Veterans Day 2024 Social Media Series: 11 Days of Honor
During the first 11 days of November 2024, the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center participated in a social media campaign called “11 Days of Honor.” Our goal in sharing these daily posts about African American Military history was to celebrate the centuries of Black veterans who served.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to stay up-to-date about our events and future posting campaigns!
Day 1: The Holiday's Origins
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Day 1: The Holiday's Origins 〰️
(Originally posted November 1st, 2024)
Much like the USA, the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center owes its existence to veterans past and present – our founders, volunteers, and board members alike.
Starting today, we’re kicking off a campaign entitled “11 Days of Honor.” Our goal is to celebrate local veterans and educate our followers about St. Augustine’s African American Military History.
But why 11 days? Well, some of our followers may already know …
Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I on November 11th, 1918 at 11:00 a.m. – the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month. The USA’s most prominent Veterans Day celebration is still held in the Arlington National Cemetery at the Tomb of the Unknowns (pictured). This site is now a symbol for our country’s fallen soldiers – though many are unnamed in our history books, their stories have shaped our country.
Day 2: Founding Members of Lincolnville
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Day 2: Founding Members of Lincolnville 〰️
(Originally posted November 2nd, 2024)
Today, we are commemorating the service of the USCT (U.S. Colored Troops) in St. Augustine. Throughout the Civil War, many Black men from St. Johns County joined the war efforts as Union soldiers. Regiments of all-Black troops also guarded St. Augustine, with infantrymen from Philadelphia and Massachusetts guarding the Castillo de San Marcos, City Gate, and the Government House.
Lincolnville was founded in 1866 by veterans of the Civil War and their families. They built homesites from the western bank of the Maria Sanchez Creek, and all the way west to the San Sebastian River. This area is now designated as the Lincolnville Historic District. Some of the early Lincolnville families who served in the Civil War were the Twines, Papinos, and Papys.
Day 3: The Chase Family
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Day 3: The Chase Family 〰️
(Originally posted November 3rd, 2024)
Pictured above are Mr. William Chase (left) and Pvt. Leo C. Chase Jr. (right) an uncle and nephew, respectively. Some of our followers may know their surname from the Chase Funeral Home on West King Street, which was founded in 1955 by Mr. Leo C. Chase Sr. (William’s brother, Leo Jr.’s father.)
Mr. William Chase was born in 1920. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942 and deployed to Italy, France, and North Africa during WWII, serving as a radio operator on the front lines. William Chase was honorably discharged in 1945 and studied to be a mortician when he arrived back stateside. He is recognized as a Lifetime Member of the Buffalo Soldiers.
Private First-Class Leo C. Chase Jr. was the first resident of St. Johns County to be killed during the Vietnam War, only a few days before finishing his tour of duty. His legacy is still preserved in St. Augustine. In June 2021, the Leo C. Chase Jr. Veterans Affairs Clinic was opened, making healthcare readily accessible to our county’s veterans.
Day 4: Fort Mose
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Day 4: Fort Mose 〰️
(Originally posted November 4th, 2024)
On this 4th day of our “11 Days of Honor” campaign, we focus on a group of veterans who were not U.S. citizens – because they lived here in St. Augustine decades before the United States even existed.
And though the residents of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (better known as Fort Mose) were not American veterans, they were some of the earliest Black freedom fighters in this country. Founded in 1738, their settlement and military fort was the first legally sanctioned community of free African people in what is now the United States.
Today, the Fort Mose Historical Society preserves the story of St. Augustine’s early African-descended residents. Many of the Society’s members and leaders are veterans themselves. We are extremely grateful for their military and historical service. Viva Mose!
Day 5: Black Women in WWII
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Day 5: Black Women in WWII 〰️
(Originally posted November 5th, 2024)
Welcome back to our “11 Days of Honor” series, celebrating Veterans Day 2024. On this 5th day of our campaign, we want to share the stories of Black women who served in World War II – both in the battle arena and the homefront.
More than 1 million African American people served in the U.S. military during WWII. African American women in particular volunteered in droves. Facing segregation and discrimination, these brave veterans were fighting multifaceted battles both abroad and at home.
One St. Augustine native, Mrs. Barbara Henry Vickers, served as a “Rosie the Riveter” on the homefront, working in the New Jersey shipyards as a tack welder and in Seattle as a sheet metal mechanic. After the end of the war, she married and moved back home to St. Augustine — just in time to participate in the Civil Rights Movement. She is still alive today at 101 years old.
Day 6: The Signal Corps
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Day 6: The Signal Corps 〰️
(Originally posted November 6th, 2024)
During World War II, the Fourth Army Signal Corps Civilian Training Program was hosted at Florida Normal and Industrial College in St. Augustine (now Florida Memorial University in Miami). This was the first Signal Corps civilian training program for African Americans, requiring candidates (both men and women) to meet a strict set of qualifications.
St. Augustine’s Signal Corps trainees were “approaching the level of genius in the field of radio,” according to anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, who was an instructor at the college at the time. Hurston became a champion for the rights of these trainees.
