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Revisiting Hotels and Other Lodgings: American
Revisiting Hotels and Other Lodgings: American Tourist Spaces through the Lens of Black Pleasure-Travelers, 1880-1950 Author(s): Myra B. Young Armstead Source: The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Vol. 25, The American Hotel (2005), pp. 136-159 Published by: Florida International University Board of Trustees on behalf of The Wolfsonian-FIU Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40007722 Accessed: 05-12-2015 06:36 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Florida International University Board of Trustees on behalf of The Wolfsonian-FIU is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions *Kl This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Myra B. Young Armstead RevisitingHotels and OtherLodgings:AmericanTouristSpaces throughthe Lens of Black Pleasure-Travelers,1880-1950 MyraB. YoungArmsteadis professorofhistoryat BardCollege,whereshe chairsherdepartresearchand teachinginterests mentand cochairstheAmericanstudies program.Herprimary Americansocial history witha focuson UnitedStates urbanhistory are in nineteenth-century Americanhistory. She has published"Lord,Please Don't TakeMe inAugust": and African Americansin Newportand Saratoga Springs,1870-1930 (1999) and MightyChange, African in theHudson Valley(2003). TallWithin: BlackIdentity in thelatenineteenth andsocialhistory converged cameraandthe when the introduction of the handheld century classin theUnitedStatescoincided. Technology ofa blacktourist emergence The Butthesetwodevelopments sharedmorethana momentin history. cameracouldbe usedto providevisualconfirmation ofprescribed social relations at mainstream vacationspotsimplicitly andideals.Blacktourists fortourist defiedprevailing expectations spacesduringan eraofofficially Blackbodiesrecordedunwittingly on film sanctioned racialsegregation. reflected theblackbelief destinations inherently populartourist enjoying as consumers, wereentitled to occupysuchplaces thatAfrican Americans, white the small black middle andupperclasses Moreover, despite hostility. thatcouldclaimleisuretimeandleisurespacesalsoenlisted photography fashion. theirown andotherprintmediain deliberate Bydocumenting tourist andholidayvenuesintotheearlytwentieth-century experiences African Americans eraofcontinuing racialseparation, createdvisualtexts thatassertedtheirrespectability andrightful placewithintheranksof "good" society. Waiters at the United States Hotel dining room (detail), Saratoga Springs, New York, c. 1890s (see fig. 2). Losing Groundin MainstreamVenues in thelatenineteenth The pleasure -traveling publicofblackAmericans likeitswhitecounterpart, consisted ofthemosteconomically century, American segmentoftheAfrican population.Thiselitegroup privileged amountedto roughly10 percentoftheblackpopulationandincluded - doctors,lawyers, writers, professors, publishers, clergymen, professionals office as well as successful holders politicians, independent judges,political These "aristocrats of color" were linked nationally through entrepreneurs. a network ofblackfraternities, fraternal social clubs.1 and sororities, lodges, Thisgroupexpandedto someextentin theearlytwentieth as the century This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CM < o 137 fig.i Twoblackmenstrolling on Broadway,Saratoga Springs,NewYork, oppositethe United States Hotel,c. 1907. The BolsterCollection at theSaratoga Springs HistoryMuseum. Photographby JesseSumnerWooley. <Q 138 oftheautomobile madeless-expensive short,day,orweekend popularity excursions accessibleto a middlestratum ofblacks-civilserviceworkers, socialworkers, andthelike. porters, After theCivilWar,blackswhocouldafford to patronizeresorthotelsand othernewvacationspotsjoineda newclassofwealthy Americans created nineteenthindustrialization. African Thus,manyupper-class by century Americans ofthenation'smonied playgrounds enjoyedthecelebrated whites.A setofblackvacationers fromallpointsin thecountry summered in latenineteenthandearlytwentiethnortheastern like resorts century Newportin RhodeIsland,SaratogaSpringsin NewYork,Atlantic City, Isle and Sea on the and Harbor on shore, Sag CapeMay, Jersey LongIsland. inVirginia inWestVirginia Further andHarpersFerry south,SilcottSprings others.In theMidwest,African attracted Americans vacationedat Bois BlancIsland,a northern nearMackinawIsland.2 Michiganretreat An earlytwentiethofBroadway, themajorthoroughcentury photograph fareofSaratogaSprings, includestwowell-dressed blackgentlemen with white thepresenceofAfrican visitors, promenading along confirming Americans atthisspa(fig.1). Yettheplacement ofthefigures inthepicture attests to themounting tideofwhiteopposition to blackcommingling withwhitesthattypified theinfamous eraofracerelations segregationist Reconstruction. thevanishing following Byemphasizing pointfrom severaldifferent the underscores the boulelines, photographer expansive, vard-like thanthetwoblackfigures, qualityofthestreetrather justright This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions a decadeafter ofcenterin theforeground. The imagewastakenroughly the1896 Plessy Court decision v.Ferguson legallyauthorizing Supreme racialsegregation as nationalpractice. Racialproscriptions againstblacks in 1883 of werealreadyspiraling aftertheSupremeCourt'sdeclaration theunconstitutionality oftheCivilRightsActof1875,whichhad sought to makehotelsandothersuchfacilities accessibleto African Americans. After theseproscriptions bylawandcustomallover Plessy, proliferated Black thecountry. ofstatus,increasingly found vacationers, regardless at mainstream closedto thementirely, accommodations traveldestinations fromthoseoffered to whitesbytime(blackswereservedon separated or at different to themin distinct locations. different hours)oroffered days So, forexample,itwasnotunusualthatfromthe1880suntilitwas in 1926, blackscoulduse theroundyellowwood pavilionon destroyed PabloBeach,ConeyIsland,Florida,on Mondaysonly.Similarly, in 1882, Detroit'sKirkwood Hotel deniedroomsto theFiskJubileeSingersas a matter ofpolicy.The manager tolda localnewspaper thatAfrican American to hisbusiness.3 guestswereharmful theso-called ofsegregation JimCrowsystem Bytheearlytwentieth century vacation facilities. wasfirmly established andaffected bothpublicandprivate In 1916,forexample, thecommissioners oftheStateReservation at SaratogaSpringsannouncedtheirdecisionto installseparateblackand in theparkandto limittheformer