From the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, African Americans in the Washington, D.C. area sought leisure destinations where they could relax without the burden of racial oppression. Local picnic parks such as Eureka and Madre's were accessible by streetcars. Black-owned steamboats ferried passengers seeking sun and sand to places like Collingwood Beach, and African American families settled into quiet beach-side communities along the Western Shore of Maryland. Author and public historian Patsy M. Fletcher reveals the history behind Washington's forgotten era of African American leisure.
Patsy Fletcher is a consultant in the field of historic preservation and community development through her company Training, Historical Research and Economic Development (THREAD, LLC). As a preservationist, she has aided in documenting and publishing histories of wards in the District. As a historian, she has contributed to the documentary Master Builders of the Nation's Capital as well as The Economics of Historic Preservation and the Biographical Dictionary of African American Architects, 1865–1945.