Last Resorts

The resorts, clubs, and vacation spots founded by Black people over the years were the result of segregation while offering a sanctuary from it. Locations like Idlewild and Camp Misinick provided safe haven, spaces to commune with nature and learn to swim when most city pools and public beaches drew the color line if they allowed African Americans at all. This photo of the Bathing Beauties Parade at the Pacific Beach Club in Orange County, California marks a moment of pleasure before pain: the Black-founded club, planned to offer “the grandest of escapes,” suffered from a suspicious fire shortly after and never fully opened.