Fort Mose: In St. Augustine, Fla., a celebration of black history

"One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to

obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility

to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that


'an unjust law is no law at all.'"

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Letter From a Birmingham Jail"

April 16, 1963

St. Augustine is not only the patron saint of theologians such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., but also the namesake of the oldest city in the U.S. And in 1964, as St. Augustine prepared to celebrate its 400th anniversary, the famed civil rights leader came here to denounce racial segregation.

"We're preparing for a long, hot summer [across the country], and we see our push here in St. Augustine as a purifying prelude," King told supporters that June.

Racial tension was near the boiling point that summer in this charming community on the Atlantic. Black marchers carrying placards saying, "Let us all see eye to eye" and "I'm an American, also" were greeted by white crowds who hurled jeers and bottles at the protestors and waved signs saying, "Don't jive with my freedom" and "Kill [the] Civil Rights Bill."

Ironically, blacks seeking civil rights had found those rights here more than 200 years earlier. As visitors discover, the roots of equality were planted in St. Augustine in 1738.

In the 18th century, the nation's first underground railroad didn't move escaped slaves north. Instead, they traveled south from plantations in the Carolinas to St. Augustine, where Spanish settlers at Ft. Mose granted liberty to the 100 or so who survived the arduous journey.

"There was no I-95 or U.S. 1," says Thomas Jackson, a leader of the Fort Mose Historical Society. "You had palmetto bushes, bobcats, alligators — all of that along the way."

Each February (Feb. 12 this year), Jackson dons a white, ruffled shirt, scarlet leggings and a royal blue tunic to portray a captain in the Mose Militia, an all-black unit created to protect the Spanish stronghold. The reenactment of the so-called Flight to Freedom takes place at the state historic park where the fort once stood.

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PLANNING YOUR TRIP

THE BEST WAY TO ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.

From LAX, Southwest offers direct service (stop, no change of plane) to Jacksonville, Fla., about 47 miles from St. Augustine. Delta, Continental, American, US Airways, AirTran, Southwest and Jet Blue offers connecting service (change of planes). Restricted round-trip fares begin at $248.

WHAT TO DO

This year's "Flight to Freedom" living history event takes place Feb. 12 at Ft. Mose Historic State Park, (904) 823-2232, http://www.floridastateparks.org/fortmose. Admission is $4 a car.