Discover Worcester County - Hold Your Light: Segregation
Henry Hotel |
Schools and other public intstutions were once segregated like much of the rest of the conutry until the 1960's. Ocean City was strictly segregated as well during the early 20th century. Reserved periods, known as "Colored Excursion Days," were limited to days after the principal summer season.
Formerly known as "Henry's Colored Hotel," the prominent three-story shingled frame structure survives as one of the oldest hotels in Ocean City today. Charles T. and Louis Henry bought the hotel in December 1926. 
Mar-Va Theater |
Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong were guests of Henry's Hotel in the days when black entertainers could perform in major hotel ballrooms, yet not sleep in the hotels themselves.
Another site in Pocomoke City, Mar-Va Theater, has an interesting African-American association with its segregated entrance and seating used solely by blacks. Little changed since it was redecorated in 1937, the interior of the Mar-Va has a separate staircase, ticket booth, bathroom, concession stand and seating in the balcony that were intended for black visitors.
Outten's Colored Theater,
Snow Hill |
Segregation also played a role in the national and local expression of the country's principal pastime, baseball. One of the most recognized of the national Negro League is
William Julius "Judy" Johnson who was born in the vicinity of Snow Hill near Newark on October 26, 1899.
Judy Johnson, Cooperstown
Baseball Hall of Fame |
He began his twenty-one-year Negro League baseball career in 1918, and he participated in more than 3,000 professional games, earning recognition from his peers as the best all-time third baseman. In 1975, "Judy" Johnson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Memorabilia on "Judy" Johnson are on display at the Julia A. Purnell Museum in Snow Hill.
Local baseball teams were segregated as well, as represented by the Legionnaire Stars team of Pocomoke City. Formed in 1945 following WWII, the team was composed of former war veterans and graduates of the Stephen Long school and Worcester High School. The team played up and down the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia over a three-year period. The community aided the team in the purchase of supplies. Similar teams played in other parts of Worcester County and those teams included the Berlin Eagles, Snow Hill's Hanks, the Showell Wildcats and the Stockton Braves. Some of these teams continued to play as late as the early 1970s.
Copywriting by Paul Touart
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