Albert Manucy
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Albert C. Manucy (February 20, 1910 – March 2, 1997) was an American author, historian and a
Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...
who specialized in Spanish Colonial Florida and the architecture of St. Augustine, Florida.


Early life and education

Albert Clement Manucy was born in St. Augustine on February 20, 1910. His family were of Minorcan descent; his ancestor Josef Manucy was one of the indentured laborers at Andrew Turnbull's colony in
New Smyrna, Florida New Smyrna Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, located on the central east coast of the state, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The downtown section of the city is located on the west side of the Indian River and the ...
before fleeing to sanctuary in St. Augustine with the other colony settlers in 1779. He attended Ketterlinus High School and graduated in 1928 and attended the
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
, where he received a bachelor's degree in education in 1932 and a master's degree in literature in 1934.


National Park Service

After graduation, Manucy worked for the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
. He first worked on a WPA research project on Fort Jefferson National Monument in
Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...
. When money for that project ran out, he returned to St. Augustine to write ''Seeing St. Augustine'', a guidebook sponsored by the
Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was ...
. Manucy eventually became a full-time Park Service staff member in 1938. He was one of the first historians of the National Park Service and would become an authority on the history of Spanish Florida; in particular, the Castillo de San Marcos in his hometown. He traveled around the United States, South America, and Europe to study and research St. Augustine. He published his first book, ''The Houses of St. Augustine, 1566-1821'' in 1962. In 1966, he became the curator for the Southeast Regional Office of the National Park Service in Richmond, Virginia. He retired in 1971 and moved back to St. Augustine in 1975, where he remained until his death. In all, Manucy worked for the National Park Service for 33 years. He wrote on many subjects, including two books on St. Augustine.


Architecture and Historic Preservation

As a child growing up in St. Augustine, Manucy witnessed the destruction of many local historic houses over the course of his residence there, which inspired him to learn more about architecture. In 1937, Manucy spent time in Washington, DC at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
collecting research on St. Augustine for the St. Augustine Historical Program, sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation. This was the beginning of an effort to preserve St. Augustine's historic buildings. This would eventually lead to the formation of the St. Augustine Historical Preservation and Restoration Commission, later known as the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board. Manucy was awarded a
Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
to study the folk architecture of Spain in 1962. He was interested in the influence that it had on the architecture and town plan of St. Augustine. He took a leave of absence from the National Park Service and spent a year traveling around Spain. While conducting research for his book ''Sixteenth Century St. Augustine: The People and Their Homes'', Manucy discovered that from 1566 to 1572, the town of St. Augustine was actually situated on Anastasia Island, across Matanzas Bay from its current location. This was confirmed by colleague and historian Eugene Lyon in the 1990s. Upon his retirement and return to St. Augustine in 1975, Manucy served on the St. Augustine Restoration Foundation as well as on the St. Augustine 1580 committee, formed to create a replica of a
Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The va ...
village near the St. Augustine settlement circa 1580. This was never realized, but a film called ''Dream of Empire'' was completed.


Personal life and legacy

Manucy was married three times; first to Clara (1935–1970), then Elsie (1971–1991), and finally Kathleen (1991–1997). He had four children; Bette, Evalina, James, and Mark, all by his first wife Clara. Manucy died on March 2, 1997, in St. Augustine at the age of 87. In 2000, he was honored as a Great Floridian through the "Great Floridian 2000" program, created to pay tribute to notable residents of Florida. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the National Park Service Administration Building in St. Augustine. In addition to the Great Floridian designation, Manucy was the recipient of the Amigos de los Castillos silver medal from the Spanish government, the George Morgan Ward Medal from
Rollins College Rollins College is a Liberal arts college, private liberal arts college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several master's programs. Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institut ...
in 1965, the Order of La Florida from the City of St. Augustine in 1983, an Honorary Doctorate from
Flagler College Flagler College is a private university, private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida. The school was founded in 1968 and offers 37 undergraduate majors and two master's programs. It also had a Flagler College – Tallahassee Campus, ...
in 1984, as well as awards from many historic organizations like th
Florida Trust for Historic Preservation
and the Eastern National Park and Monument Association.


Bibliography

*''Sixteenth Century St. Augustine: The People and Their Homes.'' (1997) *''The Houses of St. Augustine, 1566-1821'' (1992) *''Menéndez:
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (; ; 15 February 1519 – 17 September 1574) was a Spanish admiral, explorer and conquistador from Avilés, in Asturias, Spain. He is notable for planning the first regular trans-oceanic convoys, which became known as ...
, Captain General of the Ocean Sea'' (1992) *''Artillery Through the Ages: A Short Illustrated History of Cannon'' (Originally published in 1949, an official NPS publication, United States Government Printing Office, reprint: 1956 re- release:2008) *''The building of Castillo de San Marcos'' Published 1945 by U.S. Govt. print. off., reprint in Washington . Issued in 1942 as History no 1, Interpretive series of the National park service. Series . S.National park service. Popular study series. History, no. 16 Library of Congress E160 .U624 no. 16 *Pedro Menendez: Captain General of the Ocean Sea (St. Augustine: The St. Augustine Historical Society) 1965 *"The Fort Caroline Museum" Albert C. Manucy president of the Florida Historical Society 1958 (reprint from the National Park Service) *Seeing St. Augustine, a publication of the Federal Writers Project American Guide Series *Fort Frederica color book : a history for children with Margaret Davis Cate (1957)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manucy, Albert People from St. Augustine, Florida 1910 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers University of Florida alumni Historians from Florida 20th-century American male writers