Throughout the 20th century, African Americans retreated to Martha’s Vineyard, an island in New England, and hundreds of other contemporary vacation destinations (e.g. Sag Harbor, Hilton Head) for refuge, respite and reunion. Retreat depended on the accessibility of residences and services for people of color. The African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard aims to honor people and preserve properties that served seasonal travelers and workers of color. In the process, AAHTMV will provide community members, cultural institutions, grassroots organizations and governmental offices with the research necessary to protect, preserve and plan for the sustainability of African American heritage on the island. We aim for the sites and services chronicled to be recognized by local preservation commissions and ordinances, included in the state and National Register of Historic Places, learned in schools and on tours, and, most critically, accounted for in development plans and disaster policies.
The Cottage Business Project documents cottages and cottagers that have offered lodging, dining and other services (e.g. laundry, home repair, child care) to people of color that visit, work and live on Martha’s Vineyard; it will expand to include other types of businesses that demonstrate the historical, cultural and economic significance. Designed to be relational, iterative and action-oriented, each phase of the research project includes five types of activity: identification, investigation, documentation, conversation and advocacy.
We engage in these activities in accordance with established and emergent standards of planning, preservation and public history practice.
Our historical, genealogical, architectural and business research includes:
- Oral history in partnership with community organizations + cultural institutions
- Crowdsourcing stories in written, oral and visual form via online apps and on-island pop-ops
- Digital and in-person surveying of storytellers
- Observation and documentation of cultural rituals
- title searches,
- Scraping recollections and photos from historical & contemporary media
- Interviews, some semi-structured around legal, historical or financial records
- Acquisition and analysis of business, real estate and demographic data
AAHTMV Sites related to the Project
3. Dunmere-by-the-Sea (Pending)
Plaque ceremony details to come
If you’re interested in contributing to the project in any way, contact AAHTMV’s Research Partner, Dr. Fallon Aidoo, a preservation practitioner and planning professor affiliated with the University of New Orleans: faidoo@uno.edu