Lake Ivanhoe Stories / Wisconsin's 1st Black-owned community

06/14/2022

Our story is going national!
1st on and just got picked up by
Will be on Morning Edition tomorrow June 15. Glad to see the incredible history of Lake Ivanhoe is getting the national attention it deserves! Thanks for great reporting.

06/14/2022

Our story is going national!
Started on Wisconsin Public Radio and just got picked up by NPR
Glad to see the incredible history of Lake Ivanhoe is getting the national attention it deserves! Thanks Diane Bezucha for great reporting!
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/14/1104552007/a-small-wisconsin-town-is-honored-as-the-states-first-black-founded

Peter Baker Janet Alexander Davis

The Lake Ivanhoe community was envisioned a century ago as the first Black-founded settlement in Wisconsin. A group of residents is working to erect a marker to make sure this history is noted.

06/02/2022

Lake Ivanhoe is the first Black-founded community in Wisconsin, but this history was nearly lost. Now local residents are working to make sure it is preserved as a refuge for future generations.

06/01/2022

Update: Thursday, June 2nd. Wisconsin Public Radio

The Lake Ivanhoe story will air at the following times
5:45am and 7:45am and then again 4:44 and 5:44pm - all on the News and Classical music networks. The Ideas Network might play it as well.

90.7 FM or 103.3 FM are the local WPR stations for Milwaukee and Lake Geneva, respectively.

We will post the radio story to this page as well.

05/27/2022

Thanks to Diane Bezucha at Wisconsin Public Radio for being interested in the history of Lake Ivanhoe and working on a radio feature coming soon. (Hopefully June 2nd) Don't worry if you miss it, we'll post it here once it airs for everyone to hear! (In this photo from left to right: Katie Green Peter Baker Diane Bezucha)

05/19/2022

05/19/2022

04/06/2022

Lake Ivanhoe, established in 1926, was the vision of these three prominent Chicago black men: Jeremiah Brumfield, Bradford Watson and Frank Anglin. During racial unrest in Chicago, they began seeking recreational areas to bring their families during the summer months. After facing discrimination at white resort areas in Michigan and Wisconsin, they developed a plan to create a resort of their own on the shores of Lake Ryan in Walworth Co. Both blacks and whites provided financial support to develop the site and a white realtor in Evanston, IL named Ivan Bell facilitated the deal. The founders renamed it Lake Ivanhoe in honor of Bell. They carved out lots, put them up for sale and named the streets after black historical figures and schools.

03/22/2022

Thank you to Janet Alexander Davis of Evanston, IL for sharing photos and memories of her time in Lake Ivanhoe in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a child.

She wrote an article in the Shorefront journal several years ago. https://shorefrontjournal.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/lake-ivanhoe-revisited/

She recalls the wonderful times she had fishing, boating and picnicking on Lake Ivanhoe with her parents and cousin.

03/15/2022

The founders named all the streets in Ivanhoe after black historical figures and schools. Drive through the community and check out the street signs. See how many names you recognize. One of our favorites is Douglass Street named after the unparalleled Frederick Douglass.

03/04/2022

We want to see more of these beautiful smiles. We're on a mission to track down lost photos from Lake Ivanhoe. Please share our page to spread the word.

03/02/2022

The history is going on the record! Lake Ivanhoe is getting a historical marker. Stay tuned for more information and word about the celebration event.