whitebathhouses "as thenumberof coloredpeopleapplying fortreatment is notoverone percentofthe The commissioners number of both races at capitulated aggregate present."4 to thediscomfort andvigorousopposition expressed amongthewhite ofblacksoccupying thesamepleasure anyexisting practice publicregarding Theverynextyear, W.E. B. Du Bois(1868-1963)observed spacesaswhites. thattheissueof"everracediscrimination" madeit generally recurring whether to "a puzzlingqueryas to whatto do withvacations," traveling nationalor regionalpopularresorts, majorcities,or remotegetaways.5 EvenBookerT. Washington (1856-1915), theGreatAccommodationist whilehe personally whourgedblacksto acceptsegregation patiently at "a midtown hotel" whenever he visited the facilities first-class, enjoyed in thelastfouryearsofhislifethebiteof NewYorkCity,experienced in a strange there.He becameembroiled JimCrowwhiletraveling andhis"wife"accusedhimof scandalin 1911 whena whitecarpenter District andofaccosting to breakintotheirhousein theTenderloin trying After thatincident, in a sexually manner. thewomanverbally suggestive HotelManhattan foundhisaccessto thestylish suddenly Washington His appealto thehotelownerfellon deafears,andhe never withdrawn. in thatcity.One yearbeforehe died, facilities againenjoyedcomparable wasreducedto sendingthemaitred' oftheMcAlpinHotel Washington in NewYorka copyofhislatestbookandpromising to eathismealsin to staythere.He received hisroom,notthehoteldiningroom,ifpermitted This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions in < O 139 one allegedmisstep no replyto thisrequest.6 bythisprominent, Apparently, RaceMan wassufficient to casthimintothesameheapas "exceptional" Americans certaintravelamenities. otherAfrican regarding Thispattern ofdiscrimination continued aftertheFirstWorldWarinto therules theDepressionandtheSecondWorldWarera.Indeed,flouting in recreation couldbe ofsegregation andleisure,howeverinnocently, fromangry forAfrican Americans andleadto physical reprisals dangerous whites.7 American WendellDabney,an African editor, newspaper thatblackvisitors to Cincinnati facedin the1920s: thesituation explained are Hotels,restaurants, eatinganddrinking places,almostuniversally ofcoloredbloodcanbe closedto allpeopleinwhomtheleasttincture The Bartenders' Unionhaspasseda resolution its detected. forbidding members to waiton a coloredperson,andtheyliveup to it.... Atthe Stinton Hotel,... thecoloredmanis notwelcomeevento standing howprominent he is,ifhe desiresto see a roominthelobby.No matter he musttakethefreight whitemanon one oftheupperfloors elevator, oftheelevator, the"JimCrow"compartment, orthelowercompartment we maycallit.8 to CM < Q 140 in Ocean City,New Jersey, in the1930s,blackvacationers faced Similarly, to one contemporary sociological study.9 bathingrestrictions, according northern even within African American of cities, Ironically, ghettos major in certainhotels:theJimCrowsystem blackswerenotpermitted keptthe a segregated establishment famedHotelTheresa,a Harlemlandmark, Americans until1940. Not untilafter thendiditbecome closedto African likeLena Home foritsclientele ofpopularblackentertainers celebrated an informal As lateas 1943, afterconducting andDuke Ellington. survey of105 northeastern travel blackjournalist establishments, GeorgeS. Schuyler havemotoredallacrosstheUnited complained, "Manycoloredfamilies accommodations at a single Stateswithoutbeingableto secureovernight He from his that tourist or hotel." concluded investigation blacks camp abroadthanintheUnitedStates.10 wouldhavean easiertimetraveling As themomentum towardJimCrowhardenedintoa racializedcaste andthefirst decadesofthe century system duringthelatenineteenth to it was left to African American twentieth century, mainly proprietors For forblacktourists andtravelers. providehotelsand boardinghouses the Banneker in the last of the nineteenth instance, quarter century, clientele. Hotelin Cape May,New Jersey, cateredto an all-blacktraveling Cincinnati's DumasHouse hostedblackguestsat leastthrough1894.n Forseveraldecadesafter1910,Ella HolmesoperatedherHolmesCottage forsummering blackson Walworth Streetin SaratogaSprings.Reporting oftheVincennes on a tripto Chicagoin 1921, Du Boiswrotefavorably Hotel: "I stayedat theVincennes. Aroundmewereghostsofwhitefolks This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig.2 Waiters at the United States Hotel dining room, Saratoga Springs, New York,lantern slide of original photograph, c. 1900. Collection of Brookside Museum, Saratoga County Historical Society. Photograph by Jesse Sumner Wooley. m whousedto liveat thisbeautiful, hotel.Now Negroes quiet,andexclusive 2 ownitanditis stillbeautiful thank neither exclusive andquietbut, heaven, < nordear.EveryNegrointheUnitedStatesoughtto takea tripto Chicago, O 141 u withhisfamily." justto stopat theVincennes CM An equallyacceptable alternative in mainstream to blackownedoperations resorts establishments in major andpleasurecapitalswerewhite-owned citiescatering to an exclusively blackclientele.In theearlytwentieth Cincinnati's Old St. ClairHotel,patronizedbywealthy whites, century, was converted its white owner into a first-class hotel for blacks and by renamedtheHotelSterling.13 andtheGordon OnlyplacesliketheSterling hotelsin Cincinnatihostedleadingmembersofthenationalblack Du Bois and MarcusGarvey(1887-1940) amongthem. community, their theseluminaries couldnotfindaccommodations Despite prominence, in hotelswithwhitecustomers. Whitebusinessadventurers apparently and capitalizedon thissituation,as did theirblackcounterparts, the blacks need for travel amenities exploited profitably special among blackorwhiteowned,places Whether producedbytheJimCrowsystem. liketheSterling, Holmes Gordon,Banneker, Cottage,andtheVincennes as insular leisureresidences within hostilevacation functioned environments. » As JimCrowsolidified, blacktourists wererendered invisible inwhite ofmainstream resorts. Instead,thevisualrecordshows representations blacksmainly as servants andhelpersforwhites.Thus,imagesofblack waiters at theirpostsin thediningroomofSaratoga's standing attentively UnitedStatesHotel (fig.2) anda blacknursemaid thechildren watching This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig.3 A nursemaid in Saratoga Springs watches her charges, c. 1910. The Bolster Collection at the Saratoga Springs History Museum. CM < 142 underhercarein thatspa'sCongressPark(fig.3) confirmed thepreferred racialorder.Theyreplacedtheperipheral noticeofblackvacationers at white in