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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Image in Conversation 1

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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Image in Conversation 1

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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Image in Conversation 1

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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Image in Conversation 2

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