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Sometimes the actions of just one person can leave a lasting footprint on the course of history. MaVynee Betsch left such a footprint. Growing up along the northeast coastline of Florida, MaVynee came to love the ocean beach. Her great grandfather Abraham Lincoln Lewis loved it too, but despaired that the ocean water was divided by an orange rope separating black swimmers from white—customary segregation during the Jim Crow years of our history. Lewis, a successful entrepreneur, bought the beach and established a lively and beautiful recreation spot for the black community. It soon became American Beach—a magnet for people far and near, including such performers as Ray Charles and Duke Ellington. Meanwhile, MaVynee had grown up to become an opera singer, performing across the wide ocean in Europe. Returning to America when her mother became ill, MaVynee discovered that “her” American Beach had suffered from neglect as a result of desegregation laws that opened facilities across the nation to all races, drawing people to new venues. MaVynee made a pledge to save the beach and restore it to its rich natural beauty. In the process, she fought with beachfront developers and garnered supporters through her determined and flamboyant energy. Ultimately just a sliver of beach front remained but through her tireless efforts, the U. S. President George W. Bush signed the protection of American Beach into law. It became part of the National Park Service, and a site on the National Register of Historic Places and Florida Black History Trail. In Saving American Beach: The Biography of African American Environmentalist MaVynee Betsch, author Heidi Tyline King weaves MaVynee’s personality and passion into a wonderful story. Ekua Holmes’s vibrant paint-and-collage illustrations capture the moods and spirit of both the beach and its indomitable advocate MaVynee, a true “agent of change.” Ages 4-9. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2021.
For more information about MaVynee and American Beach, explore https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/mavynee-beach-lady-betsch-39 and https://www.nps.gov/places/american-beach-nana-sand-dune.htm