tourist shown the of two black men venues, popular photo on Broadway strolling oppositethehotel(see fig.1). Theseimagesraise thedignified andpresentation ofAfrican questionsaboutwhether carriage Americans withinresortsettings inheredin themas independent usersof suchspaces,as itdoesforthetwoblackmenpromenading on Broadway, whoappearto be takingin thesightsfortheirownenjoyment. Instead, themeticulous dressandbearingofthewaiters, seenagainstthebackdrop oftheimpressive room underscore theprivilege interior, dining ironically oftheinvisible whitehotelpatrons.The neatnessofthemaid'sattire reflects thepropriety ofherwhiteemployer andheremployer's similarly children. Evenassuming thatthewaitersandmaidin thephotographs choseto projecta publicimageofself-respect in theseposes,thepoint is thatthecamerapermitted suchan impression withinthecontextof butnotconsumption. servanthood, This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions in All-BlackVenues FramingRespectability to developblackleisurespacesin Besidesseizingtheinitiative serving resorts andmetropolitan African Americans established centers, developed theirownall-blacktourist venues.Throughtheirphotographic inventory assessment thatcountered oftheseplaces,theyrevealeda selfprevailing notionsofthemas "a race"andas individuals. Majorexamplesofvenues fortheblackeliteincludeOak Bluffs on Martha'sVineyard, Massachusetts, in Beach in Anne Arundel and Idlewild Highland County, Maryland, northern Buttherewerecertainly morelocalizedversions smaller, Michigan. Beachin Florida,forinstance.14 ofthemorecelebrated spots American AmerOak Bluffs wasneverfrequented byAfrican Technically, exclusively icans.Rather, at a timewhenmainstream vacationhavensstrictly observed Bluffs an exclusionary toward Oak evolved as the sole blacks, policy a noticeableblackcommunity townon Martha'sVineyard thattolerated ofbothpermanent visitors. The towninitially residents andsummer summer centerin the campmeetingandrevival developedas a Methodist antebellum of the nineteenth the period century. Eventually, religious made for more varied secularpursuits, and faded and atmosphere way blackscameto thetownas bothyear-round smallbusinessoperators and leisure serviceworkers from the Around industry. profiting burgeoning theturnofthetwentieth CharlesShearer(1854-1934), whohad century, first arrived withhisfamily to starthisownlaundry forwhite operation hisfacility intoa guesthouse, summer transformed residents, including to African of tenniscourts,catering Americans. One ofthedaughters thisformer Bostonhotelmaitred' hadrecognizedtheneedforsuitable forblackvisitors there.Mrs.Anthony Smithoperated accommodations another"deluxe"black-run innforAfrican Americans in Oak Bluffs thefirst After ReverendOscarDennison partofthetwentieth century. a blackchurchmissionin Oak Bluffs, hispresenceandcongreestablished andanchortheyear-round African American gationhelpedsolidify This another of the town's relative indication population. church, openness an increasein blacksummer towardblacksin an unfriendly age,spurred tourists fromnearbycities.In time,certainstreets andneighborhoods in Oak Bluffs werefirmly as blacksummer enclaves.Bytheend established oftheSecondWorldWar,theresortwasfirmly established amongblacks as a beachfront havenandas a specialspotwhereone couldrubshoulders with"certainprominent fromaroundthenation.15 personalities" theirexperiences Blackvisitors to Oak Bluffs documented visually through as a recordoftheirtravelandstatusamongthatclassof photography Americans whocouldparticipate in leisureactivities. Take,forexample, thewell-dressed shownformally groupofblacktourists posingsometime at theturnofthelastcentury outsideofThayerCottage,an Oak Bluffs there,despitethefactthat roominghouseon thereligious campground This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions < 143 welcomeAfrican thecampground didnotgenerally we no Americans duringthisera(fig.4).16Although the the know the of tourists, photolonger identity is a documentofmanythings:notonly graphitself theirpresenceat thevacationsite,butalso,as the suggests, yetmodestclothing qualityoftheirstylish theirability to afford sucha vacationandtheir ofmiddle -class embraceofcontemporary standards thesitters as self-restraint. The photograph captures in one oftheritualsoftourism a groupparticipating MichelFrizot:the as discussedbyphotohistorian a thesub"official" beside landmark pose whereby withthat jectsstaketheirclaimuponor association in the the site.Furthermore, cottage photograph mix elements a of historicist typical displays bourgeois in American oftheperiod.TheseAfrican tourists, in dress otherwords,decidedly linkedthemselves, tastes. andlocation,to mainstream 10 < 144 GroupoutsideThayer Cottage,Oak Bluffs, Martha'sVineyard, Massachusetts,c. 1890. Martha'sVineyard HistoricalSociety. wasestablishing AroundthesametimethatOak Bluffs forAfrican a similar resortwas itselfas a summer retreat Americans, in the Denied accessto further south ChesapeakeBayregion. developing a Maryland vacationstop,Frederick Douglass'sson,Charles(1844-1920), a beachfront of bought nearby parcel land,whichhe andhiswifeestablished whoalsopurchased after1893 as a seasidehavenforfamily andfriends theplacewaslater in the area. At first called land Arundel-on-the-Bay, renamedHighlandBeach.Thisleisuresetwaslimitedto a tightcircleof blackelites.In 1922 itwasincorD.C. -based,high-ranking Washington, in the first black town as Maryland.17 porated middle -classvalues claimedmainstream HighlandBeachvacationers withinthe In these the are distributed evenly (figs.5-7). images subjects frameto conveya senseofbalanceandorderin theirlives,evenas they - croquet,possibly "relax."The photoencasesthemin activities picnicking, withinthelistofacceptable and/orfashionable bathing thatallfellneatly reached attheturnofthetwentieth century. Croquet,inparticular, pastimes in theUnitedStatesin thelatenineteenth as a peakofpopularity century classes via and the American middle and a Frenchimport England, upper As a sport associateditwiththeleisurelifeofthewealthy in Britain. bymixedsexes,croquetwasrather uniqueforthetime,so the practiced of men and women at together playdidnotchallengesocial presence ofhuman convention (fig.5). Croquetandpicnicsaremanifestations which were ofthe on lawns in both of or pacifications activity backyards, The vegetation andtreesaredwarfed wilderness. bythehumanimprint withthecultivation associateblackvacationers on bothscenesandtherefore ofthewildor withdomesticitya