Black Workers in Early Ocean City History

Article by Andre Nieto Jaime

Rapid Transit in Ocean City, Md.
A photo of a postcard of two steers hooked up to a two wheeled cart.
Walter Thurston Photograph Collection (2016.096)
The Edward H. Nabb Research Center at Salisbury University

Ocean City Maryland, the iconic resort town situated on Maryland’s Atlantic Coast, has roots spanning back to 1875 when the Atlantic Hotel’s first iteration was opened. Just a year later, a railroad connected Ocean City to the mainland and brought passengers to the up and coming community for over 50 years. Through the 20th century, Ocean City continued to expand and attract visitors, growing into the resort and economic hub we recognize today. This success can be attributed to many individuals, some well known whiles others remain in obscurity. One group deserving of recognition are the African Americans that helped build Ocean City, metaphorically and literally, into the resort that attracts millions of people to our shore. Their work as house keepers, cooks, and ice pullers was essential to keep the town running smoothly as a resort. Black workers even helped build the town as carpenters, day laborers, haulers, painters, and more. It was their efforts that ensured the success of businesses and without their efforts, Ocean City could not have become the tourist destination it is today, making them an essential part of the town and its history in the first half of the 20th century. 

Today, Ocean City welcomes everyone regardless of their background and the way they identify, but in the past, this was not always the case and it took years of activism to change this. ​It should be no secret that segregation was common place throughout the United States, including Maryland, following the end of the Civil War. Jim Crow and Segregation influenced all facets of Black life. A 1927 article from the Baltimore Afro-American demonstrates how segregation impacted every aspect of Black life in Ocean City. Black beach-goers were restricted to a section of beach north of the boardwalk, away from the white beaches, that kept getting pushed further north as the city grew. The article author also reveals that just ten years prior it was not socially acceptable for non-whites to even step foot on the boardwalk.

Beach at Ocean City, Maryland
c.1929
Maryland Department, Photograph Collection; L143
​Enoch Pratt Free Library / State Library Resource Center

Photo Taken on a “Colored Excursion Day” in Ocean City, Md.
C.1940s
​Ocean City Life Saving Station Museum/Vanishing Ocean City

​However, Jim Crow not only restricted the mobility and services available to African Americans in public, but it also limited the types of employment available to them. In the United States, labor discrimination against Black workers was implemented to suppress the advancement of Black Americans in society. This was made worse by other factors including unequal access to education and the lingering effects of having been enslaved for generations without any generational wealth or other skill sets to build off of. There were few jobs that Black Americans had access to and the ones they did consisted of hard, often menial labor. The same 1927 article reflects this reality, describing a typical day in the life of an average hotel worker trying to “kill time” in a segregated town, where very few establishments welcomed them, until they must return to work once more.

Ocean City’s early census data reveals that several Black individuals from 1900 through 1950 were recorded as day laborers working odd jobs. This is a rather broad and vague description that could encompass a wide range of work that is usually inconsistent. A few of these individuals include: Thomas E. Franklin, age 30 (1900), Isaac Purnell, age 55 (1900), Joshua Pitts, age 30 (1910), and Lewis Paige, age 19 (1930), just to name a few. While day laborers tended to be men, there were women who took up the odd job trade. One sixteen year old girl, Mamie Pitts, was listed as a laborer in working odd jobs in 1910. It was and still remains no easy feat to make a living from odd jobs, as the inconsistency of work could place financial stress on the individuals.

Man in Work Clothes
Revered B.G. Parker Collection (1984.061)
​The Edward H. Nabb Research Center at Salisbury University

A developing resort town like Ocean City needs hands to help build its hotels and restaurants and many Black hands helped contribute to the expansion of the town. William Pitts, listed within Ocean City’s limits in 1900, was recorded as working at a saw mill, perhaps cutting wood destined to be used in the construction of some of the city’s new buildings. That same year, Major Showell was working as a plasterer, a common trade before drywall’s rise in popularity in the mid-nineteenth century. Fast forward twenty years and WM Pitts was working as a carpenter, likely helping build some of the new constructions in a developing Ocean City. Then there was Henry Booth in 1950 who was a painter. All of these individuals were employed in fields key in the construction industry, which also required people to deliver goods and materials.

Elzy Ayres, who spent most of his career as a teamster, can be found in Ocean City from 1900 until 1940. In 1900 he was listed as a day laborer, but the following decade the industry of his occupation was recorded as “hauling” and in 1920 his occupation was again listed as hauling. The 1930 Census adds a little more clarity to Ayres’ occupation, this time being written as teamster in the “general hauling” industry. He appears again living in Ocean City in the 1940 census as a truck driver with “Ice Route” scribbled in the industry description, perhaps delivering ice from the ice plant that was located in Ocean City. In 1950, at the age of 74, Elzy Ayres was no longer living in Ocean City, but he remains a truck driver in Worcester County. Looking at this, it is apparent that Ayres had a long career of transporting goods in the area.

