Ocean City will get museum hailing its Black history at Henry Hotel: Everything to know

Ocean City will soon be home to a museum celebrating the resort's Black history, including when Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others visited the resort.

The Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $250,000 grant to the historic Henry Hotel in Ocean City through the African American Heritage Preservation Program on Wednesday.

This grant funding will be used to rehabilitate the historic property and turn it into a museum and learning center focusing on African-American contributions to Ocean City, the Eastern Shore and the state of Maryland.

Sen. Carozza, Gov. Moore hail funding for new Ocean City museum

State Sen. Mary Beth Carozza has been a strong supporter of the preservation and rehabilitation of Henry’s Hotel, along with former Gov. Larry Hogan and current Gov. Wes Moore.

“Henry’s Hotel is an important historic site not only for the African-American community on the Eastern Shore and Ocean City, but all of Maryland. Great acts like Duke Ellington, Willie Harmon and other talented black musicians stayed at Henry’s Hotel during segregation, and I personally have seen the great interest in the story and history of Henry’s Hotel after taking visitors by the site on Ocean City tours,” said Carozza, who represents Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset counties.

During the Board of Public Works meeting, Gov. Moore took a moment to speak about the importance of the Henry Hotel.

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“(This grant) will support efforts to turn the building into not just a hotel and refurbished building, but into a museum, into a learning center, a place where people can learn about the history of African Americans on the Shore and all throughout the State, and despite years and decades and generations of discrimination, it’s helping to tell the story of ‘despite it all, still I rise,’ ” Moore said.

A total of $5 million in grants was awarded to the African American Heritage Preservation Program to support 24 projects across the atate of Maryland.

The Henry Hotel was a refuge for Black visitors

During a heart-rending time of racial strife, when Black people were segregated and prohibited from staying as paying guests in Ocean City, one hotel became a beacon and place of refuge. Built in 1895 and originally known as The Hotel Baltimore, The Henry Hotel came to be one of the only places in the resort town to offer rooms to Black people.

Charles and Louisa Henry purchased The Henry Hotel in 1926, before one businesswoman — Lyncia Pearl Bonner — later acquired it in 1964. Bonner ran the establishment until her passing in 2003, and it remains under Black ownership to this day. The historic three-story, wood-shingled hotel, although worn and vacant, remains standing on the corner of Baltimore Avenue and South Division Street.

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Ocean City was a segregated town from its founding in 1875 until the mid-1960s, during which Black people were turned away from local restaurants and hotels. The beach was also restricted during the early to mid-20th century. Reserved periods, known as "Colored Excursion Days," were limited to weeks after the main summer season had long passed, as stated on a historical marker near the hotel.

As a result, many Black people sought out refuge at The Henry Hotel, where Black entertainers such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and Willie Harmon — unable to stay in the "white only" hotels in whose ballrooms they performed, according to Bunk Mann's "Ocean City Chronicles" — once stayed, Delmarva Now previously reported.

Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at ominzola@delmarvanow.com.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Museum hailing Ocean City's black history in works. All to know.