corevalueoftheage. Thus,the This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig. 5 (above, left) Patrons at croquet, Highland Beach, Maryland, c. 1898. Gregoria Fraser Goins Papers, MoorlandSpingarn Research Center, Howard University. fig. 6 (above, center) Picnickers under a swing, Highland Beach, Maryland, 1899. Gregoria Fraser Goins Papers, MoorlandSpingarn Research Center, Howard University. fig.7 (above, right) Swimmers, Highland Beach, Maryland. Gregoria Fraser Goins Papers, Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. treeseentowering overthepicnicking potentially overwhelming groupis harnessed of bytheswingandthebenchbeneathit andbytheplacement womenon both(fig.6). As theswingwasa favorite in mainstream prop photographic posesofwomenduringthisperiod,theyoungblackwoman on thetreeswingvisually anchorstheshotandembodiesitsintent. sitting The parasolsandswimwear donnedbythefemalebathersdefinethemas bathersofthelateVictorian respectable period(fig.7). The menin both announce their and images vigilance honor,almostas sentries amongthe oftheirstances.One holdsa lady'shandbagand women,bytherigidity formoregentlemanly parasol(see fig.6), puttingasideanyapprehensions andtheotherhasgraciously loweredhimself behindthewoman concerns, seatedon theswing,holdingon to one oftheropes.A singlemaleamong thewomen,seenattheleftneartheshoreline (seefig.7), standsatattention likesomesortofwatchman, a thick, stick.Thus,themen clublike clutching in bothimagesadvertise theirreadiness to guardandprotect womankind. As a trio,theseHighlandBeachphotographs screamAfrican American to social cultural norms.18 and conformityprevailing In theMidwest,Idlewildemergedin theearlytwentieth as the century foremost blacksummer a like Beach where African spot place Highland American vacationers evincedbourgeoisvalues.Foundedin 1912 on acres of in LakeCounty, overcut timberland theresort 2,700 Michigan, drewpatronslikeDr. DanielHale Williams (1858-1931), a heartsurgeon, founder ofChicago'sProvident and manin Hospital, an influential whowasalsoone ofthelargest owners medicine, contemporary property at Idlewild.Williams builtOakmere,a summer cottage,andcreateda the of same name across the street. theOakmereHotel park Eventually, wasestablished nearthepark.The exterior architecture oftheOakmere the and displayed simplicity rusticity increasingly prizedamongrural vacationers in the1910s and 1920s as a reflection oftheburgeoning movement His modest but "modern" camping (fig.8). bungalowis "madeluxurious withelectricity and Orientalrugs"(fig.9).19The limited a stark fromtheoverstuffed homesofthelate furnishings departure Victorian reflect the extent to which "bareness andrestraint period may This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions EL 145 fig.8 (right) OakmereHotel,Idlewild, Michigan. State Archives of Michigan. fig9 (below, right) Daniel Hale Williams in his parlor, Idlewild, Michigan. Daniel Hale Williams Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. C-4 <f a. < 146 20 [were]slowlybeingacceptedbythemiddleclass"in theyearsafter1900. at thepicture'scenter, is definedas an educatedmanbythe Williams, thatsurround him- books,papers,and evena instructional materials hisunsmiling with humanskull.Byhisneatattire, face,hispreoccupation his house and Williams reading, unpretentious furnishings, sobriety projects evenas he relaxesin hisretreat. and seriousness Throughthecamera, he remainsa Williamsconveysthemessagethatalthoughvacationing, staidand thoughtful to sacrifice a commitment to individual, unwilling - a perennial work virtueamongAmericans ofhisclass- forplay.Williams alsosoldlandto hiswealthy an enclave friends, thereby virtually creating oflikemindsandtastes.Thattasteis evidentin theinterior ofan Idlewild hoteldiningroom,whereorderandmodesty areprojectedthrough the cameralens(fig.10).21 This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig.10 (above, left) Idlewilddiningroom c. 1920, interior, thoughtto be at the Club El-Morocco.State ArchivesofMichigan. fig.11 (above, right) Gass Point,Idlewild, Michigan.State Archives ofMichigan. ClaimingtheLandscape wellthatmiddleIdlewild'sfounders understood As realestatespeculators, classblackshungered forland,placeswheretheywouldbe assureda dividedthe welcome,andspacestheycouldclaim.Thesespeculators Americans as summer vacation terrain intoplotsandsoldthemto African fromthesweltering citiesofChicago,Detroit,Indianapolis, and retreats after scenic views at the resort were named Cleveland. prominent Eventually, wasnamedforCharlieGass, blacklandowners. GassPoint,forexample, who soldplotsat Idlewildwhileemployedas a shoeshinemanat the PantlindHotelin downtown GrandRapids,Michigan(fig.11). Similarly, a, in the1920s,Dr. Williams purchaseda largeplotandnamedit the c DanielHale Williams Subdivision.22 147 The importance ofsuchgestures cannotbe overstated. The practiceof in views and sites has a the commodification ofthe naming longhistory As historian Dona Brownhasshown,"The namingofunnamed landscape. was to making theregionscenic:The morenamed and crucial places things themoreplacesfortourists to visit,andthemoreorderly and things, thelandscapebecame."23 as was the fact differentiated Equally significant thatthelandscapehad beennamedfora blackman.Historically and menlikeGasscouldclaima bitoftheAmerican ideologically dispossessed for themselves. Understood thisway,thesweeping viewof landscape in thehorizontal GassPointpictorially thateverything and proclaims vertical vision to African of Americans. range belongs EmbracingthePastoral Fromthevisualrecord,itis evidentthatblackAmericans sharedthesame mainstream in domestictravelers passionforthepastoralthattypified theperiodstudiedhere.Duringthelatenineteenth andearlytwentieth Americans* withnature andencounters centuries, soughtrusticretreats as antidotes to whatwereperceived as theunhealthful, and stultifying, residential corrupting aspectsofmodernizationcongested arrangements, andintellectually vistas,andtheescalating aesthetically uninspiring pace ofwork.As partofthisnationaldrift, African Americans withthemeans, This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions un < < 148 fig.12 (top) Idlewild Lake, Idlewild, Michigan. State Archives of Michigan. fig. 13 (bottom) The bridge to Idlewild Island, Idlewild, Michigan. State Archives of Michigan. fromcitiesto beaches, time,andinclination optedto removethemselves andwildspacesto enjoytherestorative country getaways, qualities associated withtr^ese settings. In theirvacationselections