Beach Access

From the late 1800s until the mid-1960s, Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation in the South and denied African Americans equal access to public spaces, including beaches. When Jekyll Island opened as a state park in 1948, Georgia still had no public beach where black residents could enter the ocean. In 1950, local black business leaders petitioned to have part of Jekyll Island set aside for African American use, and four years later the Jekyll Island Authority agreed to provide land on the island's South End for recreation by the black community. With the opening of the Beach Pavilion in 1955, African Americans gained their own public beach on Jekyll Island, known as St. Andrews Beach, then the only public beach available to African Americans in Georgia. It became a popular destination for black families barred from white-only beaches, and Sunday trips there became a weekly community ritual for many. In the mid-1940s, Rena Atkins, Winsor Roberts, and Inez Walke of Brunswick tried to swim in the ocean despite segregation, but were arrested, jailed for the day, and fined $50 plus costs for trespassing because no public beach access existed for African Americans in Georgia. Their peaceful protest drew attention to the lack of recreational options for African Americans and helped advance greater public access for all. In 1964, Jekyll Island integrated, and all of its beaches became open to everyone.

Jekyll Island, Georgia · United States