Harry Hoosier Hall
GULFSIDE UNITED METHODIST ASSEMBLY
Seventy Years of Service
By Raymond R. Breaux
Gulfside United Methodist Assembly evolved directly from the needs of Black Methodist. In 1923,at the time of its founding, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was strictly segregated along racial lines, mirroring American Society. Until Gulfside, there were no accommodations of any kind for any person of color on the entire Gulf Coast. In his seventh year, Gulfside is looking back and gathering insights for a more expansive future focus. What follows is a very brief study of the history and mission of Gulfside Assembly.
The Early Years
The Gulfside Chautauqua1 and camp meeting ground was physically realized on April 16, 1923. Its founder, Bishop Robert E. Jones, was the first Black to be a general superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Gulfside was incorporated on January 24, 1924. The incorporators were some of the most prestigious Black leaders in Methodism at that time2.
Rometta Roberts, who was a former director at Gulfside and wife to one of the ministers who helped found Gulfside, tells that Bishop Jones was speaking at Lakeside Assembly, a White Methodist campground in Ohio, when he got the idea for Gulfside. Why not have a meeting place for Black Methodists in his own district encompassing West Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Waveland, Mississippi was a resort town, centrally located on the Gulf Coast, 55 miles from Bishop Jones' main office in New Orleans. Through the aid of churches and individuals, Bishop Jones raised approximately $4,000 to purchase land in Waveland. He bought 300 acres and leased 316 acres from the state.
How could a Black man purchase beachfront property in Mississippi during the heyday of Jim Crow3? According to one theory, because Bishop Jones was fair-skinned, the sellers mistook him for white. It has also been said that there were white men who knew he was Black and who assisted him with the negotiations. There was only one building standing on the whole of the 616 acres. It was called the Jackson House because it had once housed President Andrew Jackson. It was a magnificent old mansion with very large rooms filled with antique furniture. The structure could not be seen from the beach. Large oak trees surrounded the house hiding it from view. The edifice stood some 8 to 10 feet above the ground. The first floor had a wraparound porch that was wide enough to be used for meetings. The space beneath provided shelter for the cows and hogs that roamed the nearby forest. Bishop Jones marshalled his force of 14 preachers and local craft workers and set about putting the deteriorated structure into living condition. The open area under the porch was eventually closed in to become a kitchen, dinning room and sweet shop. A screened in pavilion with dirt floor was built where meetings could be held. There was a makeshift dirt road leading to the Jackson House area. But when it rained, the road flooded and turned to mud. So most people walked the three miles through the woods from the train station to the Jackson House.
Program Activities
Those first two decades, under the leadership of Bishop Jones, Gulfside blossomed into a pivotal point of the New Orleans area and the surrounding region. In the early days, events at Gulfside took place in the spring and summer months from April through August. Some of the activities included the Young Men's Christian Association Conference Summer School for town and Country Pastor, Summer School of Theology for aspiring ministers, Boys Camp and Girls' Reserves, 4-H, and Scouting events, and picnics sponsored by groups throughout region. The summer events were culminated by Bishop Jones' Area Council Meeting. The only activity that spanned the entire year during Gulfside's early years was a Poor Boy's school. This was probable the first and most significant program that Bishop Jones instituted at Gulfside. As Dr. J. H. Graham puts it in his book, Black United Methodist Retrospect and Prospect: "This school enables deprived functional illiterates to develop salable skills. Several have gone on.... And prepared themselves for the Christian ministry." James Bryant, a resident of New Orleans, was a participant in both the Poor Boy's School of Theology during the 1930s. He says of the Poor Boy's School that: "they studied regular text books as any public school... As teachers we had Ms. Mims and Bishop Jones' son, Robert. Robert would teach craft work to the boys. For the boys had to work from 9 to 12 and after [lunch] would go to class [until 4 P.M.]." Ruth Sanders went to Gulfside in its early days also through her church, Wesley United Methodist, the oldest Black Methodist congregation in New Orleans. A Ms. Purnell would take the girls every summer for a week. Sanders remember rigorous religious instruction and recreation. She also vividly recalls "being awakened in what they called early morning, but it was still night."
Surviving the Hard Times
Bishop Jones tenure at Gulfside, which spanned the Great Depression, was speckled with threats of `foreclosure. But Gulfside always managed to meet payment. Pennies were collected, Philanthropist courted, and lots sold from the 300 acres that had been bought. There was also the prejudice of the times. My father, who was from Waveland, volunteered often at Gulfside. He told me of cross burnings on several occasions. One winter morning in the 1940's, the Jackson House mysteriously caught fire. Some blamed it on The Poor Boys' School. Some blamed it on Whites. After the fire, a hurricane in 1947 finished the Jackson House, as well as other buildings on the purchased land. Bishop Alexander P. Shaw had been assigned to the New Orleans area in 1936. He and, from 1940 to 1944, Bishop William A. C. Hughes carried on the good work of Bishop Jones at Gulfside. In 1944, Bishop Robert N. Brooks became administrator of Gulfside. Bishop Brooks was called "Mr. Methodist" because of his superb knowledge of doctrine. Under his leadership, a board of trustees was formed so that the burden of Gulfside did not rest with just one person. Bishop Brooks encouraged people to give dollars instead of pennies. Over a period of eight years, Brooks Chapel, Gulfside Inn, Harry Hoosier Auditorium, and the Bishop's house were built. These buildings were reinforced concrete constructions, better able to withstand fire and hurricane than the frame buildings had been.
The Effects of Unification
Under Bishop Brooks' leadership, Gulfside continued to be the focal point for "training...youth retreats, jurisdictional meetings, and leadership training enterprises. "It was a place where Blacks and Whites could come together with much less questioning from the local authorities than would have taken place elsewhere in the South. But progress at Gulfside was slowed in 1968 with the formation of The United Methodist Church. Then Black Methodists were finally accepted on an equal footing by White Methodist. But, as was the case with some other Black institutions, integration hurt rather than helped Gulfside. The segregated, all-Black Central jurisdiction, created with
Northern and Southern church union in 1939, was disbanded. The Black membership was integrated into the existing White conferences. Then in 1969, Hurricane Camille struck, destroying 26 buildings on the grounds. That massive destruction and the fact that Blacks could now go to other conference centers diminished the interest in and need for Gulfside. This ultimately meant that Gulfside's services had to expand so that the center could support itself, it could no longer depend on Methodism as its sole support. After the hurricane, there was talk of selling Gulfside and dividing the proceeds among the 12 Black Methodist Episcopal colleges. But those efforts were laid to rest by Bishop Mack B. Stokes. Bishop Ernest T. Dixon, and laymen Wayne Calvert, Henry Harper, and others. These leaders worked tirelessly to preserve what they knew was a Black treasure. The fruit of their labor can be seen in the newly renovated, modern facility that exists today with the support of the General Board of Global Ministries’ National Division, included in the complex are newly constructed cottages for adults. These buildings were made possible by the Harry E. Kendall Fund(from the Health and Welfare Ministries Program Department). It should be noted that, during the civil rights movement of the 1960's, Gulfside served as a meeting place for the region. Civil rights activist, Hollis Watkins, of Jackson Mississippi says: "there were only three places where Blacks could meet in Mississippi during the movement--Toogaloo College, Rust College, and Gulfside."Gulfside Present and Future
Today, Gulfside is still being used as a meeting place for groups of African Americans from all walks of life. The southern Black Culture Alliance, The People's Institute, and the independent YMCA of Mississippi are among the groups that have been meeting there annually over the pass 12 years.