On Tuesday, July 23rd at 6:00 p.m., the Vineyard Haven Library will host authors Thomas Dresser and Richard Taylor for a presentation on their newly published book, Black Homeownership on Martha's Vineyard: A History (Arcadia Publishing, 2024).
Martha’s Vineyard has always been a unique island and vacation destination, made even more diverse with the arrival of Black homeowners in the 19th century.
Early landowners included the formerly enslaved Charles Shearer, who along with his wife Henrietta, founded Shearer Cottage. However, the fall of the first Black community on the island came in the 1890s when forty Black and Indigenous people were required to remove their cottages from the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association.
Despite this painful blow, other families, including the Wests, Jones, and Huberts bought island homes, challenging restrictive and racist covenants that encumbered the properties. They then passed their homes on to subsequent generations, leading to a legacy of Black homeownership that continues to thrive to this day.
Black Homeownership on Martha’s Vineyard: A History is co-authored by Thomas Dresser and Richard Taylor, with a Foreword by Jocelyn Coleman Walton. The book explores the backstory of home purchasing in the Highlands and across the Vineyard, along with national events that impacted home buying for Blacks. Through interviews, the book explains how generational property ownership helped to expand home ownership for Blacks, while at the same time providing a sense of belonging and community.
Book signing to follow the talk, with refreshments provided by the Friends of the Library.
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