62 Years Ago Today, MLK Was Arrested in St. Augustine. He Had Some Company
- Jun 11
- 1 min read
Updated: Jun 12
Sixty-two years ago today, June 11, 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr., was arrested in the nation’s oldest city—St. Augustine, Florida—for having the audacity to order food at a whites-only establishment. Here, he and his close friend Ralph Abernathy are confronted by James Brock, the General Manager of the Monson Motor Lodge.
Sometimes the most interesting parts of history, though, are off in the shadows. See that young woman in the print dress behind Abernathy’s left shoulder? That is then 19-year-old Duke sophomore Kathryn Fentress from nearby Ormond Beach, Florida. Fentress, who had attended the March on Washington the previous summer (“this feeling of connectedness and unity and incredible hope,” she told me years later), was arrested with King and spent several harrowing days in the St. Johns County Jail.
Read all about her amazing story in Original City, Original Sin: King, the Klan, and the Fight for Civil Rights in St. Augustine, Florida. It’s due out this fall from Cambridge University Press, and the early buzz is exciting. Check this out from Jonathan Eig, who won the Pulitzer for his towering biography of King in 2024:
“It’s not easy to find bold new ways to write about Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights struggle, but Martin Dobrow has done it. With painstaking research and splendid prose, he paints a vivid portrait of King and the people surrounding him at a pivotal time in King’s life and in our nation’s history. I couldn’t be more excited about this book.”
Learn more or order Original City, Original Sin.
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