‍ ‍ WHEN THE RABBIS CAME TO TOWN

A World Premiere Stage Performance

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On June 17, 1964, Rabbi Allen Secher, answered an emergency appeal from the Reverend Martin Luther King. He immediately flew to St. Augustine to join a civil rights protest hampered by violent attacks, fire bombings and death threats directed at King and leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Council.

The following day Secher and 15 fellow rabbis were arrested by Ku Klux Klan sheriff’s deputies in the midst of a parking lot prayer service at the segregated Monson Motel.

Their jailing, as well as images of the motel owner dumping muriatic acid on black and white teens attempting to integrate his Monson pool, were horrifying lead media stories coast to coast.

The following day the Senate overwhelmingly passed Lyndon Johnson’s long delayed Civil Rights Act ending more than a century of segregation. Today Secher, 91, is the sole surviving rabbi who was part of of this pivotal civil rights protest, the largest rabbi arrest in American history.

This stage premiere event features actor Adam Bell portraying Secher’s eight decade career battling racism and anti-semitism across America. It takes place on the 62nd anniversary of his arrest in St. Augustine. Secher will join Bell on stage following the performance for a discussion of his St. Augustine arrest and jailing. He will also answer questions about his tireless American battle for human rights from his early days in Butler, Pennsylvania to his failed attempt to retire in Whitefish, Montana.

Advance ticket purchases are recommended for the 6 p.m. show. Tickets are at this link: https://heartland-iff.org/tickets/worldpremiere-of-whentherabbiscametotown

These events are a coproduction of the St. Augustine Film Society and the Heartland Independent Film and Drama Forum. Both are 501 (c) 3 nonprofits. Donations to help pay for the cost of this production are welcome. For more information contact staugustinefilmsociety@gmail.com or call (231) 720-0930.