The MVCMA and Race Relations
The Campground’s history has in ways been a paradox in terms of race relations. There were African Americans who owned cottages for a number of years in the MVCMA’s early history. Noteworthy among them were Dr. Samuel Birmingham, the first owner of the cottage built at 3 Forest Circle in 1865, and Rev. William Jackson who, between he and his daughter, owned the cottage at 12 Central Ave. from 1871 to 1922. Early photos of the Campground also show Black families outside of the tents that they called their then Camp Meeting homes.
There are also references in the Camp Meeting journals of Hebron Vincent where, he recounted at the Tenth Camp Meeting held in 1844, the attendees in response to one anguished mother’s plea raised fifty dollars (a considerable sum in its day) to purchase her son’s freedom from slavery. Frederick Douglass spoke at the Campground in 1876. Black musician groups performed at the Tabernacle in the late 19th Century.
Yet in the late 1880s there were reports in Boston and Vineyard newspapers raising whether there was a “color line” at the MVCMA in response to apparent neighbor concerns about a “colored lodging house next door….” The articles conclude that such reports were unfounded in large part due to the number of Black families leasing lots at the Campground, which was reported to be at least twenty-five. The same or an additional incident was reported in the MVCMA Board minutes, near the same time, of MVCMA residents on Clinton and West Clinton Avenues objecting to a renter based on being “colored”. In response the Board passed a resolution that it judged it to be improper to make decisions on tenants on the basis of race.
That segregation existed in the Campground is reflected in MVCMA Board minutes from 1872, which state that it was “voted that the question of locating colored people be left with the agent,” and Board documents from 1904 that indicate that there was a portion of the Campground where “colored people” resided. The report of the MVCMA’s Agent and Treasurer that year recounted how “the lower portion of our grounds has been given up to the occupation of colored people.” The report described how a number of these homes were removed from the rear of Clinton Avenue for non-payment of rent or due to disrepair. It stated that, “there are still a number of these shanties in bad repair [although] a radical change involving an order for removal of all those buildings would not be practical or advisable….”
Explicit references to race become less common in the Board minutes in the ensuing years of the 20th century, although there remain repeated references to the need to avoid “undesirable” tenants, with the 1928 Board minutes including a vote to notify real estate agents that cottages may not be leased or sublet to persons who are not “in sympathy” with the religious purposes for which this Association was established. Catholics were openly excluded from the Campground on that basis.
While there is limited evidence that applicants were specifically denied due to race, the MVCMA well into the 1960’s would deny leases and rental applications to certain individuals without stating any reason. 1960 Board minutes reflect that there was discussion “concerning the position of the Board on color line on the grounds.” The minutes note that the MVCMA’s attorney had advised not to refuse any applicant who had appropriate character references.
In 1962 the Campground found itself to be the subject of a legal complaint filed with the Massachusetts Attorney General that its practices discriminated against people who were not Caucasians. It was noted in Board minutes at the time that much of the allegations in the complaint referred to exclusionary practices of a Campground agent who was long since dead. The case was apparently closed without the need on the part of the MVCMA to take any action although the Board minutes in 1963 noted that it was, “of utmost importance that any such occurrence should be guarded against in the future” due to the risk of future legal liability.
According to the 1962 minutes, the Board felt it necessary on an immediate basis to alter the terms of its form lease for cottage lots by striking a provision in apparent response to the matter. What language did the Board strike? We have not been able to obtain a pre-1963 lease so that remains at least at present a mystery. It is also noteworthy that despite this episode the Board did not see fit at that time to change its form application for renters, which at least as late as 1965 required the applicant to identify his/her race.
The dichotomy of progressive thought mixed with apparent racial bias seems striking but, in many ways, may have largely been reflective of its time in the northeast United States.
Do you have any information or photos to add to the racial history of the Campground? We welcome additional content. Please email any thoughts or information to: office@mvcma.org.
*We wish to acknowledge the research efforts of Andrew Patch in providing much of the information for this narrative.
There are also references in the Camp Meeting journals of Hebron Vincent where, he recounted at the Tenth Camp Meeting held in 1844, the attendees in response to one anguished mother’s plea raised fifty dollars (a considerable sum in its day) to purchase her son’s freedom from slavery. Frederick Douglass spoke at the Campground in 1876. Black musician groups performed at the Tabernacle in the late 19th Century.
Yet in the late 1880s there were reports in Boston and Vineyard newspapers raising whether there was a “color line” at the MVCMA in response to apparent neighbor concerns about a “colored lodging house next door….” The articles conclude that such reports were unfounded in large part due to the number of Black families leasing lots at the Campground, which was reported to be at least twenty-five. The same or an additional incident was reported in the MVCMA Board minutes, near the same time, of MVCMA residents on Clinton and West Clinton Avenues objecting to a renter based on being “colored”. In response the Board passed a resolution that it judged it to be improper to make decisions on tenants on the basis of race.
That segregation existed in the Campground is reflected in MVCMA Board minutes from 1872, which state that it was “voted that the question of locating colored people be left with the agent,” and Board documents from 1904 that indicate that there was a portion of the Campground where “colored people” resided. The report of the MVCMA’s Agent and Treasurer that year recounted how “the lower portion of our grounds has been given up to the occupation of colored people.” The report described how a number of these homes were removed from the rear of Clinton Avenue for non-payment of rent or due to disrepair. It stated that, “there are still a number of these shanties in bad repair [although] a radical change involving an order for removal of all those buildings would not be practical or advisable….”
Explicit references to race become less common in the Board minutes in the ensuing years of the 20th century, although there remain repeated references to the need to avoid “undesirable” tenants, with the 1928 Board minutes including a vote to notify real estate agents that cottages may not be leased or sublet to persons who are not “in sympathy” with the religious purposes for which this Association was established. Catholics were openly excluded from the Campground on that basis.
While there is limited evidence that applicants were specifically denied due to race, the MVCMA well into the 1960’s would deny leases and rental applications to certain individuals without stating any reason. 1960 Board minutes reflect that there was discussion “concerning the position of the Board on color line on the grounds.” The minutes note that the MVCMA’s attorney had advised not to refuse any applicant who had appropriate character references.
In 1962 the Campground found itself to be the subject of a legal complaint filed with the Massachusetts Attorney General that its practices discriminated against people who were not Caucasians. It was noted in Board minutes at the time that much of the allegations in the complaint referred to exclusionary practices of a Campground agent who was long since dead. The case was apparently closed without the need on the part of the MVCMA to take any action although the Board minutes in 1963 noted that it was, “of utmost importance that any such occurrence should be guarded against in the future” due to the risk of future legal liability.
According to the 1962 minutes, the Board felt it necessary on an immediate basis to alter the terms of its form lease for cottage lots by striking a provision in apparent response to the matter. What language did the Board strike? We have not been able to obtain a pre-1963 lease so that remains at least at present a mystery. It is also noteworthy that despite this episode the Board did not see fit at that time to change its form application for renters, which at least as late as 1965 required the applicant to identify his/her race.
The dichotomy of progressive thought mixed with apparent racial bias seems striking but, in many ways, may have largely been reflective of its time in the northeast United States.
Do you have any information or photos to add to the racial history of the Campground? We welcome additional content. Please email any thoughts or information to: office@mvcma.org.
*We wish to acknowledge the research efforts of Andrew Patch in providing much of the information for this narrative.