andphotographic recordofthem,African in a nationalcritiqueofindustrial Americans lifeand participated urbanization. One blackschoolprincipal, whodecidedin 1917 "to leave thecityforabsoluterest"byvacationing on thehomesteadofanother in ruralGeorgia,reported:"Everydaywas African American family This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig.14 (above, left) Boathouse at Highland Beach, Maryland, c. 1929. Gregoria FraserGoins Papers, MoorlandSpingarn Research Center, Howard University. fig.15 (above, right) Porch at Highland Beach, Maryland, 1929. Gregoria Fraser Goins Papers, MoorlandSpingarn Research Center, Howard University. backto nature,. . . a longwaysfromtherailroad."24 Du Bois'srapturous in mustbe appreciated ofIdlewild 1921, bordering on poetry, description - forsheenof in thissamesense.He wrote,"Forsheerphysical beauty ofshrub,forshining waterandgoldenair,fornoblenessoftreeandflower riverandsongofbirdandthelow,movingwhisper ofsun,moonandstar; I haveseenfortwenty itis thebeautifulest stretch years."25 AtIdlewild,theabsence,or nearabsence,ofanyhumansin thesephotothevirtues ofnature.A sereneLakeIdlewildbalances graphscelebrates theexpanseofthesky,offset onlybya fewtalltrees(fig.12). Andin the theforeground, photooftheapproachto Idlewild,thelakedominates butthistimea loneindividual runstowardtheislandacrossa quaint woodenbridge,awayfromtheviewer,in a hurriedescapefromthe itimplies(fig.13). mainlandandallthecomplications also celebrated lifeat HighlandBeach.A groupof Photographs country havebeencaptured threewomen,including one whoappearsto be elderly, bythecameratakinga momentto admirethewaterandthepristine, bucolicshorein thedistance(fig.14). A country porch,filledwithempty rattanfurniture, beckonsanywhomayapproachto slowdownandquite sita spell(fig.15). The low cameraanglesweepstheviewerfully literally acrosstheporchtowardthevanishing point,in thecenteroftheshot,an seatawaiting a wearyoccupant. yetanotherunfilled opendoorrevealing Householdwickerfurnishings connotedforlatenineteenthandearly twentieth Americans themoreleisurely -century pace ofundeveloped, because of their Asian societies, origin.Significantly, preindustrial perhaps in orderto preserve itsrusticcharacter, Beach didnotpermit Highland to be truetoday;theretreat commercial andthiscontinues development, nowclaimsaboutsixty homes. De-RacializingSpace The security thoseinruralareas, offered ownedresorts, byblackespecially in themindsofblacksto joinedwitha generalbeliefin nature'sbenefits with investtheseparticular powersduring spaces specialhealth-inducing theJimCrowera.In black-owned rusticspaces,therewasthetranquility thatcamefromhavingescapedtherhythms ofa workroutine.Butthere wasalso theserenity thatcamefromhavingescapedtheprotocolsof This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions C't 149 fig.16 Groupoutside Idiewild ClubHouse, Idlewild, Michigan,c. 1926. Ben C. WilsonCollection, AfricanaStudies Western Program, MichiganUniversity. 150 and systemic racialdiscrimination. Du Bois expressed this systematic sentiment mainstream resorts or tourist centers at which bycontrasting - placeslikeAtlantic blackswerepermitted withcertainlimitations City, - withIdlewild,a resortcreated New YorkCity,and evenOak Bluffs forAfrican Americans: "Not forone momentin finejoyoflife, specifically absolutefreedom fromthedesperate ofthecolorlineandforthe cruelty - not of the silence which is Peace and wooing great deep Contentment foronelittleminute cantheyrivalorcatchthebounding pulseofIdlewild."26 ForAfrican American ownedresorts a tourists, then,blackrepresented return to a primeval naturethat de-racialized nature,buta completely therefore exudedhealing,humanizing in a andUtopian qualities singular Americans viewedphotographs ofblack-owned way.So whenAfrican could infuse these with a curative resorts, country they places power a In "race"-free character. the blacks would bearing distinctly country, notonlybe healedofthedetrimental effects ofcitylife,theywouldalso a balm for the of wounds lifeundersegregation. experience soothing shouldbe HighlandBeach'sdecisionto ban commercial development in thislightas well. understood Affirming Citizenship African American intheideologyoftheAmerican tourists believed landscape anditsnationalistic association withthefrontier wherethe"American - vigorous, Character" andregenerated. youthful, pure- is formed tourist venuesgranted Black-owned African Americans therights ofland that were tied to of American ownership historically conceptions citizenship andtherightto vote.Historian S. Shaffer has described how Marguerite in theearlytwentieth "tourism solidified intoa popularleisure century that a national for all Americans. As early activity" helpedshape identity as the1830s theactofsurveying theAmerican landscapedeveloped,both This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig.17 Map of lots in Idie wild, Michigan, 1919. Ben C. Wilson Collection, Africana Studies Program, Western Michigan University. inprescriptive intoa patriotic exercise. andintouring practices, guidebooks locationsacrossstateandregionaltopographies, Traversing representative theAmerican tourist encountered andreconstructed a narrative history thatincludedNativeAmerican colonial settlements, Revolutionary villages, andsitesofagricultural innovation andindustrial battlefields, development.27 in thecelebration ofthe As travelers, African Americans participated In an especially nationwithwhichtheyidentified. 151 tellingphotograph, summer visitors to Idlewildin the1920spose in front oftheclubhouse nextto an American andyet flag(fig.16). Quietly, unselfconsciously, full of African at a the shot the Americans defiantly, proclaims citizenship oftheircivilrights. timeofseverecompromise MarketingBlackTouristSpaces As theadvertising threedecadesofthe industry explodedin thefirst twentieth African Americans formal century, exploited waysofpublicizing safetraveloptionsamongthemselves. Blackresorts likeIdlewildand American Beachin Floridaweremarketed realestatecorporations through - photographs, andpublicity mediaofallsorts brochures, guidebooks, andnewspapers, to namea few.The printing andcirculation ofmaps,for to sell Idlewild land example, helped merely bygivingtangible, physical substanceto African American dreams(fig.17). Takingadvantageof newmarketing Idlewildboostersevenprovideda twentytechnology, silentpromotional filmto advertise three-minute thedeveloping resort's amenities.28 In themid-1920s,FrankB. Butler(1885-1973), a realestate