Celebrating History, Sense of Community in Oak Bluffs

Olive Tomlinson remembered the cottages and the shared car rides, the simplicity of summer life. With just a few phrases, Jessica Harris evoked memories of front porches and morning swims. Skip Finley recalled his first summer jobs, coin diving, then dessert making at the Ocean View. David Van Allen spoke of basketball tournaments and dances at Cottagers Corner, where 45s spun on turntables and gave way over time to DJ equipment.

Rep. Barbara Lee was a cosponsor of the bill that created Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Mark Lovewell

The same families would come back, Mr. Van Allen said of his summers in Oak Bluffs. And with your own children, it starts all over. Mr. Van Allen is the fifth generation in his family to own Shearer Cottage, a bed and breakfast founded in 1912 by Charles Shearer, a former slave.

Mr. Van Allen was one of several residents who joined a panel discussion at Oak Bluffs: A Place of Pride and History, an event last Thursday devoted to discussing the role Oak Bluffs has played in the African American community. Nearly 200 people came to Union Chapel for the afternoon discussion and film screening, which was sponsored by Marthas Vineyard Magazine in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution.

Oak Bluffs, Ms. Harris said, is a place of repose and reconnection.

Soon, Oak Bluffs and its deep sense of local community will be connected to the international community as well. It is one of 10 towns that will be featured in a permanent exhibition called The Power of Place, at the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum is scheduled to open in 2016.

Thursdays event was a chance to learn about the development of the museum itself, in addition to how Oak Bluffs came to be featured at the museum.

Jessica Harris said Oak Bluffs is a place of repose and reconnection. Mark Lovewell

Oak Bluffs is indeed a powerful place in our African American community and in the United States, said featured speaker Barbara Lee, who represents Californias 13th District in the House of Representatives and was a cosponsor of the 2003 bill that created the museum.

Ms. Lee is no stranger to the power of place, she said. Being in Oak Bluffs, she added, really settles my spirit.

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Celebrating History, Sense of Community in Oak Bluffs