[1] In 1562 Jean Ribault, a French Huguenot explored the St. Johns River and made contact with the native Timucuan Indians.
Jean Ribault and the French Huguenots built Fort Caroline along the river at St. Johns Bluff in their first attempts to establish a permanent colony in Florida.
St. Augustine, which is the oldest continually occupied settlement in the United States, was founded by Spanish leader Pedro Menendez de Aviles in 1565.
A lot of freedom seekers came to Florida in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano gave them land that expanded two miles north of St. Augustine where they could build their own forts.
One of the most relevant mob violence's was on July 4, 1910, when a group of black people were attacked by white gangs for celebrating boxing champion Jack Johnson defeating Jim Jefferies.
Jacksonville also served for the 1912 lynching's when Eugene Baxter, a young black man was a described in a newspaper as a tall light-skinned darkly male was charged with robbing and murdering Simon Silverstein while grocery shopping, including beating his daughter, son, and wife.
James Weldon Johnson, an African American leader in the Jacksonville people, stepped in and wanted to put a stop to the hate between blacks and white throughout the community.
In this time, James Weldon created opportunities to further blacks financially, spiritually, and emotionally and come together with the white community to unite as one.
On this day a group of young black teens attempted to sit down at a whites-only lunch counter for hamburgers and egg sandwiches.
On this day, more than 200 white men who carried around wooden ax handles viciously attacked innocent, unarmed black protestors.
Pearson warned his followers in the launch of this sit-in that it could be violent and to not engage in any violence as they proceed in there works for desegregation and equal rights.
Pearson and the people who followed him at the sit-in were approached and physically and verbally abused along with other blacks that protested by a huge crowd of white men.
The Freedmen's Bureau donated $16,000 to build Stanton Institute with the purpose of training African American women from ages 16–25 to be educators.