Albert Manucy

File:American six pounder field piece (1775).jpg

American six pounder field piece (1775) by Albert Manucy

Albert C. Manucy (1910–1997) was an author, historian and a Fulbright Scholar who lived in St. Augustine, Florida. Manucy was a descendant of Josef Manucy, who sailed in 1768 from the city of Mahón in Minorca to work as an indentured servant on Andrew Turnbull's plantation at what was to be the failed colony of New Symrna. In 1779 Josef and the entire colony of settlers, made up mostly of Minorcans, as well as Greeks and Italians, left the dismal conditions of New Smyrna en masse. They walked 70 miles north to the then British-controlled city of St. Augustine to request sanctuary from Patrick Tonyn, the British governor of East Florida, which was granted by the courts of the province.

Born in St. Augustine, Albert Manucy witnessed the destruction of many local historic houses over the course of his residence there, a loss which inspired him to write about those remaining. He aimed to assist in developing an accurate interpretation and understanding of their history and to help ensure their preservation. Manucy received a Master’s degree in history from the University of Florida in 1934, and studied Spanish architecture in Spain on a Fulbright Scholarship.

Manucy worked for the National Park Service and served as the official historian of the Castillo de San Marcos, and in 1966 he became curator for the Southeast Regional Office of the Park Service. While conducting research for a book on St. Augustine, Sixteenth Century St. Augustine: The People and Their Homes, utilizing original Spanish documents, he discovered that from 1566 to 1572, the town of St. Augustine was actually situated on Anastasia Island, across Matanzas Bay from its current location.

Manucy continued working with the Park Service for 33 years as a historian, restoration specialist, and museum planner. He wrote on many subjects including two books on St. Augustine, and received the Amigos de los Castillos silver medal from the government of Spain; he also won awards from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and the Eastern National Park and Monument Association. Manucy was granted the Order of La Florida by the city of St. Augustine and is listed as a Great Floridian in 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.

Bibliography

• Sixteenth Century St. Augustine: The People and Their Homes. (1997) ISBN 0-8130-1484-0
• The Houses of St. Augustine, 1566-1821 (1992) ISBN 0-8130-1103-5
• Menéndez: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Captain General of the Ocean Sea (1992) ISBN 1-56164-015-8
• 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) ISBN 1-4344-7812-2
• 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 [U. 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)
• Florida Fun Facts