About ACCORD Civil Rights Museum
The ACCORD Civil Rights Museum occupies the Rudcarlee Building in St. Augustine's historic Lincolnville neighborhood. Built in the 1950s by Dr. Rudolph N. Gordon, it was the city's first medical or dental office constructed without racially segregated waiting rooms. It later became the dental office of Dr. Robert B. Hayling, a leader of the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement, and served as a meeting and planning place for local activists, attorneys, and national civil rights figures.
Opened as a museum in 2014 on the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the site preserves photographs, letters, personal objects, documentary footage, and memorabilia connected to the demonstrations of 1963 and 1964. Notable holdings include artifacts associated with Dr. Hayling and the Monson Motor Lodge protests. The intimate setting gives visitors a direct connection to the people and organizing work behind one of Florida's most consequential civil rights campaigns.
