(The Root) — Although they skipped a lengthy summer vacation last year because of the election, this year the Obamas will be making up for lost time. The first family is scheduled to spend the week of Aug. 10 in Martha's Vineyard.
The Obamas continue a long tradition of high-profile African Americans summering there, including a number of fellow political trailblazers. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., New York's first African-American congressman, and Ed Brooke, the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate, both owned homes on the island.
As a testament to how closely identified Martha's Vineyard is with the African-American experience, this week marked the start of the Harlem Fine Arts Show there. Authors and artists such as MSNBC host Touré and style expert, and The Root contributor, Harriette Cole are among the high-profile faces scheduled to headline events during the festivities.
So how exactly did Martha's Vineyard become the go-to-place for African Americans in the summer, and why has it remained that way over the years?
Although Harlem did not become a significant place in black history until the 1920s, the connection between African Americans and Martha's Vineyard dates back to the 1800s. In an interview with The Root, historian Robert Hayden, author of African-Americans on Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket: A History of People, Places and Events, explained that in the late 19th century, the island emerged as an upscale summering resort for wealthy white Bostonians and those from Newport, R.I.
This laid the groundwork for the thriving black community that would ultimately emerge in places like Oak Bluffs (originally called Cottage City) on the Vineyard. "Many came with their employers from Boston or Newport," Hayden said, referring to the early black Vineyard inhabitants. "They [white vacationers] would bring their black employees for the summer, and eventually that working class turned into a leisure class at the turn of the century."
Now, more than a century later, many of the descendants of this black working class have continued the tradition of bringing their families to the island, although many of them have moved beyond the working-class ranks. By 1947 Ebony magazine referred to Oak Bluffs as the "most exclusive Negro summer colony in the country." Years later, the exclusivity label is one that some who visit the Vineyard bristle at.
A 2009 New York magazine article by Touré ruffled feathers for highlighting some of the perceived elitism of the Martha's Vineyard set. An unnamed Vineyarder was quoted as saying of the Obamas' pending visit, "He doesn't seem to identify with affluent black people. His wife definitely doesn't; she is basically a ghetto girl. That's what she says — I'm just being sociological. She grew up in the same place Jennifer Hudson did. She hasn't reached out to the social community of Washington, and people are waiting to see what they'll do about that."
Kuae Mattox, the national president of Mocha Moms, said that she doesn't give much thought to criticism of the Vineyard as elitist. She further noted that although she and her family have not been coming for generations, their experience on the Vineyard has been a highlight of the last 14 years. "People like going, whether they have been going for generations or are new. I just don't want to be wrapped up in it," she said of the elitism debate.
Although she acknowledged that some on the Vineyard are conscious of whether someone has been going there for generations or is new, she continued, "We are all in the same boat. I don't care how you want to slice it." Ultimately, the reason she tries "not to pay too much attention" to discussion of the social politics of the Vineyard is that spending time there is not about social politics at all. "The Vineyard represents a safe place for my kids, a place where all of us can let our hair down. It's about them having fun with friends and family." This sentiment — that family is at the heart of the Vineyard experience — was echoed by a number of those contacted for this piece.
Lisa Davis, a successful attorney, said that her grandmother first began going in 1963, when her family purchased a home on the island. Davis said that her fondest memories consist of "family cookouts on the beach in Aquinnah or Chappaquiddick, watching my uncle and older cousins fishing." She called the Vineyard "the place where I'm known not just as Lisa Davis but as Gwen and Arnold's daughter, Iris' granddaughter, Alex and Sylvia's cousin."
Similarly, Shanta Sullivan, an actress whose family has been vacationing there for 40 years, since her childhood, said that going to the Vineyard is "an opportunity to reunite with family and some of my dearest friends."
Bob Hayden said that ultimately, that is what likely draws the Obamas: the chance to relax with friends and family without some of the social pressures that accompany his day-to-day presidential life. Although some have been said to grumble at the disruption the first family brings to the island, with the Secret Service and overzealous fans, Hayden said, "I relish their being here."
He's not the only one. Mattox said that her kids dream of enjoying a playdate with Malia and Sasha Obama. "The great thing about the Vineyard is there is this equal mix of peace and calm and serenity," she said. "But especially when the Obamas come, there is some excitement in the air."
Keli Goff is The Root's special correspondent. Follow her on Twitter.
Keli Goff is The Root’s special correspondent. Follow her on Twitter.