On the topic of transportation, the railroad linking Ocean City to the mainland also had Black workers ensure its smooth operation. William Franklin Manuel was as a watchman for the Baltimore Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway Company which operated the line leading into Ocean City, terminating in Downtown Ocean City. Manuel’s 1917 draft registration reveals he worked for the B.C.A.R. in Ocean City as a night watchman and the 1920 Census confirms he was still employed as one three years later. His primary duty would have been to keep watch for oncoming trains, but may have also included other tasks such as ensuring the line was clear, controlling gates, and inspecting trains. Watchmen like William Franklin Manuel were essential for safety in an industry that helped contribute to OC’s growth and helped ferry tourists into the city for over 50 years. 

Train moving across the Ocean City Bay Bridge, 1915
​1915
​Fred Grier collection (1996.016)
​The Edward H. Nabb Research Center at Salisbury University

As mentioned earlier, Ocean City was once home to at least one ice plant that employed Black workers, one of them was Samuel J. Dennis who worked as an ice puller at an ice plant located on Philadelphia Avenue. He worked there for at least 12 years as he was first listed as an ice puller in the 1930 census and last noted as such in his 1942 draft registration. In the 1950 Census Dennis is no longer employed, perhaps retired or unable to work. Dennis passed away shortly after in 1954, reportedly at the age of 70, although his census age suggest it was closer to 77. There was also a gentleman named Fester Lowe that was pulling ice in 1950, perhaps at the same ice plant that Dennis had worked at. It is difficult to imagine a hot summer day in Ocean City without any ice. Not only was ice used to cool down and cool drinks, but other industries relied on this ice as well. Commercial fishing depended on local ice to keep their catches cold and prepare them for shipment. Meanwhile, recreational fishermen needed ice and the plant's cold storage to preserve their catches until a taxidermist could get their hands on it. The work of both of Dennis and Lowe helped ensure that ice, an essential commodity in the summer, was available to tourists and residents alike. 

White Marlin Open : Captain Joshua Bunting Deep Sea Fishing, Ocean City, Md., ca. 1955
c.1955
Orlando Wootten Photograph Collection (1995.005)
​​​The Edward H. Nabb Research Center at Salisbury University

There are other occupations that can be found by examining Ocean City’s census data. One common field was domestic work. Many African Americans living in Ocean City were employed as live-in domestic workers, often for private families. Roxy P. Ayres was one such worker who in 1930 was listed as a “servant” in relation to the head of the household Thomas Cropper. Her occupation was written as “servant” for a “private family” as well. Moving to the next census, there was a woman by the name of Roketta Scott who’s relation to the household head, John B Lynch, was given as servant while her occupation was a maid for a private family. Chancil Whittington in the same household was also listed as a servant in relation to the household head, but her occupation was left blank. However, it can be assumed that she was also a live-in maid much like Roketta Scott and many other Black women living in Ocean City.

Domestic work was predominantly done by women, but there were also men employed as live-in servants. Just a few houses down on the census list from Scott and Whittington was Edward Purnell who was recorded as a servant in relation to Virginia Ayres while his occupation was noted as being a hired hand for a private home.

Carrie Bratten, Ophelia Johnson, Richard Bayly Winder IV
c. 1924
Purnell & Winder Families Photograph Collection (2018.011)
​​​​The Edward H. Nabb Research Center at Salisbury University

Ophelia, Snow Hill, Maryland
1935
Purnell & Winder Families Photograph Collection (2018.011)​
​​​​​The Edward H. Nabb Research Center at Salisbury University​​

Domestic work was not limited to private families either, as many hotels depended on their labor as house keepers, getting rooms ready for new guests. George Henry Booth was one such worker, both living and working at the Monticello Hotel for Charles S. Po`well with a “withered leg” as a notable physical feature on his 1942 draft registration. Not only was he working a demanding hotel job with a leg in poor health, but he also registered for the draft after the U.S.’s entrance into World War II in that condition.

George Mills was another Black man working in the hotel industry. Mills was listed as both a servant and as working at a hotel, suggesting that he may have been a servant in the home he was boarding in on top of his hotel work. Examining who the matriarch of the house is sheds some more light on Mills’ story. He was listed as living with Lizzie R. Hearne, who in turn was recorded as an owner and manager of a hotel. Hearne was the owner and operator of the Belmont Hotel, which she purchased in the early 20th century, along with a sister hotel called the Hearne which was opened at a later date. Taking Mills employment in the hotel industry, his status living with Hearne, and Hearne’s ownership of a hotel, it is almost certain that Mills was employed by Hearne in one of her hotels. The Belmont-Hearne was one of the oldest hotels in Ocean City’s history until the Belmont Towers took its place and Black hands had a role in its history along with the history of other hotels.

