Camp Merriam was located on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie near On-Erie Beach at Lorain, Ohio. It was operated by the Phillis Wheatley Association. According to the Hackley & Harrison’s Hotel and Apartment Guide for Colored Travelers (1930), it was located at Stop 110 along West Erie Avenue rather than at 110 W. Erie as noted in later Green Book editions. Stop 110 was on the Lake Shore Electric Railway, an interurban line. Camp Merriam included a recreation hall, dining hall, and tents, as well as a tennis court and archery range. Campers ate vegetables grown in the camp’s own garden. It is not known why the camp appeared in the Green Book. Perhaps visitors could stay and use its facilities when the camp was not in session.
Additional information coming soon.
Green Book Details
Camp Merriam appears in the 1939 and 1940 Green Book at 110 W. Erie Ave. under the category Tourist Homes.
Resources
- Hackley & Harrison’s Hotel and Apartment Guide for Colored Travelers. Philadelphia: Hackley & Harrison Publishing Co., 1930. New York Public Library.
- Harris, Mabel G. “The Phyllis Wheatley Summer Camp.” The Southern Workman 50, no. 12 (December 1921): 551–56. Google Books.
- “With Lively Campers at Phillis Wheatley Resort.” Call & Post. July 20, 1939.