Lake Ivanhoe: An African American-Founded Community

Lake Ivanhoe: An African American-Founded Community. . , Lake Ivanhoe was established in 1926 as the first Black-founded resort community in Wisconsin. Black people moved away from the South to escape the racial oppression of Jim Crow and to pursue better schooling and jobs; but they still faced racial tension. Three prominent Black men from Chicago, Jeremiah Brumfield, Bradford Watson, and Frank Anglin, sought recreational areas where they could vacation with their families in peace. Facing discrimination at white resorts, they planned a resort of their own on the shores of Lake Ryan. Black and white investors provided financing to develop the site. lvan Bell, a white realtor, brokered the deal, and Lake Ivanhoe was named in his honor. The founders carved out lots, put them up for sale, and named the streets after Black schools and historical figures., A state-of-the-art pavilion was constructed, and jazz singer Cab Calloway performed at its premier in 1927. The resort was an immediate success, and Black families enjoyed the lake and the outdoors in safety. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, attendance dropped. The pavilion was dismantled and unsold lots went into foreclosure. In 1932, a white professional football player purchased the lots and erected a fence, blocking access to the park and beach. With the help of Brumfield, an assistant state attorney for Cook County, the community filed a lawsuit to reclaim the land, which it won in 1944. Residents filed articles of incorporation for the WI. Lakeside Property Owners Assn., which changed in 1946 to the Lake Ivanhoe Property Owners Assn. as the area evolved from a resort to a community. The Lake Ivanhoe Homeowner’s Assn. sits on the site of the original pavilion.