a corporation to developthe broker, grocer,andcivicleader,formed seasideresortthatwouldbearhisname.The founder ofButlerBeachin St.Augustine, a Florida,presents thoroughly professional imageof himself andhisrealestatecompany, whichspecialized invacation properties, in a photograph fromabout1925 (fig.18).29He standsalertandtrim This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig.18 (right) FrankButlerat thefront counterofButlerRealty African offering Americansbeachfront inSt. Augustine, property Florida,c. 1925. Courtesy ofFloridaState Archives. fig.19 (below,right) MackWilson'spavilion, c. 1927. Fromthe Eartha M.M. WhiteCollection, CarpenterLibrary, ofNorth University Florida,Jacksonville, Florida.Thisfacility was thefirstrecreationalspot on ManhattanBeach in northeastern Florida U"3 C-4. operatingtwenty-four hoursa dayto offer lodging,food,and entertainment to an all-blackclientele. g < Q 152 in thebackoftheframeamidan orderly a layoutthatexudesefficiency, businessman pictureoftheconsummate readyto serve.In thisimage, whichprobably textin blacknewspapers and accompanied advertising themodestoffice is furnished withwickerseatingandtable, magazines, the suggesting unhurried, charming idyllsin storeforthehappypurchasers inwhatappearsto be a largemapon theleftwall. ofthelotsfeatured MackWilson,whorana sortofone-stopoperation"providing entertainforAfrican American seaside ment,dining,lodging,and bathingfacilities" vacationers on Florida'sManhattan was about Beach, hardly shy announcing hisservices(fig.19). A c. 1927 photograph ofhisestablishment illustrates This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig.20 Postcard of summer cottages, Highland Beach, Maryland, 1930. Gregoria Fraser Goins Papers, MoorlandSpingarn Research Center, Howard University. wallsas a billboard, howhe usedtheexterior proclaiming messagesto block oceanbathersand beachdenizensin apparently hand-painted lettersto say"MackWilsonCafeOpen NightandDay."The garishness andabundanceofhissignagewasin keepingwiththespiritoftheRoaring a decadeofheightened massmarketing. Twenties, Notably,thereis one for professionally printed poster forOrangeCrushsoda.The market in 1916, had expandedgreatly, most thiscarbonateddrink,invented because of aggressive advertising. likely resorts. Postcards mediumforall-black providedanotheradvertising in wasnotpermitted The publication ofpostalcardsbyprivateoutfits theUnitedStatesuntil1898. ThenitwasnotuntiltheFirstWorldWar thatAmerican postcardprinting technology caughtup withGerman becauseofthewar. competitorsat thetimebarredfromtheU.S. market into the American manufacturers vacuum, experienced Rushing postcard theGreatWar,whentheviewcard,as a boomin thedecadefollowing postcardandthehistoric-site postcard, opposedto thegreeting enjoyed A for Beach view card advertises Highland examplesof greatpopularity. thesimple,rusticstructures andwaterside plots(upperrightquadrant) availableto blackpatronsofthisretreat (fig.20). The blankedging a perimeter forthefourphotosmarks thecardas a "white -border" forming between the handwritten of the 1916 and 1930; typeproduced postcard cornerofthisparticular viewcard scripton thelowerright-hand a date 1930. supplies This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 153 fig. 21 (right) Cover of the Negro Motorist Green-Book (New York: Green, 1940). General Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the New York Public Library,Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. fig. 22 (far right) The Negro Motorist Green-Book (New York: Green, 1938), 21. General Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center forResearch in Black Culture,the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. 154 HistorianLizabethCohen'sworkon American offers consumption thatmaybe appliedto themarketing ofblacktourist compelling insights spacesduringthe1930s andintothepostwarera.Probablythemost forblacktravelers, consultedsourceofinformation theNegroMotorist Green-Book didnot (laterknownas theNegroTraveler's Green-Book), until but continued when the 1936, publication through1967, appear achievements ofthecivilrights movement anddesegregation rendered itsinformation lesscompelling. VictorH. Green,theguide'seditor, "The idea of'The GreenBook' is explainedtheneedforhispublication: to compilefactsandinformation connected withmotoring, whichthe Greenwassavvyaboutthe NegroMotoristcanuse anddependupon."30 use oftheautomobilebyvacationing Americans. He enlisted growing in hiseffort thehelpofreadersandblackbusinesses to producea statenationalrosterof"hotels,roadhouses,taverns, by-state nightclubs, tourist trailer and service homes, stations, parks camps,restaurants, garages, summer barbershops,beautyparlors, dancehalls,[and]theatres"31 resorts, thatwereopenandhospitable to blacktravelers (figs.21, 22). By1940 theGreen-Book for included states theSouth) listings forty-three (excluding and"Washington, forNewYorkCityapartfromNewYork D.C., entries and a section ofaccommodations labeled State, "Southward," consisting belowtheMason-Dixonline.32 The comprehensiveness ofthevolumesandthediligence withwhichGreen thisgoalsuggests thathe,alongwithhisadvertisers andsubscribers, pursued the issue of black travel as a nationalistic approached consumption enterprise. To Cohen,American-made consumer itemsweresymbols ofthenation, so thatacquiring themwasa wayoffulfilling Whenvacation citizenship. aresimilarly seenas politicized tripsacrosstheAmerican countryside consumer Americans who "purchased" items,African cross-country This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions enhancedtheirstatusas Americans. Thisviewwasespecially holidays the 1930s and when theDepressionandSecond 1940s, prevalent during WorldWarturnedconsumption intoa patriotic act.Thisattitude would Green's solicitations for diverse additional, explain geographically listings - notthatthisrequestwasunrelated fromhisreaders to hisconcernfor thepublication's sales,butbybuildinga listofvacationoutletshe faciliin a politicalandsocialsense.Blacks tatedAfrican American citizenship in thegrowing couldbelongmorefully to theircountry byparticipating nationalpreoccupation withmotoring forpleasure.33 theutility ofCohen'sargument, thefederal WorksProgress Augmenting in 1935 towardtheproduction Administration turneditsattention of nationaltravelguides,theAmerican Guideseries.The Rooseveltadministration showedan unprecedented to theneedsofAfrican sensitivity itsownDirectory Hotelsand GuestHouses Americans, publishing ofNejyro