Ocean City’s Black History To Be Displayed at Museum

OCEAN CITY – A display dedicated to Ocean City’s black community opened this week at the Ocean City Historical Museum in the community center at 1735 Simpson Ave.  
The exhibition was completed over the weekend and opened at the museum this week, set to run through the end of March.
An opening reception with light refreshments is scheduled for “The Seasons of Life, the African American Community in Ocean City” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 23 at the museum.
The display will be organized by season, with exhibits, photos and artifacts presenting a theme for spring, summer, fall, and winter, according to Brittany Battle, one of the organizers. Each tells a story from Ocean City’s black community.
“Spring is from the church,” said Battle. Displays include family Bibles, hymnals from predominantly African-American churches, and Easter outfits.
The summer display focuses on the beach, including old photos from the beach between Third and Fifth streets.
According to Battle, longtime residents have told her that was the only beach where blacks were welcome. She could not say for certain when that started, but she said the segregation continued into the 1960s.
That was the only spot in the resort with black lifeguards, she said.
That portion of the exhibit will also focus on some of Ocean City’s black-owned businesses, including a hotel that catered to black vacationers during segregation.
The Ocean City Elks Lodge is covered in the fall section of the exhibit. The lodge was active for many years, and the display includes robes from one longtime member.
According to Battle, there is some talk of reviving the lodge, which became inactive a few years ago.
The winter portion of the exhibit will present some of the hardships faced. Battle said winter could be a particularly tough time in the resort community, in the past and today, as jobs get scarce.
Residents needed ingenuity to get by, she said, with some starting small businesses at home, including doing hair to make ends meet. Some of the equipment for that work is on display at the museum, including hot combs.
“In addition, we will look at the founding of the African American community in Ocean City and the patterns of migration that led to its growth,” reads a press release from the Ocean City Historical Museum announcing the display.
Among the items on display is a map showing where many of the families who make up Ocean City’s black community originally moved from. Many moved from the south for economic opportunity and to escape repressive Jim Crow laws.
Battle helped organize the Juneteenth Committee, which last June organized a brunch to recognize elders of Ocean City‘s black community, alive and dead.
She and two friends, Takiya Wilson and Joshua Baker, grew up in Ocean City and attended Ocean City High School. They wanted to do something for the community, she said.
People with roots in the city’s black community get together for funerals, she said, but they wanted to organize a reason to gather for a celebration.
Battle, a doctoral candidate in sociology at Rutgers University, teaches classes at the school, and Baker lives out of the area. Wilson lives the closest, in Egg Harbor Township.
Joined by Wilson, Battle spoke at the Feb. 8 City Council meeting about the Juneteenth Committee, discussing last year’s event and plans for this spring, as well as other efforts by the group. At the same meeting, the council issued a proclamation recognizing Black History Month and the accomplishments of African American residents.
“Ocean City recognizes the many achievements of the black community throughout its own history and their continuing contributions,” reads the proclamation, which urges residents to learn about black accomplishments locally and nationally.
Decades ago, Ocean City residents organized a Juneteenth event. Battle said she remembers that celebration, and wanted to honor it with a new tradition.
As Battle explained to City Council, Juneteenth celebrations remember June 19, 1865, the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation to slaves in Texas. President Abraham Lincoln signed the proclamation years earlier, but it had little impact in Texas until Robert E. Lee surrendered and the Civil War ended.
Last year, the local group organized a brunch in honor of members of Ocean City’s black community. Lula Mae Rowell, Angela Graham, and John Henry Sr. accepted their honors, and posthumously recognized were Juanita Rolls-Chalmus, Rozelia Wiggins-Cobb, Johnny “Red” Brown, Samuel Rowell, and Ruby Baker.
The group also prepared a documentary, interviewing those they could, and spoke to the families of those who had died.
For the 2018 event, the committee plans to turn the attention to youth in the community, with plans for a less formal, kid-friendly event. They want to have bouncy houses and an outdoor barbecue, she said, and raise money for scholarships for local students and others with an Ocean City connection.
“Last year we focused on the elders of the community,” Battle told the council. “This year we really want to focus on the kids, and figure out a way to get them more involved and more educated about what the elders of the community have contributed, and more broadly what black people have contributed to the development of this country.”
The Juneteenth Committee has also organized a clothing and toy drive.
Battle said while the three committee members are the organizers, many people from throughout the community have pitched in for the events and to make the clothing drive a success.
The historical museum is closed Sunday, but open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information about the museum, see www.ocnjmuseum.org or call 609-399-1801. For more on the Juneteenth Committee, see www.ocnjjuneteenth.jimdo.com.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.