The African American Experience in Oak Bluffs
Polar Bears of Martha's Vineyard: gathering for morning swims since the 1940s.
Mark Lovewell
In the beginning Polar Bears swam in waters between Island Queen dock and Steamship Authority; now at the beach known as Inkwell.
Jaxon White
Swim is part of 7:30 a.m. ritual.
Jaxon White
Benches fronting Inkwell Beach in Oak Bluffs welcome all.
Ray Ewing
Shearer Players, an all-black repertory group that performed on Island from the 1940s to 1960s, rehearses an upcoming performance on Oak Bluffs beach.
In 1931 photo, guests gather outside Shearer Cottage, the Island's first African American owned inn.
Martha's Vineyard Museum
Shearer Cottage guests in 1931 photo included Rep. Adam Clayton Powell.
Shearer Cottage faces Baptist Temple Park in Oak Bluffs Highlands.
Ray Ewing
Shearer Cottage sign is reproduced in Smithsonian museum.
Ray Ewing
Writer Dorothy West often greeted walkers from her Oak Bluffs porch.
Mark Lovewell
The Oval, in Ms. West's novel, The Wedding, was based on her neighborhood.
Mark Lovewell
Clippings and memorabilia on Dorothy West's porch.
Mark Lovewell
African American Heritage Trail honored Ms. West in 2008.
Mark Lovewell
Emma Maitland was once known as female lightweight boxing champion of the world.
Ms. Maitland's home is 26th stop on African American Heritage Trail.
Jeanna Shepard
Councilman Herbert Loring Jackson and his friend and neighbor, Adam Clayton Powell.
Isabel Washington Powell summered at Bunny Cottage until her death in 2007.
Mark Lovewell
Mr. Powell wrote many sermons in the quiet parlor of the Bunny Cottage.
Ray Ewing
Bunny Cottage was added to African American Heritage Trail in 2003.
Ray Ewing
Cottagers Inc. was founded in 1956 as a society for African American women who owned homes on the Vineyard.
Mark Lovewell
Cottagers celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2016.
Peter Graves
Philanthropic group gives to community and empowers others to serve.
Jeanna Shepard
Rev. Oscar Denniston and his family; their home doubled as a church.
First built in 1895, Bradley Church was called the Oakland Mission Hall.
Archivists had much to research at long-neglected Bradley Church.
Alison Shaw
Artifacts have gone to Martha's Vineyard Museum.
Alison Shaw
Thursday, September 22, 2016
The story of African Americans in Oak Bluffs is far-reaching, important, and ongoing; the simplicity of summer life on Martha’s Vineyard, memories on front porches and morning swims. With the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History, here are some photographs of the way Oak Bluffs was and still is.
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