Motown In The Woods, The Black Resort Of Idlewild

When you consider civil rights, what do you think of? Many may think of activism, protest, art, community, and music.

What about forest recreation? Have you heard about the Black resort of Idlewild dating to 1915?

A History Of The African American Resort At Idlewild

“Millions of past peoples have lived and worked in, played in prayed on what are now national forests and grasslands,” said Forest Service supervisory archaeologist Amanda Campbell. “And now it’s the Forest Service’s paramount responsibility to identify those sites, manage them and interpret that history.”

Motown in the woods – the Black resort of Idlewild – is one of these many places.

Idlewild was part of an industry built by segregation. African Americans were not allowed to use the same campgrounds, beaches, motels or the same vacation destinations as white people.

In 1915, land in Lake County, Michigan — not far from what’s now the Baldwin White Cloud Ranger Station on the Huron-Manistee National Forest – was purchased, developed, and marketed as an African American resort community. It was one of only three in the entire country at the time.

“Idlewild was marketed specifically to African Americans looking for a place to be creative,” said Campbell. “People who were looking for a place where they could get out on a boat, lay on the beach, swim in the water, and just hang out without moving through oppressive social restrictions.”

Early Heyday Of A Black Resort

“Idlewild had industry magnates. It had poetry. It had political activism,” said Campbell.

Idlewild hosted many famous African Americans of the time, including W.E.B. Dubois, C.J. Walker and Marcus Garvey. Left: W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois, 1868-1963 by Cornelius Marion, courtesy of the Library of Congress. Center: Advertisement from the Arizona Gleam, May 1937. Right: Marcus Garvey, 1924, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

In its early development, folks like W.E.B. Dubois bought property at the Black resort of Idlewild. If you’re not familiar with him, he was the first Black American to graduate from Harvard. He was an author. He was an activist. He was a sociologist. And he had a place at Idlewild to recreate in the summertime.

Madame C.J. Walker purchased a cottage there. She was one of the first documented self-made Black female entrepreneurs. She was a philanthropist who produced a line of cosmetics and hair products for Black women. It is still going strong, more than 100 years after her death. Walker is still an icon in the industry.

Marcus Garvey, the Peoples’ President of Jamaica at the time, gave political speeches on equality to African Americans at Idlewild. At this booming Black resort.

Idlewild hosted the who’s who within African American society of the time.

Like most communities in the U.S., Idlewild struggled during the economic downturn of the Great Depression. As a Black resort, Idlewild, however, was kept alive by the network and social groups of the African American community.

Resort Of Idlewild And The Motown Connection

After World War II, Idlewild experienced a second boom and a dramatic shift to entertainment.

“If you were a Black person and wanted to be someone in entertainment, you had to make it at Idlewild first. It was called the ‘Summer Apollo,’” said Campbell.

The Black resort of Idlewood saw people like Della Reese. Guests danced to the Temptations. They heard Aretha Franklin. They had Jackie Wilson. Idlewood saw anybody that’s anybody out of Motown.

The Decline of Idlewild, An Ironic Fate

Interestingly, the decline of Idlewild as a Black resort came with the implementation of the Civil Rights Act, which essentially ended segregation.

“The Civil Rights Act integrated not only vacations, resorts and businesses,” said Campbell. “It also integrated public spaces like pools, libraries and even Forest Service recreation opportunities.”

Today, Idlewild is a district of about ,2700 acres and on the Federal Register of Historic Places.

The Black Resort Of Idlewild As Myth Buster

“Idlewild for me really resonates with how you develop something despite these circumstances that you’re in,” said Valencia Morris, assistant director for the Forest Service Enterprise Program. “It’s one of my favorite stories – bringing in the totality of the African American experience on the land in different ways.”

“It’s also like the MythBusters,” said Morris. “Through my career and working with partners, volunteer groups and recreation — there is a stigma. There is a thought that certain groups of people — like African Americans– don’t recreate in certain ways.”

Such as boating, fishing, swimming, sunbathing, and playing music in the woods. But they certainly did in Idlewild!

Forest Service Preserves Sites Of Black Heritage

“When people see themselves represented, they are more apt to engage,” said Morris.

In her career, Morris worked with groups like Outdoor Afro, Greening Youth Foundation, and Mobilize Green, where they work to reconnect people to the land.

“Sites like Idlewild are opportunities to show that all people benefit from recreation. It highlights the many ways different cultures and people use the national forests and grasslands,” said Morris.

“We want to make sure that people know the Forest Service national public lands are inclusive. They are here for everybody, and everybody belongs.”

For many years Forest Service archaeologists and historians in the Eastern and Southern Regions have conducted meaningful research. Areas that contain significant African American heritage sites include the Hoosier, Midewin, Shawnee and Wayne National Forests. 

The Eastern Region of the Forest Service is launching a new program named the Site of Civil Rights and Resistance with the intent to highlight the importance of these sites.

Visiting The Former Resort Of Idlewild

The historic buildings are mostly gone. Visitors today recreate at Idlewild beach, take a walk in Idlewild Park, and camp on national forest land. (Check with the Huron-Manistee National Forests Baldwin/White Cloud Ranger Station for locations, rules and restrictions on camping.)

A must-do is to visit the Idlewood Historic & Cultural Center, owned and operated by the non-profit FiveCAP, Inc. It is open Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day each summer, from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free and donations are welcome.

“Opening the Idlewild Historic and Cultural Center is our way of telling our own story in our own community,” said Mary Trucks, FiveCAP Inc. executive director and lifetime Idlewood resident.

“This is a place where people can come and learn or remember.”

Savannah Halleaux is with the USDA Forest Service Office of Communications. This story about Idlewild was originally published on their website and we wanted to share it with you.