Since the late 19th century, affluent African-Americans have built summer communities to rest, socialize, and expose their children to a positive vision of black life. Some resorts, like Idlewild, Michigan; Cape May, New Jersey; and Fox Lake, Indiana, have fallen into decline.

But other locations, including Sag Harbor, Long Island; Highland Beach, Maryland; American Beach, Florida, and perhaps the best known, Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, continue to attract growing numbers of African Americans of means.