Albert Manucy

Albert C. Manucy (February 20, 1910 – March 2, 1997) was an American author, historian and a Fulbright Scholar 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 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, 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. He first worked on a WPA research project on Fort Jefferson National Monument in Key West, Florida. 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. 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. 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 village near the St. Augustine settlement circa 1580. This was never realized, but a film called Dream of Empire was completed. 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 in 1965, the Order of La Florida from the City of St. Augustine in 1983, an Honorary Doctorate from Flagler College in 1984, as well as awards from many historic organizations like the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and the Eastern National Park and Monument Association.