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Historic beach refuge at a crossroads

Founded as a vacation from racism, Highland Beach is struggling in the 21st century to maintain its identity as a summer getaway on the Chesapeake Bay for affluent Washington area African Americans.

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 Aug. 24, 2012

A group of women celebrates a ladies’ night out at Maryland’s Highland Beach. The women — residents of Venice Beach and Highland Beach — also have book club meetings here. Highland Beach was founded in 1893 by Charles Douglass, a son of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, as a family getaway. It became a gathering place for affluent blacks from Washington. Now with memories of the Jim Crow era fading, fewer people vacation at the Chesapeake escape.

Marvin Joseph / THE WASHINGTON POST

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