African Americans on Martha's Vineyard: From Enslavement to Presidential Visit

African Americans of Martha's Vineyard have an epic history. From the days when slaves toiled away in the fresh New England air, through abolition and Reconstruction and continuing into recent years, African Americans have fought arduously to preserve a vibrant culture here. Discover how the Vineyard became a sanctuary for slaves during the Civil War and how many blacks first came to the island as indentured servants. Read tales of the Shearer Cottage, a popular vacation destination for prominent blacks from Harry T. Burleigh to Scott Joplin, and how Martin Luther King Jr. vacationed here as well. Venture through the Vineyard with local tour guide Thomas Dresser and learn about people such as Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and President Barack Obama, who return to the Vineyard for respite from a demanding world.


About the Author
Dresser, Thomas: - After a stint as an elementary schoolteacher and a couple of decades as a nursing home administrator, Tom Dresser realized he wanted to write. Besides freelance contributions to the local press, he has self-published five booklets based on favorite New England areas and printed two books on demand. In 2008, The History Press published Mystery on the Vineyard, which went into a second printing. For more information, visit thomasdresser.com. When Tom attended his thirtieth high school reunion, he ran into a former classmate who invited him down to Martha's Vineyard for a weekend, and the rest, as they say, is history. Tom and Joyce have been married a dozen years. Tom has two daughters, both in education. Amy Dresser Held (spouse: Brian) works in Los Angeles, and Jill Dresser teaches in New Orleans. He has three stepchildren, Jeremy Jones (spouse: Annie), Jennifer Jones Smyth (spouse: Pete) and Christopher Jones (spouse: Raisa), and three grandchildren: Shealyn Heather Smyth, Molly Rose Held and Dylan Thomas Held.