Youth

This exhibit is an exploration of the coming of age of the children of West Augustine in the 1930s through 1960s. West Augustine was, and continues to be, a neighborhood situated on the western edge of the city of St. Augustine, Florida, that came to be in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Located there are some of the city’s oldest and most significant homes, and can be found a unique culture. But this exhibit is more than just about the structures and local landmarks that make up the neighborhood. This is a tale of how children, white and black, lower-class and middle-class, spent their formative years in West Augustine— learning, playing, working, and serving together as a community. Told from the perspective of those who actually lived these experiences themselves through the utilization of oral histories and images, this exhibit documents stories that span two generations and a multitude of viewpoints on growing up in St. Augustine.

Created by Amber Aultman, Claire Kolodziejczak, Cheyenne Koth, and Hannah Reznik for HIS 265: Introdution to Public History, 2018.

Subsection Summaries

Family Life

Family was a deeply important element of life for young people in West Augustine, one that dictated much of their interaction with other elements of their lives. This section will discuss the relations between family members in West Augustine, including what roles and chores children were expected to take on within the home. Intrinsically tied to the family and community, religion and church will also be discussed, as most residents of West Augustine were Christian-leaning folks whose sense of community was tightly bound to their congregation. Along with this, any celebrations or rituals that families observed or chose not to observe will be addressed.

Education

Central to the lives of children, no matter the location, is their years as a part of the education system. As they grow from child to adult physically, they also grow mentally through the lessons and experiences that they acquire in classrooms. In West Augustine, students went through this process of maturity in three stages: childhood in elementary and middle school, teen years in high school, and the beginnings of adulthood in college. Segregation, transportation, health, discipline, sports, and more are explored through the eyes of those who lived through these experiences. Thus, tracing these stories of students in school over the course of their lives, across generations, documents just one way in which students came of age in the neighborhood of West Augustine.

Social Life

Pertaining to both the children and young adult generations, the social life section will contain information portraying how these different generations chose to use their free time. This section will touch on segregation, games, events, clubs,  and other things involving social activities. Growing up in West Augustine there were a number of different social situations one could become involved in, and as we delve further into looking at the different generations and what they did outside of things such as school, work, and family life, we will be able to better understand what social life was like for children and teens of West Augustine.