Before traveling along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, the seven UF members of UFxFAMU1963 read “The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle and the Awakening of a Nation,” by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff, and they took a one-day field trip to St. Augustine, Florida, where they spent time at some of the sites pivotal to its civil rights history.

Here we present each student’s individual reflection essay and multimedia reporting outcomes. They include videos, audio stories and photography as well as a music playlist and interactive storytelling, all from five states along the trail and St. Augustine. We hope you enjoy it all.

Jennica Clerveaux

A Lot More to Learn

It wasn’t that slavery happened that caused my confusion. I just had never known such hatred could travel that far…

Paris Coughlin

A Seat At the Table

It’s no secret what helped some of my ancestors make their fortune. They were also slaveowners…

Sydney Johnson

Music of the Movement

It was truly wonderful, during our spring break journey along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, that I constantly found music…

Taylor Mayer

I was raised in a predominantly white, Jewish area in Miami Beach that values community-minded beliefs…

Sandra McDonald

The mid-20th century Civil Rights Movement is sometimes beyond my generation’s comprehension…

Gabriela Rodriguez

I had always viewed the South uneasily. Learning about slavery and the Jim Crow era in middle and high school…

Serra Sowers

While I had to adjust to a predominantly white institution for college, I also recognize my white privilege…