History of Delaware's segregated beaches explored in exhibit

The Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs’ Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes recently released on online exhibit called Segregated Sands: Delaware's Segregated Beaches During the Jim Crow Era.” The exhibit explores the history and stories of the Indigenous and African American experience at Delaware’s beaches during the segregation era.

“Segregated Sands” was created by Zwaanendael Museum staff members and intern Kelli Racine Barnes, a doctoral candidate at the University of Delaware studying late 18th and early 19th century African American history. Honored by the university as an African American Public Humanities Fellow, Barnes was also named an E. Lyman Stewart intern for summer 2021. As part of her internship, she conducted most of the research, writing and design of what was to become the Segregated Sands exhibit.

In her Nov. 12, 2021 article titled Beach-going in Delaware: Black perspectives under segregation, which appeared in the division’s newsletter, Barnes wrote, “By the early 20th century, Delaware government officials systematically repressed Black, Indigenous and other residents of color through state sanctioned laws of segregation which extended to all facets of life including recreation. After the Civil War, the Delaware General Assembly rejected measures of equality enacted by the federal government including Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, the 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment. Segregation laws became the norm, determining how Black people engaged with Delaware’s beaches.”

Segregated Sands aims to broaden public understanding of how Delaware’s beaches were utilized throughout history in an online format that is easy for the public to view. The exhibit explores 12 beaches spread across Delaware’s three counties that were either designated locations for people of color to visit anytime, or places where they were permitted to visit on specifically designated days.

As a companion to the exhibit, the museum is conducting Recapturing Black Beaches: A Shared Story Project, an oral history initiative that aims to gather and memorialize the stories of people of color who visited Delaware’s segregated beaches throughout history. Information gathered during the oral history project, as well as a plethora of other research efforts, will be incorporated into the Segregated Sands virtual exhibit.

To access the exhibit, go to the museum website at history.delaware.gov/zwaanendael-museum/.

To ask questions and learn more, contact the Zwaanendael Museum at 302-645-1148 or Zmuseum@delaware.gov.