DC Public Library System

An American beach for African Americans, Marsha Dean Phelts

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 184-188)

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

An American beach for African Americans

bibliography

36446868

Marsha Dean Phelts

In the only complete history of Florida's American Beach to date, Marsha Dean Phelts draws together personal interviews, photos, newspaper articles, memoirs, maps, and official documents to reconstruct the character and traditions of Amelia Island's 200-acre African American community. In its heyday, when other beaches grudgingly provided only limited access, black vacationers traveled as many as 1,000 miles down the east coast of the United States and hundreds of milesAlong the Gulf coast to a beachfront that welcomed their business. Beginning in 1781 with the Samuel Harrison homestead on the southern end of Amelia Island, Phelts traces the birth of the community to General Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15, in which the Union granted many former Confederate coastal holdings, including Harrison's property, to former slaves. Moving through the Jim Crow era, Phelts describes the development of American Beach's predecessors in theEarly 1900s. Finally, she provides the fullest account to date of the life and contributions of Abraham Lincoln Lewis, the wealthy African American businessman who in 1935, as president of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company, initiated the purchase and development of the tract of seashore known as American Beach. From Lewis's arrival on the scene, Phelts follows the community's sustained development and growth, highlighting landmarks like the Ocean-Vu-Inn and theBlue Palace and concluding with a stirring plea for the preservation of American Beach, which is currently threatened by encroaching development

1. An African American Beach -- 2. Franklin Town -- 3. A.L. Lewis -- 4. A Beach Named American -- 5. Early Homes -- 6. Miss Martha's Hideaway -- 7. Ocean-Vu-Inn -- 8. A Who's Who of Vacationers and Visitors -- 9. A 1950s Trip to the Beach -- 10. Hurricane Dora -- 11. Gay Poppers, Boomerangs, and High Fashion at the Crossroads -- 12. Evans's Rendezvous -- 13. Sheriff H.J. Youngblood -- 14. Law, Order, and Race -- 15. Driving on the Beach -- 16. Stewartville at AIA -- 17. The Irony of Civil Rights -- 18. The Beach Rejuvenated -- 19. From Winter Shelling to Virgo Bash -- 20. American Beach Dining Rooms -- 21. Day-Tripping Feasts -- 22. Family Cuisine -- 23. Storm Clouds