Day 7: Virgil Young Sr.
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Day 7: Virgil Young Sr. 〰️
(Originally posted November 7th, 2024)
Today, we honor the service of St. Augustinian Mr. Virgil F. Young Sr., who lived from 1924 to 2018.
Mr. Young lived a long life, serving country and community. After graduating from Excelsior High School (site of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center), he joined the U.S. Navy during World War II at only 17 years old. Young was stationed on several vessels and bases, including NAS Pearl Harbor.
After WWII, Mr. Young worked as a chef and dietician at various establishments on the east coast, including Florida Memorial College in St. Augustine. During the Civil Rights Movement, Young worked at the Monson Motor Lodge. His sister, Mrs. Janie Price, was a nurse who hosted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the SCLC’s campaign in St. Augustine.
Day 8: The Mason Brothers
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Day 8: The Mason Brothers 〰️
(Originally posted November 8th, 2024)
For the 8th post in the “11 Days of Honor” campaign, we are paying homage to the three Mason brothers: (left to right) Robert Jr., Reginald, and Otis.
All three brothers were drafted by the U.S. Army to serve in WWII. The eldest brother, Robert Lee Mason, led a lifelong military career – he served in the U.S. Air Force during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Each Mason brother was a community leader in their own right. The youngest, Dr. Otis Mason, was the first (and only) African American superintendent of St. Johns County School District and first Black elected superintendent in the state of Florida. He was also a founding board member of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center. He passed away this year at the age of 95.
Day 9: Mothers of Veterans
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Day 9: Mothers of Veterans 〰️
(Originally posted November 9th, 2024)
Mothers of Veterans deserve to be honored – for their determination, sacrifice, and bravery. Yesterday, we focused on the Mason brothers – all three of whom had served in U.S. Military during WWII. But who raised those three servicemen?
Their mother, Mildred Parsons Mason Larkins (a Lincolnville native), was a respected educator and graduate of Florida Normal and Industrial College (now Florida Memorial University). After separating from her husband, she raised her three sons as a single mother in the 1940s. One can imagine how difficult it was to manage her career with three growing sons to feed! But she succeeded, bringing up three men who served their country and went on to become community leaders.
The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center would probably not exist if it wasn’t for Mildred Parsons Mason Larkins. One of her sons, Otis, was elected Superintendent of St. Johns County Schools, and later was a founding member of our museum. Mrs. Larkins is featured in our Women Who Made a Difference exhibit kiosk in the museum’s main gallery. Her story is one of many African American military mothers in St. Augustine.
Day 10: Jason Waitman
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Day 10: Jason Waitman 〰️
(Originally posted November 10th, 2024)
For the 10th post of our Veterans Day campaign, we are highlighting the WWI service of Mr. Jason Waitman. He was a Private in the U.S. Army and a member of the 20th Engineer Regiment, 547th Engineer Service Battalion, a service unit of colored troops.
Waitman and his battalion were deployed to France in December 1917, about a month after Armistice Day. They worked to help with postwar reconstruction and cleanup, primarily producing lumber and timber. Because of segregation policies, the 547th never participated in combat with enemy forces.
Jason Waitman was honorably discharged in December of 1918 and passed away in 1936. He is interred amongst his fellow servicemembers at the St. Augustine National Cemetery. His family still lives in St. Augustine and are active within our museum and community.
Day 11: St. Augustine's Activist Veterans
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Day 11: St. Augustine's Activist Veterans 〰️
(Originally posted November 11th, 2024)
Happy Veterans Day and THANK YOU to America’s veterans, service members, and their families.
Today marks the 11th (and final) post of our Veterans Day social media campaign. The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center appreciates everyone who has liked, engaged with, and shared these posts – we are lucky to explore this history with our followers and visitors.
Today, we highlight the African American veterans who served within the U.S. Military and on the homefront as activists for Civil Rights. Appropriately so — 2024 is the 60th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the St. Augustine Movement was pivotal to its passing.
Perhaps the most prominent of St. Augustine’s “Activist Veterans” was Dr. Robert B. Hayling, the leader of the local Civil Rights Movement. After joining the U.S. Air Force as an officer in 1951, Hayling served as an aero-medical researcher at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
But Dr. Hayling wasn’t the only veteran who marched the streets of St. Augustine (or America) for Civil Rights. Many of St. Augustine’s Black community were veterans and during the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movements, these families and individuals supported the movement by marching and hosting visiting activists.
Thank you so much for reading through this compilation of posts that focus on St. Augustine’s African American Military History. We are honored to cover 450+ years of Black history and cultural heritage throughout our exhibit spaces — there is so much to explore! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to keep up to date with our events and educational posts.
Our Crusaders Room exhibit explores the military heritage of St. Augustine’s Black community, sharing stories from the 1400s all the way through to the Gulf War. Stay tuned and visit us soon to learn more – we offer a 10% military discount every day.