Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Immersive Irony Experience Theme Park Podcast- Crystal Beach Memorial Episode


Alan is joined by Victoria Wolcott, Chair and Professor of History at University at Buffalo, SUNY to discuss the history of race relations in amusement parks, pools, and other areas of recreation in the United States. Check out her book 'Race, Riots, and Rollercoasters' available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

2 comments:

  1. Really no mention that crystal beach was actually in Canada. There were a lot of people from Buffalo that went there but also many from Toronto would make the trip. To this day many people still have cottages in the area. Thank you, however, for referring to the region as western NY as opposed to "upstate".

    The crystal beach name is still quite common in the area, mainly in a beverage. "Loganberry" is a fruit drink that is still consumed at copious amounts here. The name crystal beach is also used to sell candy.

    The story is very sad that it wasn't that long ago when people actually believed you had to disinfect a pool after African American people swam in it. It is a pretty disgusting part of history.

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  2. It was mentioned as an aside at least once, probably a couple of times (same with Boblo Island, which is also in Ontario) and lead into the question on whether or not there were similar issues with segregation in Canada.

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