LEWES, Del.- On Saturday, many gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Johnnie Walker, a community leader who cultivated a welcoming place for African American families during segregation in Lewes.
The beach on Georgia Ave. in Lewes, was previously named "Beach 2". During the Jim Crow era, Beach 2 was designated as the segregation beach. At the time, about 25% of Lewes’s population was African American.
In 2021, the beach was renamed Johnnie Walker Beach with the help of the Lewes African American Heritage Commission.
Cynthia Anderson Clay, Johnnie Walker Beach subcommittee of the African American heritage commission, say's now it’s a place for people to come together to preserve history.
"..that's why it's important for me to continually tell the story and just seeing all the faces that this beach has affected in a positive way is the reason why we're continuously telling this story..."
Walker was an African American restaurant owner and a pillar for the black community in Lewes during times of segregation. In 1958, Walker built a restaurant and dance hall along the beach's shore and it quickly became the center of social life for African American families in Lewes.
Walker passed away in 1992, but his efforts made a lasting impression on Lewes. The entrepreneur helped build a community here and the generations who turned a place born out of exclusion into one of pride, connection, and celebration.
