page_title: 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protests
section_title: Beach protest
hierarchical_section_title: 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protests / Aftermath / Beach protest
caption_attribution_description: English: Segregationists trying to prevent blacks from swimming at a "White only" beach in St. Augustine.
context_page_description: The 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protest was part of a series of events during the civil rights movement in the United States which occurred on June 18, 1964 at the Monson Motor Lodge, Florida. The campaign in June – July 1964 was led by Robert Hayling, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, Hosea Williams, C. T. Vivian, Fred Shuttlesworth, among others. St. Augustine was chosen to be the next battleground against racial segregation on account of it being both highly racist yet also relying heavily on the northern tourism dollar. Furthermore, the city was due to celebrate its 400th anniversary the following year, which would heighten the campaign's profile even more. Nightly marches were organized to the Slave Market, which were regularly attacked and the marchers were beaten.
  Meanwhile, the civil rights bill was being filibustered in the U.S. Senate. On June 10, the filibuster collapsed. The following day, King was arrested in St. Augustine. King had attempted to be served lunch at the Monson Motor Lodge, but the owner, James Brock—who was also the president of the St. Augustine Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Owners Association—refused to serve him.
context_section_description: The same strategy was repeated less than a week later when SCLC activists performed a "wade-in" at the whites-only St. Augustine beach. On this occasion, violence broke out when the protesters were attacked by segregationists and multiple arrests were made by Florida Highway Patrol officers. Armed gangs of both blacks and whites drove around shooting up cars and windows at night.
caption: Segregationists trying to prevent blacks from swimming at a "White only" beach in St. Augustine, June 25, 1964
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