Bedford Reservation in the Cleveland metropolitan park system was occasionally referenced as a picnic spot used by African Americans in the 1930s. In the late 1930s a dude ranch operated in the park. Later, in 1962, despite many years of Black horseback riding on the Bedford Reservation’s bridle paths, the Black Beauty Riding Club refused to rent its horses to African Americans, claiming that “99 percent of the white people” resented Blacks’ presence on the trails. Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- “Negroes Can’t Saddle Black Beauty Horses.” Call & Post. May 5, 1962.