ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Tuesday marks 60 years since the hotel manager of Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine poured acid in a pool filled with African American Civil Rights activists trying to desegregate the pool.
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society held its eleventh annual recognition of the largest mass arrest of rabbis, which also happened at the Monson Motor Lodge on June 18, 1964.
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The gathering was held at the Hilton Historic Bayfront, which is on the site where the Monson Motor Lodge once stood.
Sixteen rabbis and one administrator were arrested at the Monson Motor Lodge. According to a St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society plaque that commemorates the arrests, the clergy came to march “in protest for Civil Rights at the request of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
That’s because it’s also where African American Civil Rights activists jumped into the pool in protest of the refusal to serve King and others lunch.
RELATED: Civil Rights History: Remembering the Monson Motor Lodge Protest 60 years later
Photos from 1964 show the hotel manager pouring acid around the pool filled with black activists.
Last year, on the 59th anniversary of the historic moment, Action News Jax talked to the daughter of one of the women who made history.
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“Because she was a black woman, you know, you could have guests here, your guests could stay here, but they can’t use the facilities, they can’t swim, they can’t be in the diner,” Cheryl Jones said.
The coordinator of Tuesday’s event, Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, said, “Our faith and Judaism requires us to not stand idly by the blood of our neighbors and for us not to do justice, but pursue justice.”
Shapiro said he encourages people to stand up against injustice like these brave activists did.
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“We need to go forth seek out injustice and fix it. Let’s make a just world,” Shapiro said.
The Monson Motor Lodge was demolished in 2003 and is now the Hilton Historic Bayfront.
While in jail, the rabbis wrote a letter called, “Why we went to St. Augustine.”
PHOTOS: Remembering the Monson Motor Lodge protest 60 years later
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