in theUnitedStatesthrough theNationalParkServicein 1939.34 Tradeassociations ofblackentrepreneurs in resortcenters alsopromoted inpatriotic theirfacilities termsduringthisperiod.In thesummer of calledtheAtlantic 1945, forexample,an all-blackbusinessorganization Board of Trade a substantial illustrated brochure City produced advertising an assortment ofblackownedamenities at thefamousbeachresort.The brochure textrevealstheextentto whichboththeconvention committee anditsblackconsumer basewereinvested inprojecting an optimistic Americanism. Awareofthestakesofa hard-fought in war whichintolerance towardanother was a theboardanticipated group(Jews) majorcomponent, American anditsaftermath, a future inwhichallpeople,including victory in African "live freedom." themselves as Americans, might Identifying American offered to assist "citizens,"theboardmembers full-fledged other"citizens"at a timeofnationalcrisis:"Atlantic is City todayserving thousandsofreturning veterans... [and] manytiredand wartorn workers....Our citizensarehappyto add thisveryvitalcontribution folkandto offer itsgood health-giving and [leisure]to thesedeserving recreational facilities towarda biggerand betterpost-war It is period."35 notablethatthetextneverexplicitly mentions African it Americans; does notcontaina singleuse oftheword"Negro"or "coloredpeople"- the to blacksat thetime.Rather, theauthors themore politereference prefer forwhichis suppliedby obliqueallusionto "ourpeople" thereferent of African American board members an portraits apparently displaying combination of in and friendliness their seriousness, rectitude, appropriate to look expressions (fig.23). Atlantic Cityblackbusinesspeoplepreferred the of in discrimination the travel which beyond history industry (from as sellersin a sheltered andpromotetheiractivity theybenefited market) to allAmericans as a patriotic serviceto veterans, theirfamilies, and exhausted warlaborers. Thus,to investin anAtlantic industry Cityholiday wasto contribute to thewelfare ofthenationalpublic. This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 155 fig. 23 (right) Atlantic City Board of Tradebrochure, 1945. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. fig. 24 (below, right) Atlantic City Board of Trade brochure, 1945. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. fig.25 (below) Advertising brochure issued by the Idlewild, Michigan, Chamber of Commerce, c. 1950, as illustrated in Ronald J. Stephens, Images of America, Idlewild: The Black Eden of Q 156 Michigan (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2001), 68. Phil Giles Enterprises, Idlewild Chamber of Commerce. Courtesy of Ronald J.Stephens. Therewasmoreatworkin thecatchy coverofthesamebrochure (fig.24). women in suits to welcome readers Threefetching young appear bathing to theircity.Here,theBoardofTradereflected itsappreciation forthe to anybody. theboardmayhave Moreover, powerofsexto sellanything in takena lessonfromHollywood,whichin the1940sinvested heavily womento advertise moviepostersandpin-upadsfeaturing leggy,beautiful movies.Likethefilmstudios,theBoardofTradehoped to sellentertainment. Andjustas thestudiosused "fairskinnedandsmiling" whitegirlsfortheirpromowereselectivein tions,theseblackbusinessmen African American employing onlylightcomplexioned womenwithamiableexpressions fortheirad.36 afterthe CohenarguesthatAmerican consumption as thepurchase SecondWorldWarbecamepoliticized, ofgoodsto meetindividual goalscameto be associated withnationalprosperity throughthesupportoffree enterprise duringthecoldwar.Thistypeofthinking American permeated societyandis keyto understanding themessageconveyed Idlewild, advertising bya brochure theMichigansummer retreat (fig.25). Appearing This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions fig. 26 Edward Mitchell Bannister at Battery Park, Newport, Rhode Island, painting the U.S.S. Richmond and Newport harbor, c. 1887. The Newport Historical Society. P39. Photograph by Jonas Bergner. waspublishedbytheIdlewildChamberof around1950, thepamphlet Phil Commerce.The leftpanelpromotesa majorIdlewildoperation, GilesEnterprises. The activities thehappycouple surrounding symbolically at theheartoftherightpanelfallwellwithintherangeof"wholesome," so prizedduringthe1950s. and "family" -basedpursuits "traditional," The hikingcircleon thelowerleftcornerofthisrightpanelunderscores - mother, thepointbydepicting theidealfamily offour father, son,and The use of the circle motif itself in fact connotes daughter. perfection andcompletion. in this is first communication, then, Implicit pictorial theidea thatan Idlewildexperience to supportan alloweda vacationer American business.Moreover, thetextofthebrochure, whichincludes thephrase"allaroundyou . .. it'syoursto enjoy,"givesAfrican Americans a senseofownership andpridein theleisurespacesthattheyhad carved out forthemselves.37 Conclusion LikeEdwardMitchell Bannister at (1828-1901),thepainter photographed theNewport, RhodeIsland,harbor(fig.26), privileged African American tourists between1880 and 1950 achieveda communion withthenational in unheralded the of black in the UnitedStates. landscape history people - thatis, The significance ofthisimageofa blackartisttakinga prospect - cannotbe overemphasized. a landscape Barredfrommainstream creating - theirownhotels, African Americans constructed alternatives hotels, country cottages,and beachsideresorts or supportedwhite-owned establishments thatwelcomedthem.There,theymaintained hospitality This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 157 standards ofdecorumin theirbearingandaccoutrements. contemporary land,andnamedit in honorofthemselves. There,theypurchased - finding theterrain withintent There,theytraversed respitein theface ofmodernity and emotional, and intellectual restoration as spiritual, humanbeingsin thefaceofJimCrow.There,theyaffirmed themselves oftheAmerican the of as members bodypolitic.Through necessity all-blackresorts, blacktourists domesticvacationtravel reconfigured suchthatthey, became of the andartassociated too, literature, part history, withthecommercialization oftheAmerican landscape.^ Acknowledgments I wishto thankKirstenBuickat the University ofNewMexicoand JuliaRosenbaumat Bard Collegefortheirearlyreviewsofthisessay and expressmydeepest gratitudeto DonnaWells and JoellenElBashirofMoorland-Spingam ResearchCenterfortheirassistance insecuring vitalimages. Notes 158 1. E. Franklin Frazier,BlackBourgeoisie (New York:Collier,1957), 31-76; BartLandry, andLos Angeles:University ofCalifornia TheNewBlackMiddleClass(Berkeley Press,1987), 18-36; WillardB. Gatewood,Aristocrats ofColor:TheBlackElite1880-1920(Bloomington: IndianaUniversity Press,1990), 210^6. 