{"id":1240,"date":"2020-11-07T21:56:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-08T02:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/?page_id=1240"},"modified":"2025-09-07T09:39:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T13:39:08","slug":"now-playing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/american-history\/the-1930s\/now-playing\/","title":{"rendered":"American Beach: &#8220;A Place for Rest and Relaxation Without Humiliation.&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Rise, Fall and Recipes of American Beach: Part 1: Relief in Distress.\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e4Ud3suWmx4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-black-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#dd8f8f\" class=\"has-inline-color\">\u201cThe Rise, Fall and Recipes of American Beach: Relief in Distress.\u201d<\/mark><\/strong> One summer, not too long ago, my brother and friend, Mr. Darren Dante Bonner, turned me on to <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#6fb99e\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Ms. Marsha Dean Phelts<\/mark><\/strong>, a celebrated librarian, author and historian out of Jacksonville, Florida \u2014 and he also hipped me to <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#a5925f\" class=\"has-inline-color\">American Beach<\/mark><\/strong>, on Amelia Island. Ms. Phelts is the author of three books \u2014 all on American Beach. As a foodie, her second book, <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/American-Beach-Cookbook-Marsha-Phelts\/dp\/0813032105\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2IRY6Z0EYYPE2&amp;keywords=marsha+dean+phelts&amp;qid=1699099660&amp;sprefix=marsha+dean+phe%2Caps%2C84&amp;sr=8-1\">The American Beach Cookbook (University Press of Florida, 2008)<\/a><\/mark><\/strong>, seductively captured my heart; as a filmmaker, her first book, <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/American-Beach-African-Americans\/dp\/0813015049\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2IRY6Z0EYYPE2&amp;keywords=marsha+dean+phelts&amp;qid=1699099660&amp;sprefix=marsha+dean+phe%2Caps%2C84&amp;sr=8-2\">An American Beach for African Americans (University Press of Florida, 1997)<\/a><\/mark><\/strong>, completely captivated my soul. Her third book, on American Beach Homes, had a limited print run; however, after Dante showed Ms. Phelts this video, she sent me one of the 25 copies of the book that were printed. Thank you, Ms. Marsha Dean Phelts, whose work on American Beach led me, first, to Ms. Annette McCollough Myers\u2019 book, <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Shrinking-Sands-African-American-Beach\/dp\/0999051482\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=78IYO08R1LZ9&amp;keywords=annette+mccollough+myers&amp;qid=1699099854&amp;sprefix=annette+mccollough+myers%2Caps%2C73&amp;sr=8-2\">The Shrinking Sands of an African American Beach (2008)<\/a><\/mark><\/strong>; then to Mr. Russ Rymer\u2019s book, <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/American-Beach-Saga-Wealth-Memory\/dp\/0060174838\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=C1DD79JADJ88&amp;keywords=russ+rymer&amp;qid=1699099951&amp;sprefix=russ+rymer%2Caps%2C79&amp;sr=8-2\">American Beach: A Saga of Race, Wealth and Memory (HarperCollins, 1998)<\/a><\/mark><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-black-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">In this hour, we are cooking our way through the roots, history, culinary heritage and spiritual legacy of American Beach, Florida&#8217;s first Black-owned and Black-populated coastal resort, created by <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-purple-color\"><a href=\"https:\/\/allewismuseum.org\">Abraham Lincoln Lewis (1865-1947)<\/a><\/mark><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe Rise, Fall and Recipes of American Beach: Relief in Distress.\u201d One summer, not too long ago, my brother and friend, Mr. Darren Dante Bonner, turned me on to Ms. Marsha Dean Phelts, a celebrated librarian, author and historian out of Jacksonville, Florida \u2014 and he also hipped me to American Beach, on Amelia Island. Ms. Phelts is the author of three books \u2014 all on American Beach. As a foodie, her second book, The American Beach Cookbook (University Press of Florida, 2008), seductively captured my heart; as a filmmaker, her first book, An American Beach for African Americans (University Press of Florida, 1997), completely captivated my soul. Her third book, on American Beach Homes, had a limited print run; however, after Dante showed Ms. Phelts this video, she sent me one of the 25 copies of the book that were printed. Thank you, Ms. Marsha Dean Phelts, whose work on American Beach led me, first, to Ms. Annette McCollough Myers\u2019 book, The Shrinking Sands of an African American Beach (2008); then to Mr. Russ Rymer\u2019s book, American Beach: A Saga of Race, Wealth and Memory (HarperCollins, 1998). In this hour, we are cooking our way through the roots, history, <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/american-history\/the-1930s\/now-playing\/\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3439,"parent":3608,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1240","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>American Beach: &quot;A Place for Rest and Relaxation Without Humiliation.&quot; - Robert Wesley Branch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/american-history\/the-1930s\/now-playing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"American Beach: &quot;A Place for Rest and Relaxation Without Humiliation.&quot; - Robert Wesley Branch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe Rise, Fall and Recipes of American Beach: Relief in Distress.\u201d One summer, not too long ago, my brother and friend, Mr. Darren Dante Bonner, turned me on to Ms. Marsha Dean Phelts, a celebrated librarian, author and historian out of Jacksonville, Florida \u2014 and he also hipped me to American Beach, on Amelia Island. Ms. Phelts is the author of three books \u2014 all on American Beach. As a foodie, her second book, The American Beach Cookbook (University Press of Florida, 2008), seductively captured my heart; as a filmmaker, her first book, An American Beach for African Americans (University Press of Florida, 1997), completely captivated my soul. Her third book, on American Beach Homes, had a limited print run; however, after Dante showed Ms. Phelts this video, she sent me one of the 25 copies of the book that were printed. Thank you, Ms. Marsha Dean Phelts, whose work on American Beach led me, first, to Ms. Annette McCollough Myers\u2019 book, The Shrinking Sands of an African American Beach (2008); then to Mr. Russ Rymer\u2019s book, American Beach: A Saga of Race, Wealth and Memory (HarperCollins, 1998). In this hour, we are cooking our way through the roots, history, Read More ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/american-history\/the-1930s\/now-playing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Robert Wesley Branch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-07T13:39:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\/robertwritings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/298-American-Beach-FSlider.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/now-playing\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/now-playing\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Beach: \\\"A Place for Rest and Relaxation Without Humiliation.\\\" - Robert Wesley Branch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/now-playing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/now-playing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/298-American-Beach-FSlider.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-08T02:56:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-07T13:39:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/now-playing\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/now-playing\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/now-playing\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/298-American-Beach-FSlider.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/298-American-Beach-FSlider.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/now-playing\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"American History\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The 1930s\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/american-history\\\/the-1930s\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"American Beach: &#8220;A Place for Rest and Relaxation Without Humiliation.&#8221;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robertwesleybranch.com\\\/robertwritings\\\/\",\"name\":\"Robert Wesley Branch\",\"description\":\"Cosmos-conceived. 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