Sea Isle’s Role in the Civil Rights Effort
W.E.B. DuBois’ ‘Niagara Movement’ Convened Here in1909 and 1910
W.E.B. DuBois
The Methodist Church was located on the southeast corner of Landis Avenue and Ariadne Street (now 45th Street). W.E.B. DuBois spoke to the congregation in the church on Sunday morning, Aug. 15, 1909. The topic of his talk was “the purposes and aims of the Niagara Movement and to show that the cause of all submerged classes and peoples is practically the same.”
The period from our nation’s Reconstruction following the Civil War through the 1920s has been called “the nadir of civil rights in America.” During this low point in our nation’s history, Jim Crow laws institutionalized discrimination in America’s South, while Blacks were treated like second-class citizens throughout most of the rest of the country. In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court had affirmed in Plessy v. Ferguson that it was legal to keep Blacks separated from whites, as long as accommodations were “equal.” In reality, though, accommodations throughout our country were nowhere near “equal” between the races.
This era of American history gave rise to two early Black civil-rights giants, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Washington’s views focused on a vocational approach, stressing hard work within the current system while gaining the economic power needed to change the condition of Blacks. Du Bois’ focus was on intellectual means to change the current system and thereby attain full civil rights. These views, and these men, often came into conflict.
A New York City newspaper advertisement for the Sea View in SIC
Along with other intellectuals, Du Bois, who was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard, formed a group in 1905 as a vehicle to attain full rights for Black Americans. The organization’s first meeting was scheduled for Buffalo, but before the convention started it was moved across the border to near Niagara Falls, Canada. This subsequently gave rise to it being named the Niagara Movement. As the group grew, meetings were held in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., in 1906, Boston in 1907, Oberlin, Ohio in 1908, and Sea Isle City in 1909 and 1910.
Coverage of the SIC meeting from The Nashville (Tenn.) Globe from August 1910.
Events leading to the choice of Sea Isle City as a meeting place are cloudy, but the conference was headquartered at the Gordon Sea View Hotel, which was a beachfront property at Hartson Avenue and the beach, on what is now 37th Street. This is the current site of the Spinnaker Condominiums. Although advance reservations for the conference were directed to J.H. Gordon in New York City, the proprietor of the hotel is listed in newspapers as Jasper L. Evans, a Black entrepreneur. Evans owned other hotels and businesses throughout the area, including serving as a director of People’s Savings Bank. The bank was noted in the Black press as the first “Afro-American bank in North Philadelphia.” The president of the bank was George Henry White, who was also the founder of the community of Whitesboro in Middle Township. The Niagara Conference was set to run in Sea Isle City from Aug. 15-18 in 1909. It is probable that Du Bois knew one or possibly both men, through the economic status they had achieved as Black Americans. Cordial correspondence survives that confirms Du Bois and Gordon were acquainted.
Numerous advertisements in Black newspapers at the time indicate that “All railroads grant reduced round trip tickets to New Jersey Seaside resorts during August,” and patrons should check with “your local ticket agent” to determine the fare to the conference. Rates for the hotel were $1.50 per day, or if you wanted to extend your stay, $10 per week. Included in the $1.50 daily rate were “board, furnished room, and electric lights etc.” Sea Isle City was noted as having “the usual amusements and recreations of the seaside resorts – fishing, boating, sea bathing, and amusement pier. etc.” Additionally, it was noted that women and children were welcome at the hotel.
The conference opened on Sunday, Aug. 15, and ended on Wednesday, Aug. 18. According to newspaper accounts, much of the conference was held at the “Methodist Episcopal Church (white)” which was located on the southeast corner of Landis Avenue and what is now 46th Street. On Aug. 15, Du Bois gave an address at the Sunday morning service and explained “the purposes and aims of the Niagara Movement and to show that the cause of all submerged classes and peoples is practically the same.”
Topics that were discussed throughout the run of the conference included “Methods of Emancipating Submerged Peoples, Methods of Socialism, Methods of the Russian Revolution, Methods of the Mexican Liberals, Methods of Modern India, Methods of Organized Labor,” and “The Lesson of These Methods for Negro Americans.” Different speakers were featured on each topic. At the conference’s conclusion, a statement was created and a plan was mapped out for the future action. The topics of freedom and liberty were at issue, especially the ability of Blacks to freely work and travel. Mob rule and indiscriminate lynchings were also addressed. Identified future work for the movement included “the founding of a monthly publication, and the purchase of a permanent meeting place.”
It is very interesting to note that major newspapers of the day took little if any notice of the Niagara Movement. Reporting on the movement was almost exclusively in the Black press. Then, as it is now, various newspapers took different positions on the conference. This was very much along the lines of the open disagreement between Du Bois and Washington. Press favorable to Du Bois heralded the meeting, while press favorable to Washington dismissed the meeting, making comments such as:
“The ‘Statement to the Nation’ at the Conference’s conclusion could have been done at the secretary’s desk at home just as well as not, and saved a few persons several dollars in train fare.”
The politics and fighting began to take a toll on the movement. The conflicts between Washington and Du Bois were very much out in the open, and well-covered by the press. By the time of the 1910 conference, there were far fewer people following the Niagara Movement and there were much fewer attendees at the conference. Once again, the Gordon Sea View Hotel served as the meeting’s headquarters.
