Extraordinary Stories. Little-Known Characters. Uncomfortable Truths.
In the immediate aftermath of the hope from the March on Washington and the heartbreak from the Kennedy assassination, St. Augustine, Florida—the nation’s oldest city—became an extraordinary moral drama. Original City, Original Sin, a work of mosaic nonfiction, excavates this great under-told story of American civil rights.
"Superbly written ... powerfully and poignantly captures the fundamental humanity and courage of those who stepped forward to challenge the racist
mores of the segregated South."
David J. Garrow, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Original City, Original Sin
The Heart of the Book
From the introduction ...
This book is set in a bittersweet period of American history between the March on Washington in August 1963 and the signing of the Civil Rights Act in July 1964. These two glittering moments of hope—when a multiracial democracy seemed perhaps attainable—bookended all manner of darkness: the Kennedy assassination most notably, but also the bombing of the Birmingham church that killed four girls, and the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi.
It was also a double-edged time in King’s life. On one side, it included perhaps the most famous speech in American history, being named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year,” and being nominated for the world’s most prestigious honor, the Nobel Peace Prize (which he would be awarded in December 1964). But it also included the start of a ruthless FBI surveillance on King, lobbied for intensely by Hoover, and ultimately authorized in October 1963 by Attorney General Robert Kennedy. In addition, it involved daunting challenges to King’s philosophy of nonviolence—in part because this was the time when his civil rights alter ego, Malcolm X, broke free from the Nation of Islam and delivered his most famous speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet.”
Most important for me, this time period of 10 months and 5 days framed the most dramatic part of the St. Augustine movement. It played out in the nation’s original city as the fate of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—arguably the most important legislation in the 20th century—hung in the balance. King was drawn deeply into the struggle. He would not only be arrested in St. Augustine, but violently targeted in a way that could easily have moved his assassination ahead by almost four years. He would call St. Augustine the “most lawless” place he had ever seen, and there is ample evidence the city shook him to his foundations.
Speaking Engagements
Dobrow brings deep research, compelling narratives, and thought-provoking perspectives to academic institutions, conferences, and community organizations. Topics include:
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The relationship between journalism and history
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The civil rights movement as a story of American patriotism
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Sports as a lens for social justice
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Why DEI cannot be allowed to DIE: diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental American values
Martin Dobrow, CivilWriter
Extraordinary Stories. Little-Known Characters. Uncomfortable Truths.
Author, national award-winning journalist, podcaster, and professor, Martin Dobrow excavates extraordinary stories of little-known characters to shed light on uncomfortable truths about race, justice, and the attempt to push America toward a “more perfect union.” His forthcoming book, Original City, Original Sin, focuses on a great under-told story of civil rights in America’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida.