The land was ours [electronic resource] : African American beaches from Jim Crow to the Sunbelt South / Andrew W. Kahrl.

9780674065239 electronic book
0674050479
9780674050471

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2012.

English

1 online resource (346 p.) : ill., maps.

E185.8 .K215 2012eb

333.3089/96073075

"Driving along the coasts of the American South, we see miles of luxury condominiums, timeshare resorts, and gated communities. Yet, a century ago, a surprising amount of beachfront property in the Chesapeake, along the Carolina shore, and around the Gulf of Mexico was owned and populated by African Americans. In a pathbreaking combination of social and environmental history, Andrew W. Kahrl shows how the rise and fall of Jim Crow and the growing prosperity of the Sunbelt have transformed both communities and ecosystems along the southern seaboard. Kahrl traces the history of these dynamic coastlines in all their incarnations, from unimproved marshlands to segregated beaches, from exclusive resorts for the black elite to campgrounds for religious revival. His careful reconstruction of African American life, labor, and leisure in small oceanside communities reveals the variety of ways African Americans pursued freedom and mobility through the land under their feet."--Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Access limited to authorized users.

Description based on print version record.

Online Resources > Ebooks
All Resources