A portrait of the thriving African-American community on the island of Martha's Vineyard describes the various groups who settled in Oak Bluffs, including vacationing families, local domestics, and multi-generational professionals.

From fine-art galleries and fried clams to breathtaking beachside hikes, escape to the Cape with Moon Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket. Inside you'll find: Strategic itineraries, including weekend getaways to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, or Nantucket, and the 12-day best of all three, designed for outdoor adventurers, beach bums, foodies, families, winter visitors, and more Fun highlights and unique experiences: Admire 19th century lighthouses and take in some local lore at the Whaling Museum. Feast on raw oysters, fried clams, and fresh fish. Kick back at an old-school drive-in theater or have a lively night at a popular drag show in Provincetown. Stroll the cobblestone streets of Nantucket or pop into the galleries and artisan studios on the Cape The top outdoor adventures: Kayak through misty marshes, spot dolphins from a sailboat, hike to cliffside bluffs, or bike the serene beach paths of Martha's Vineyard Honest advice from Cape Cod local Ray Bartlett on when to go, how to get around, and where to stay, from quiet seaside cottages to historic guest houses and posh resorts Helpful resources on Covid-19 and traveling to Cape Cod Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Thorough background on the landscape, climate, wildlife, and culture Experience the best of the Cape with Moon Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket. Exploring more of New England? Try Moon New England Road Trip. Hitting the trails? Check out Moon New England Hiking. About Moon Travel Guides: Moon was founded in 1973 to empower independent, active, and conscious travel. We prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably. Moon Travel Guides are written by local, expert authors with great stories to tell—and they can't wait to share their favorite places with you. For more inspiration, follow @moonguides on social media.

Martha's Vineyard became an integral part of the whaling industry at the beginning of the eighteenth century and inspired a lasting romantic enthusiasm for life on the open ocean. From shorewhaling to daring voyages into the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the insular whaling community offered a tempting path for many young Vineyarders to rise from cabin boy to captain. Local businesses were enticed by the potential profit from whaling voyages, and many reaped generous rewards from successful whale oil harvests. Through memoirs, music and memorabilia, author Thomas Dresser recounts this dramatic history of the bygone era of whaling on Martha's Vineyard.

The Negro Motorist Green Book was a groundbreaking guide that provided African American travelers with crucial information on safe places to stay, eat, and visit during the era of segregation in the United States. This essential resource, originally published from 1936 to 1966, offered a lifeline to black motorists navigating a deeply divided nation, helping them avoid the dangers and indignities of racism on the road. More than just a travel guide, The Negro Motorist Green Book stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and resistance in the face of oppression, offering a poignant glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of the African American experience in the 20th century.

Nantucket's People of Color is a fascinating study of Nantucket's African population from historical, cultural, and racial perspectives. This anthology, which represents more than ten years of research by James Bradford Ames Scholars from the University of Massachusetts Boston, examines the relationships between Africans, Quakers, others of European descent, and Cape Verdeans on Nantucket and the events and controversies that both united and divided the larger community along "racial" lines.

This book is a compilation of selected stories, essays, and reminiscences that Dorothy West wrote for the Vineyard Gazette from the 1960s to the early 1990s. In these entries, West retraces life on the island as she experienced it from 1908, when she was an infant, to 1993 when she wrote her final column. Born in 1907 in Boston, Dorothy West went on to develop into a prize-winning author by the time she was in her teens. The 1926 award she received in New York, and the lure of the city itself, inspired West to leave Boston and join what was then a fledgling literary movement that would evolve into the Harlem Renaissance. She circulated among what in essence was the black literary "royalty" of her times, of which she was a signal member. By the mid-1940s West had returned to Massachusetts, to Martha's Vineyard. She began to write a column for the local paper about the comings and goings of island residents and visitors. It was her column in the Gazette that drew the attention of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who, on one of her island visits, met the author and expressed her admiration. Onassis, at the time, just happened to be an editor at Doubleday. When Onassis learned of a decades-old manuscript that had been laid aside, she urged West to pick up the work again. West later dedicated this book "To the memory of my editor, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Though there was never such a mismatched pair in appearance, we were perfect partners." The authors selected from the Gazette columns that West wrote over the three decades, those on people, events, and nature seemed to have the greatest historic, artistic, or philosophical import.