Directed by Stanley Nelson • 2004 • United States

Since the late nineteenth century, affluent African Americans have built summer communities to rest, socialize, and expose their children to a positive vision of Black life. Some resorts, like Idlewild, Michigan; Cape May, New Jersey; and Fox Lake, Indiana, have fallen into decline. But other locations, including Sag Harbor, Long Island; Highland Beach, Maryland; American Beach, Florida; and, perhaps the best known, Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, continue to attract growing numbers of Black Americans of means. A PLACE OF OUR OWN examines the history, significance, and changing landscape of the African American resort community on Martha’s Vineyard and its significance in the life of filmmaker Stanley Nelson.