American Beach, an African American Historic Site

Our family took a morning trip to American Beach, on Amelia Island in north east Florida.

The beach was beautiful with soft white sand.  Numerous shells dotted the shore for our kids to seach over.  A small sand bar appeared when the tide went out further.

This day we had blue skies and medium sized waves. I was actually surprised by the size of the wave, some had a little curl in them.

It was a very quiet beach, only two other cars there.

We all enjoyed body surfing, boogie boarding, and playing in the sand.  My grandbaby came along and crawled over the sand and into the edge of the surf.  This wasn’t her first time to the beach so she crawled through the edge of the waves like a pro!

The history of American Beach is what I consider disgusting.  It is shocking to think there was a time that African Americans were only allowed to go to this beach in Florida.

Segregation in nature even.  

What did people think would happen if they went to a beach where an African American was?

It was founded in 1935 by the Afro-American Life Insurance Company (AALIC).  They purchases 33 acres at the beach to provide a safe place for Afro-Americans to enjoy.
The president of AALIC, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, named the beach American Beach because they felt that in the United States beaches should be open to everyone.  (For more info click here)

Our family enjoyed our day in the water and sand.  After, we had a picnic in the covered pavilian that gave us all a break from the hot sun and heat.  There are showers and bathrooms to clean off the sand before heading out for an afternoon nap and another adventure tonight!
We are doing a study on segregation with our kids for home school. They are writing essays, studying vocabulary, history, maps, etc.  One child is writing an article for www.thelemonadedigest.com There are a few links below.

https://www.nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/ambch.htm

Tytus’ first trip to the ocean outside of the womb LOL

Grandbaby at the beach with us!

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-segregation.html

Abolish as per https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/abolition

the act of abolishing a system or practice or institution (especially abolishing slavery)

“the abolition of capital punishment”
Synonyms:
abolishment
Type of:
conclusion, ending, termination

the act of ending something

Segregation as per Google search

seg·re·ga·tion
ˌseɡrəˈɡāSH(ə)n/
noun
noun: segregation
  1. the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things or being set apart.

    “the segregation of pupils with learning difficulties”


    • the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment.

      “an official policy of racial segregation”


    • GENETICS
      the separation of pairs of alleles at meiosis and their independent transmission via separate gametes.
      plural noun: segregations

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/american-beach-jacksonville-florida-1936

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