Barriers to the beach: access to coastal New England past and present

By James Szkobel-Wolff,

Published July 6, 2022 at 1:03 PM EDT

1 of 2 — Shearer family and guests including composer Harry T. Burleigh (far right) enjoying Oak Bluffs town beach circa 1920.

Shearer family and guests including composer Harry T. Burleigh (far right) enjoying Oak Bluffs town beach circa 1920. (Photograph courtesy of The Inn at Shearer Cottage, Martha's Vineyard)

Photograph courtesy of The Inn at Shearer Cottage

2 of 2 — Shearer family and guests, including a young Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (standing, far left), opera singer Lillian Evanti (top row, fifth from left) and Charles Shearer (standing, third from right) at Shearer Cottage circa 1931.

Shearer family and guests, including a young Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (standing, far left), opera singer Lillian Evanti (top row, fifth from left) and Charles Shearer (standing, third from right) at Shearer Cottage circa 1931. (Photograph courtesy of The Inn at Shearer Cottage, Martha's Vineyard.)

As summer heats up, people across New England are flocking to the beach. But there’s been a long battle in CT, for access to the shoreline. This week on Disrupted, we look back at an episode about the history of exclusion on the Long Island sound. And we hear from descendants of the historically Black communities of Oak Bluffs, MA and Sag Harbor, NY.

GUESTS:

Andrew Kahrl: Professor of African-American Studies and History at The Carter G. Woodson Institute at the University of Virginia and author of Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America's Most Exclusive Shoreline
Lee Jackson Van Allen: Innkeeper at The Inn at Shearer Cottagein Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.
Erica Stanley-Dottin: 3rd generation resident of the Azurest Neighborhood in Sag Harbor.

Our show is also available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

This episode originally aired on June 21st, 2021.