains several pieces of work from Richard Twine, a Black photographer known for his documentation of life in Lincolnville. The room with that exhibit also contains a collection of maps of the area over time. In the Tovar House, visitors can explore St. Augustine's history and culture around surfing, Marineland's history, and work from local artists. 

Oldest House Museum Complex

Artifact 1: Richard Twine's camera

This glass-plate camera belonged to Richard Twine. The Historical Society came into possession of it after someone found it discarded and decided to rescue the artifact and all the negatives along with it.

Artifact 2: Surfboard shaped by David Farina

This surfboard is one of many in the Surf Culture Museum. The museum contains unique oral histories from local surfers. From community involvement to the history of competitions to the rivalries between surfers and fishers, the Surf Culture Museum gives an intimate look at St. Augustine surfing.

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Image in Conversation 1

This image is a historical photo of the Winchester Mystery House or Winchester Mansion in San Jose, California. The house was built by Sarah Winchester from 1886 to 1922. The house has a reputation due to its strange features and extensive construction period. Many believe Sarah constructed the house this way to ward off the ghosts of those killed with Winchester rifles. The house's features remind me of the old photos of the Oldest House from when it was built in the Victorian style. The array of rooms and architecture reminds me of the way the Oldest House has bene modified so that every room displays a different era. 

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This image captures the Henry Moore's statue "King and Queen," located in the Hirshhorn Museum's statue garden. The statue takes the old concept of Egyptian statues and puts them in a modern style. All the statues in the garden are modern or abstract in nature, which sets the tone and expectations for what's inside the museum even if visitors don't enter. The statues in the Oldest House's garden do the same; they demonstrate the house's Victorian style and create the atmosphere of living in the past.

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Literature in Conversation

"Nothing in my room could be salvaged whole. Pieces of books survived."

- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

This passage refers to how the main character cannot salvage anything sentimental from her childhood home after it's burned down in an attack on her neighborhood. This passage reflects how preservation always involves destruction. Lauren (the main character) must choose what aspects of her life to preserve, but the only choices she can make are the aspects that will help her survive. Historians have to choose what to preserve, which means that some things will be lost and destroyed.

Creative Component

Indigo - For Professor Mongiovi's exhibit on indigo plantations

Brick - For the Victorian section of the house and the pathways

Spain - For the massive Spanish influence on the house and the city

Surf - For the Surf Culture Museum

Victorian - For my favorite period of architecture the house went through

Citrus - For Professor Mongiovi's exhibit on citrus plantations

Negatives - For Twine's photography

Gardens - For the gardens within the complex's walls

Brazier - For the brazier in the First Spanish Period section of the house

St. Photios Greek Orthodox Shrine

St. Augustine, FL
February 10, 2022

This shrine is the first national shrine of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the United States, named for St. Photios, who is revered for his scholarship. It commemorates the history of Greeks arriving in the New World, beginning in 1768. The shrine is housed in the reconstructed Avero house, which was originally built in 1702. The house had been a place of refuge for Greeks fleeing the New Smyrna colony, and in 1777, they were received here in St. Augustine by Governor Tonyn. The shrine's website lists several important events in modern history, including the shrine's consecration.

St. Photios Greek Orthodox Shrine

Artifact 1: Vestments gifted by Archbishop Iakovos

The vestments worn by Greek Orthodox Bishops draw inspiration from garments worn by the Byzantine Emperor. Each piece of the vestments has a distinct meaning, and must be put on in the correct order:

First, the tunic, a full-length robe that fastens at the neck and wrists. Second, the stole, which represents priestly power. Third, maniples, which are cuffs that fasten at the wrists. Fourth, genual, which goes on the right side, representing the purse of alms. Fifth, the imperial robe, which is the outer garment. Sixth, the omoforion, the symbol of the office of the bishop. Seventh, the cross. Eighth, the engolpion, the symbol of Mary. Ninth, the mitre, the crown that represents how Christian bishops became civil leaders after the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Finally, the staff, which represents his role as the shepherd of the flock.

Artifact 2: The St. Photios Shrine Cross

During the excavation of the Avero house, archaeologists unearthed a small wooden cross. It had three loops at the bottom, which is a unique feature of that particular artifact. Those holes represent the Holy Trinity. Archbishop Iakovos designated it as the St. Photios Shrine Cross in 1971.

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This image features Archbishop Elpidophoros during the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral's Epiphany Celebration. The Cathedral is in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and has one of the largest Epiphany Celebrations in the West. The celebration begins with a public church service, then moves outside to Spring Bayou where young men from the church dive for the cross. This image reminds me of the St. Photios Shrine because it's a large, public display of Greek culture and the Greek Orthodox religion that brings people together and educates them. 

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This image is of the Sistine Chapel, a chapel in Vatican City. The Sistine Chapel is best known for the intricate frescoes crafted by Michelangelo. These frescoes were commissioned by Pope Julius II and feature scenes from The Book of Genesis, along with Biblical figures. The most famous image of the Sistine Chapel is God reaching for Adam in the Creation of Man. This image reminds me of the iconography in the St. Photios Shrine because it's intricate and sets the tone for the space. Iconography in religious spaces is key in showing those who enter what the space's values are.

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Literature in Conversation

"We perceive and attend God.

We learn from God.

With forethought and work,

We shape God."

- The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

This passage comes from the novel's main character, Lauren, as she begins to develop her religious ideology. This passage reminds me of the St. Photios Shrine because of the iconography. While we can study history and know about the human figures in the Bible, we are responsible for shaping our images of God and angels. Every sect of Christianity has its own interpretation of the Bible, yet common images of Biblical stories emerge. Humans shape their images of God based on their perceptions of his work and the world.

Creative Component

Minorcan - In honor of those who survived the tragedy at New Smyrna and made their way to St. Augustine

Averos - The namesake of the house

Archaeology - The site is important both as a shrine and a historical site

Relic - For the relic housed in the shrine

Iakovos - For Archbishop Iakovos and his contributions to the shrine

Candles - For the offering stations

Gold - For the gold in the iconography

Saint - For the shrine's namesake