2. Gatewood,Aristocrats ofColor,3-4, 12, 19, 41-42, 110, 124-25, 200-1; MyraB. Young in Newport and Saratoga Armstead, "Lord,PleaseDon't TakeMe inAugust":AfricanAmericans ofIllinoisPress,1999), 18; DavidM. Katzman,Before 1870-1930(Urbana:University Springs, ofIllinoisPress,1973), theGhetto: BlackDetroitin theNineteenth (Urbana:University Century "The HistoryofBlacksin Resort 124, 128, 141, 154, 158-59, 161, 176, 200; Armstead, Towns:Newport,RhodeIslandandSaratogaSprings, NewYork1870-1930" (Ph.D. diss.,UniofChicago,1987), 18. versity 3. Katzman,Before theGhetto, 94-95. 4. Seventh AnnualReportoftheCommissioners titSaratogaSprings 1916 oftheStateReservation NY: Lyon,1916), 23. (Albany, 5. Crisis14 (August1917): 169. T. Washington: TheWizardofTuskegee, 6. LouisR. Harlan,Booker 1901-1915 Press,1986), 379-iO4. (New York:OxfordUniversity 7. WilliamM. TuttleJr.,Race Riot:Chicagoin theRed Summer of1919 ofIllinoisPress,1970). (Urbana:University ColoredCitizens: and Biographical 8. WendellP. Dabney,Cincinnati's Historical, Sociological (Cincinnati: Dabney,1926), 75. ofa SatelliteCommunity," 9. J.EllisVoss,"SummerResort:An EcologicalAnalysis ofPennsylvania, 1941), 39. (Ph.D. diss.,University 10. GeorgeS. Schuyler, "VacationDaze," CommonGround3, no. 3 (Spring1943): 41-42, 44; quotationon 41. 11. £atewood,Aristocrats "Lord,PleaseDon't TakeMe inAugust,"74; ofColor,75; Armstead, Dabney,Cincinnati'sColoredCitizens,129-32. 12. Crisis22 (August1921): 158. 13. Dabney,Cincinnati'sColoredCitizens,194; TheNegroWorld(7 June1924): 5. 14. Gatewood,Aristocrats "Lord,PleaseDon't TakeMe inAugust," ofColor,201-2; Armstead, 18-19; LawrenceOtisGraham,OurKind ofPeople:InsideAmerica'sBlackUpperClass (New York:HarperCollins, 1999), 151-81. 15. AdelaideM. Cromwell, "The HistoryofOak Bluffs as a PopularResortforBlacks,"Dukes 26, no. 1 (August1984): 3-8; Graham,OurKind ofPeople,156-58. Intelligencer County 16. Cromwell, L. Holland,"TheAfrican-American 52; see alsoJacqueline "HistoryofOak Bluffs," Presenceon Martha'sVineyard," DukesCounty Intelligencer SpecialEdition (October1997): as Memories,"in A NewHistory 7-10; MichelFrizot,"Ritualsand Customs:Photographs ed. MichelFrizot(Cologne:Konemann,1998), 750, 748; BobbieKalman, ofPhotography, HistoricCommunities: TheVictorian Home(New York:Crabtree, 1997), 6-7. This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 17. Gatewood,Aristocrats ofColor,37, 43^5, 55, 58, 59, 66, 101,137,180, 201; Graham,OurKind ofPeople,178-79; "HighlandBeach,Maryland," www. .org/cities/index .cfm?townname each&page=home =HighlandB mdmunicipal (accessed12 July2003). 18. See VirginiaScottJenkins, TheLawn:A History D.C.: ofan AmericanObsession (Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press,1994); JamesCharltonandWilliamThompson,Croquet:The GuidetoHistory, Rules,and Records Strategy, (New York:TurtlePress,1977); Complete andMichaelColmer,BathingBeauties:TheAmazingHistory ofFemaleSwimwear (London: American insistence on mediating theirencounters withnature, Sphere,1977). Regarding BacktoNature:TheArcadianMythin UrbanAmerica(Baltimore: see PeterJ.Schmitt, JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press,1990), 20-32; JamesL. Machor,PastoralCities:Urban Idealsand theSymbolic ofWisconsinPress,1987), LandscapeofAmerica(Madison:University and theAmericanMind(New Haven,CT: Yale 121-210; and RoderickNash, Wilderness Press,1967), 44-66. University 19. LewisWalkerand Ben C. Wilson,BlackEden:TheIdlewildCommunity (East Lansing: Press,2002), xiii,6-28, 39-41, quotationon 41; Edwin MichiganStateUniversity "The Emergence oftheCampingMovement,"CampingMagazine(June1929). DeMerritte, Interlude: AmericanInteriors theCamera'sLye,1860-1917 20. WilliamSeale,TheTasteful through (New York:Praeger,1975), 170. in theUnitedStates 21. See also CindyS. Aron,Working at Play:A History ofVacations Press,2001). (New York:OxfordUniversity 22. WalkerandWilson,BlackEden,xi-xii,1-13, 23-26, 30-39. 23. Dona Brown,Inventing in theNineteenth NewEngland:RegionalTourism Century D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press,1995), 63. (Washington, 24. H. H. Thweatt,"The BestSummerI EverSpent,"Crisis14 (August1917): 169-71. 25. W. E. B. Du Bois,"Hopkinsville, Chicago,and Idlewild,"Crisis22 (August1921): 159. 26. Ibid.,160. and NationalIdentity, 27. Marguerite S. Shaffer, SeeAmericaFirst:Tourism 1880-1940 D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press,2000), 170, 202-20. Fortheriseof (Washington, in thelate1820s andearly1830s,see also Brown,Inventing domestictourism NewEngland, in theWhite Mountains and EricPurchase,OutofNowhere: Disasterand Tourism JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press,1999). (Baltimore: 28. WalkerandWilson,BlackEden,47-48. 29. MarciaDean Phelts,An AmericanBeachforAfricanAmericans PressofFlorida,1997), 9-13. (Gainesville: University in 30. See LizabethCohen,A Consumer's Republic:ThePoliticsofMassConsumption America(New York:Knopf,2003); TheNegroMotorist Green-Book Postwar (New York:Green& Smith,1937), n.p. (introduction). 31. TheNegroMotorist Green-Book (New York:Green,1938), n.p. (frontcover). 32. TheNegroMotorist Green-Book (New York:Green,1940), passim. 33. Cohen,Consumer's Green-Book, 1937;NegroMotorist Green-Book, Republic;NegroMotorist 1940. 1938;NegroMotorist Green-Book, 34. UnitedStatesDepartment oftheInterior NationalParkService,UnitedStatesTravelBureau ofNegroHotelsand GuestHousesin theUnitedStates,1939, MoorlandSpingarn Directory D.C. (hereafter ResearchCenter,HowardUniversity, Moorland-Spingarn); Washington, SeeAmericaFirst,202-20; NegroMotorist Green-Book, 1940,4, 26-27, 31. On Shaffer, racialpolicies,see,forexample,NancyJoanWeiss, theRooseveltadministration's progressive FarewelltothePartyofLincoln:BlackPoliticsin theAgeofF.D.R.(Princeton, NJ:Princeton Press,1983). University 35. Atlantic CityBoardofTradeBrochure,1945, Moorland-Spingarn. TheEroticHistory NY: Prometheus 36. Ibid. See alsoTom Reichert, (Amherst, ofAdvertising and the Sunkissed: Swimwear Books,2003); JoshuaJamesCurtisandAnnRutherford, Hollywood Beauty,1930-1950(Portland,OR: Collector'sPress,2003). 37. RonaldJ.Stephens, Idlewild:TheBlackEdenofMichigan(Chicago:Arcadia,2001); WalkerandWilson,BlackEden,63. This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:36:11 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 159