Coverage from The Washington Bee in August 1910.
Members of the DuBois family vacationed in Sea Isle City many times during the latter part of the 1910s. Correspondence indicates that they stayed at the “Ocean House,” and had brought their pets “Steve” and “Puff” with them. Mrs. Lucy Lee, the propietor, saved Dr. DuBois’ favorite room, No. 7, for his arrival.
The conference met in Sea Isle City Aug. 27-30, 1910. As it turned out, this was the last meeting of the group. Perhaps, sensing that the organization was weakening, the topic at this convention was “Concentration of Effort Through Race Organizations.” At the end of the conference, Du Bois gave his annual address to the country. The address noted five areas of focus, all of which were thinly veiled attacks against Washington and his means of obtaining full civil rights. However, what proved to be the most important part of the address was articulated at its conclusion. Du Bois’ report to the nation stated:
“Finally, we recognize as the greatest accomplishment of the year the organization of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in New York City. We urge our members to join and co-operate with it, and we willingly entrust to this organization the carrying out of the great objectives of political enfranchisement, universal education, legal protection, and social justice.”
In making this statement, Du Bois announced to his followers and to the rest of the country that the organization better known as the NAACP was the vehicle needed to assist Blacks in their struggle. He lent the organization his full support and personal clout in helping to get it off the ground and functioning. This groundbreaking statement was constructed in Sea Isle City.
Elliott M. Rudwick, of the University of Tampa, wrote in his article on the 50th anniversary of the NAACP, which was published in the Journal of Negro History in 1957:
“Not only did the Niagara men lay the foundation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but they served as its earliest leaders and staunchest supporters.”
The seminal events that occurred in Sea Isle City in helping to create the NAACP went unnoticed and forgotten in the collective mindset of the community for many years. In the spring of 2024, the role that the resort played in the Civil Rights Movement during the early 20th century came to the attention of Mary Ellen Balady, a retired municipal employee from Mercer County. Balady was researching other Black History issues when she came across mention of Sea Isle City. Balady contacted the Sea Isle City Historical Museum, and was invited to meet with museum personnel. Balady was completing research with an eye on having specific Black History events in her native Mercer County memorialized by markers and inclusion on the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail.
The state’s Black Heritage Trail was created by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2022 to, according to its website, “promote awareness and appreciation of Black history, heritage, and culture” that will “highlight Black heritage sites through historical markers and a trail-like path that connects the stories of Black life and resiliency.” Museum personnel are continuing research on Sea Isle City’s role in the Niagara Movement and the birth of the NAACP, with the thought of making application to be formally included on the state’s Black Heritage Trail.
The 1910 Niagara Movement Conference was by no means the end of Du Bois’ connection to Sea Isle City. The Du Bois archives at the University of Massachusetts are rich with correspondence from his family as they vacationed in the resort during the latter part of the decade. The correspondence describes friends that Du Bois’ wife Nina and daughter Yolande made in the resort, and how they enjoyed bathing in the surf. Mention is also made of their pets, Steve and Puff. By 1916, the Du Bois family were staying at the “Ocean House,” as guests of Lucy Lee, the proprietor.
By reading these letters and the press surrounding the Niagara Movement meetings, it is very apparent that for well over 100 years, Sea Isle City has been a very welcoming community to all people.
PROFESSOR DROWNED BEFORE 1910 CONVENTION
One week before the opening of the 1910 Niagara Movement Conference, tragedy struck in Sea Isle City. Shortly after 1pm on Aug. 21, three people drowned in the surf in two incidents. It was reported that the first drowning victim was Dr. Charles C. Cook, a Howard University professor. He reportedly drowned after being caught in “an eddy” after he had “ventured out past the breakers.” Cook was described as an “expert swimmer.”
With his cousin Jane Elenore Datcher and George Washington Fields, Cook was among the first three African Americans to graduate from Cornell University, in 1890. His father was John F. Cook, who was reported in the press as “the wealthiest Negro in the District of Colombia.” After matriculating at Cornell, Cook completed his studies in Europe in Edinburgh, Oxford, and Heidelberg, and then joined the facility of Howard University. At Howard, he was a professor of English Literature, Rhetoric, Logic, and Elocution, and head of the English department. He was also active in promoting athletics at the university.
As one of the “Talented Tenth,” as described by Du Bois, Cook was active in matters pertaining to achieving racial equality. The term “Talented Tenth,” was coined in that era to describe Black intellectuals who were leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. In December 1903, Cook was a featured speaker at the seventh annual meeting of the American Negro Academy, held in Washington. He presented a paper to the group titled “The Light of the Last 40 Years.” Correspondence in the W.E.B. Du Bois archives indicate that Cook and Du Bois worked together.
Cook was vacationing in Sea Isle City with his wife and two of their children. Their other three children were away at college, studying in Europe at the time of his death. It was reported that his wife had spent the entire summer season in Sea Isle.
Services were held at Cook’s mother’s home in Washington, and he was interred at Harmony Cemetery in Hyattsville, Md.
These incidents occurred almost nine years before the formation of the municipal lifesaving force, the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol, which was organized in July 1919.