The Belmont Hotel and Cottages located in Ocean City, Maryland
C. 1910
WR 53 Ocean City015
Worcester County Library

While Black live-in servants working for private families were common in this period in Ocean City and across the United States, they were not the only type of domestic worker. Many women, including the women of a Showell family, worked as washer women, laundresses, and cooks. Both Clara Showell and her daughter, Julia Showell, were employed as washer women while Clara’s other daughter, Sarah, was working as a cook. Other women working as cooks in this period include Sarah L. Bassitt, age 59 (1900), Alice Pitts, age 35 (1910), and Mary Dennis, age 27 (1930) who was a cook for a hotel. These are just a few of the women, many trying to support themselves, or their families, in an unfair environment, that worked in Ocean City as domestic workers. 

Domestic work was one of the few job opportunities available to Black Americans, particularly Black women, after the Civil War due to racial prejudices. In the late 1800s, ninety percent of Black women in the United States were working as domestic workers and while the number of Black women in the industry fell in the early 20th century, the number remained disproportionately high. Many black domestic workers worked for very little while others were only paid in room and board. Unlike White women, Black women stayed in the industry for much longer, even after marrying, since Black families needed the additional income due to wage disparities. While domestic work was common employment and vital in a town catering towards tourists, it is important to understand that it was due to societal and economic barriers that these men and women performed this work. Barriers that were later challenged by the next generation of workers and the NAACP.

There were other occupations held by Black residents of Ocean City that highlighted the wide variety of jobs they were doing in the early 20th century. In 1900 William Riley man his living in 1900, contributing to the Eastern Shore’s and Ocean City’s long history of making a living from the Eastern Shore’s rich waters. There was also Lenard Purnell who in 1950 was employed as a chauffeur and John W. Smack who was delivering mail for the post office. That same year also saw Lem D. Harrison working as a waiter in one of Ocean City’s night clubs. Black residents even made their living off of their properties. Mary Robins was one such land owner who rented out rooms in her home on Wicomico Street. The list could go on, but the picture is clear; Ocean City’s Black residents helped turn the beach side town into a bustling resort ready to welcome tourists. 

Whether helping build the town as a day laborer, working in the hotels and private homes as house keepers, or working in the water bringing up fish, Black workers contributed to the economic growth and development of Ocean City through their employment. Much of their employment was restricted due to discriminatory policies and social stigmas, however, Black workers had a limit to what they were willing to tolerate for employment. Tensions in Ocean City were to the point that businesses were struggling to find people to work, forcing the town to ease up on its Jim Crow policies. The fact that the town was forced to tone down its discriminatory policies to attract workers, reflects how vital Black workers were to the success of its businesses. Black workers had economic leverage over these businesses and they were aware of it. There was a limit to the discomforts that “Hotel employe[e]s, old, middle-aged, or young” were willing to endure “to ‘make a season’ ” that they themselves were unable to enjoy. This threshold of discomfort was crossed once again in the 20th century and the NAACP exerted greater pressure on the town for not only equal access to employment, but also equal access to the resort’s amenities.

References:

Primary Sources:
Cochran, William B. "Hot Spell at Ocean City Puts Load on Ice Plant: 90% of Business In Cubes; Marlin Catches Near 500." The Sunday/Evening Star, July 18th, 1954. ​

Fifteenth Census of the United States, Worcester County, Maryland, 3rd District, Ocean City, Sheet 4B, 1930, Internet Archive, page 344, https://archive.org/details/15thcensus880unit/page/n343/mode/1up?view=theater.

George Henry Booth Draft Registration "Maryland, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS7C-K9S5-9?view=index : Dec 19, 2024), image 725 of 913; National Personnel Records Center (St. Louis, Missouri).

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“Samuel J. Dennis.” Salisbury Times, December 10, 1954.

Thirteenth Census of the United States, Worcester County, Maryland, 3rd District, Ocean City, Sheet 20B, 1910, Internet Archive, page 1000, https://archive.org/details/13thcensus1910po570unit/page/n999/mode/1up

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Wells, Palestine. “Ocean City-Mecca For ‘Season Makers’ And Girls Seeking Thrills.” Baltimore Afro-American, July 23, 1927.

William Franklin Manuel Draft Registration. "Wicomico, Maryland, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTX-3BVH?view=index : Dec 19, 2024), image 2934 of 4958; United States. National Archives and Records Administration,United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Atlanta Branch

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