St. Augustine in St. Johns County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

5480 Atlantic View

ACCORD Freedom Trail

Photographed by Mrs. Shirley Williams-Galvin, March 5, 2011

1. 5480 Atlantic View Marker

The marker includes a photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pointing to the bullet hole in the window.

Inscription.

5480 Atlantic View. ACCORD Freedom Trail. , This beach cottage attracted international attention in 1964, and a photograph taken here of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pointing to a bullet hole in the window has become one of the iconic images of the civil rights movement. It was the winter home of Dr. Cyril M. Canright (1894-1965) and his wife Winifred (1898-1995), who taught as missionaries in China in the 1920s and 1930s and later made their home in New Jersey. They were supporters of the civil rights movement. They made their beach house available to Dr. King when he came here with his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) at the urging of Dr. Robert B. Hayling and the St. Augustine movement in May 1964. The mass campaign led to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964., SCLC staffers Dorothy Cotton, Rev. C.T. Vivian, and Harry Boyte visited or stayed here, but Dr. King had not yet spent a night in the house when the local newspaper ran directions to it on the front page, and segregationists attacked it. They shot up the house on May 28, 1964, and then attempted to burn it on May 30. On June 8, they smashed the windows and furniture, painted racist graffiti inside, and firebombed it. All of these events were widely reported around the country, and increased public pressure to do away with racial segregation., Dr. Canright passed away the next year, but Mrs. Canright continued up into her 90s to work for prison reform and other causes in New Jersey. She was honored there by the naming of the Winifred Canright House in Asbury Park, which provides housing for people with HIV/AIDS who might otherwise be homeless., Gay and Kathleen Welborn from Gainesville, Florida, put the heavily damaged house back into livable condition. They made their home here while running businesses on St. George Street in downtown St. Augustine. Mrs. Welborn was also a nurse at Flagler Hospital. When she passed away in 2009 at the age of 93, she was the senior member of the local Altrusa Club., This house has been featured, as a civil rights landmark, in newspaper stories, books, television programs, and in Clennon King's 2004 movie "Slave Market Diary."

This beach cottage attracted international attention in 1964, and a photograph taken here of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pointing to a bullet hole in the window has become one of the iconic images of the civil rights movement. It was the winter home of Dr. Cyril M. Canright (1894-1965) and his wife Winifred (1898-1995), who taught as missionaries in China in the 1920s and 1930s and later made their home in New Jersey. They were supporters of the civil rights movement. They made their beach house available to Dr. King when he came here with his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) at the urging of Dr. Robert B. Hayling and the St. Augustine movement in May 1964. The mass campaign led to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

SCLC staffers Dorothy Cotton, Rev. C.T. Vivian, and Harry Boyte visited or stayed here, but Dr. King had not yet spent a night in the house when the local newspaper ran directions to it on the front page, and segregationists attacked it. They shot up the house on May 28, 1964, and then attempted to burn it on May 30. On June 8, they smashed the windows and furniture, painted

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racist graffiti inside, and firebombed it. All of these events were widely reported around the country, and increased public pressure to do away with racial segregation.

Dr. Canright passed away the next year, but Mrs. Canright continued up into her 90s to work for prison reform and other causes in New Jersey. She was honored there by the naming of the Winifred Canright House in Asbury Park, which provides housing for people with HIV/AIDS who might otherwise be homeless.

Gay and Kathleen Welborn from Gainesville, Florida, put the heavily damaged house back into livable condition. They made their home here while running businesses on St. George Street in downtown St. Augustine. Mrs. Welborn was also a nurse at Flagler Hospital. When she passed away in 2009 at the age of 93, she was the senior member of the local Altrusa Club.

This house has been featured, as a civil rights landmark, in newspaper stories, books, television programs, and in Clennon King's 2004 movie "Slave Market Diary."

Erected 2009 by Northrop Grumman Corporation and ACCORD.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans

Photographed by Mrs. Shirley Williams-Galvin, March 5, 2011

2. 5480 Atlantic View Marker

• Civil Rights • Notable Events. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1964.

Location. 29° 47.61′ N, 81° 15.611′ W. Marker is in St. Augustine, Florida, in St. Johns County. It is on Atlantic View Avenue north of Sea Oats Road, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5480 Atlantic View Avenue, Saint Augustine FL 32080, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in First Coast

and in Greater Jacksonville.

It is also in the American South

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Frank B. Butler (approx. half a mile away); Butler's Beach (approx. half a mile away); a different marker also named Butler's Beach (approx.

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half a mile away); a different marker also named Frank B. Butler (approx. half a mile away); Canopy Shores History (approx. 2.7 miles away); a different marker also named Canopy Shores History (approx. 2.7 miles away); VFW Memorial (approx. 3.6 miles away); Veterans Memorial (approx. 4.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in St. Augustine.

More about this marker. This marker was placed on the 40th Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations, Inc. (ACCORD)

Also see . . . The ACCORD Freedom Trail. Website homepage (Submitted on March 6, 2011, by Gwendolyn Duncan of St. Augustine, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on September 20, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 6, 2011, by Gwendolyn Duncan of St. Augustine, Florida. This page has been viewed 2,334 times since then and 51 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 6, 2011, by Gwendolyn Duncan of St. Augustine, Florida. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.