Editing Martha's Vineyard (section)

==Tourism and culture==

During the whaling era, wealthy [[Boston]] sea captains and merchant traders often created estates on Martha's Vineyard with their trading profits. Today, the Vineyard has become one of the [[Northeastern United States]]' most prominent summering havens, having attracted numerous celebrity regulars.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 10, 2018|title=Here's Where Celebrities Are Going to Really Get Away From It All|url=https://www.eonline.com/news/934002/here-s-where-celebrities-are-going-to-really-get-away-from-it-all|access-date=December 7, 2020|website=E! Online}}</ref>

The island now has a year-round population of about 20,530 people in six towns; in summer, the population increases to 200,000 residents,<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 7, 2023 |title=About Martha's Vineyard |url=https://www.mvy.com/about-marthas-vineyard/ |access-date=May 7, 2023 |website=MVY}}</ref> with more than 25,000 additional short-term visitors coming and going on the [[ferry|ferries]] during the summer season. The most crowded weekend is July 4, followed by the late-August weekend of the Agricultural Fair. In general, the summer season runs from June through Labor Day weekend, coinciding with the months most American children are not in school.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 17, 2023 |title=Best time to visit Martha's Vineyard |url=https://howtobookyourtrip.com/best-time-to-visit-marthas-vineyard/ |access-date=May 7, 2023 |website=Howtobookyourtrip}}</ref>

In 1985, the two islands of Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick Island were included in a new [[American Viticultural Area]] designation for [[wine]] [[appellation]] of origin specification: [[Martha's Vineyard AVA]]. Wines produced from [[grape]]s grown on the two islands can be sold with labels that carry the Martha's Vineyard AVA designation. Martha's Vineyard was the home to the winemaker Chicama Vineyards in West Tisbury, though it closed after 37 years on August 10, 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mvtimes.com/2008/08/14/news/news-in-brief.php |title=News in Brief : The Martha's Vineyard Times |publisher=Mvtimes.com |date=August 14, 2008 |access-date=April 23, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225082934/https://www.mvtimes.com/2008/08/14/news/news-in-brief.php |archive-date=February 25, 2012 }}</ref>

Other popular attractions include the annual [[Grand Illumination]] in Oak Bluffs;
the Martha's Vineyard Film Center, an arthouse cinema which is run by the non-profit Martha's Vineyard Film Society,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mvfilmsociety.com/|title=Martha's Vineyard Film Center|publisher=Mvfilmsociety.com|access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref> and which screens independent and world cinema all year long; the historic Capawock and Strand theatres, also run by the Martha's Vineyard Film Society, 
the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mviff.org/|title=The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival|access-date=January 18, 2015|archive-date=June 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614174549/http://mviff.org/|url-status=dead}}</ref> which runs a winter film festival in March, a Summer Film Series and Cinema Circus every Wednesday in July and August, the Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mvaaff.com/|title=Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival|publisher=Mvaaff.com|access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref> which showcases the works of independent and established African-American filmmakers in August, and
Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival in September;
the Farm Institute at Katama Farm in Edgartown;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.farminstitute.org/|title=The Farm Institute |publisher=Farminstitute.org|access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref>
and the [[Flying Horses Carousel]] in Oak Bluffs, the oldest operating platform [[carousel]] in the United States.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

Across the Edgartown Vineyard Haven Road from the [[Martha's Vineyard Regional High School]] in the town of Oak Bluffs, the [[Martha's Vineyard Skatepark]] is a concrete skatepark open to the public, offering a range of ramps and obstacles.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Skatepark Is Back and Everyone Is Dropping In|url=https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2017/07/18/skate-park|access-date=December 24, 2021|website=The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News|language=en}}</ref>

===Island life and residents===
{{Essay-like|section|date=March 2016}}
Its relatively small year-round population has led to a very activist citizenry who are highly involved in the island's day-to-day activities. Tourism, overdevelopment, politics, and environmentalism are of keen interest to the community. Keeping the balance between the much needed tourist economy and the [[ecology]] and [[wildlife]] of the island is of paramount importance to residents. In contrast to the seasonal influx of wealthy visitors, Dukes County remains one of the poorest in the state. Residents have established resources to balance the contradictions and stresses that can arise in these circumstances, notably the Martha's Vineyard Commission<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mvcommission.org/|title=Martha's Vineyard Commission – Dukes County, Marthas Vineyard Massachusetts Regional Planning|publisher=Mvcommission.org|access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref> and Martha's Vineyard Community Services,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mvcommunityservices.com/|title=Martha's Vineyard Community Services|publisher=Mvcommunityservices.com|access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref> founded by the late Dr. Milton Mazer, author of ''People and Predicaments: Of Life and Distress on Martha's Vineyard''.<ref name="Mazer">Milton Mazer, M.D. ''People and Predicaments: Of Life and Distress on Martha's Vineyard''. Published by Harvard University Press (1976), Cambridge, Massachusetts.</ref>

The majority of the Vineyard's residents during the summer are well-established seasonal vacationers. While many of these come from all over the United States and abroad, the island tends to be a destination for especially those whose primary residence lies within close proximity in the Northeastern U.S. Many communities around the island tend to have deep family roots on the island that have matured over the years to create hamlets of good friends and neighbors. Nevertheless, many visitors are summer renters and weekenders, for whom the island is simply a "home away from home".{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}

Martha's Vineyard has also been or is home to a number of artists and musicians, including [[Albert Alcalay]], [[Evan Dando]], [[Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton]] of the [[Mighty Mighty Bosstones]], [[James Taylor]], [[Carly Simon]], [[Livingston Taylor]], [[Kate Taylor]], [[Alex Taylor (musician)|Alex Taylor]], [[Tom Rush]], [[Rick Marotta]], [[Geoff Muldaur]], [[Maria Muldaur]], [[Willy Mason]], [[Unbusted]] and [[Mike Nichols]]. Historian and author [[David McCullough]] was also an island resident, as was author [[Susan Branch]] and the young-adult books authors [[Judy Blume]] and [[Norman Bridwell]], and crime/political intrigue novelists [[Richard North Patterson]] and [[Linda Fairstein]]. Late authors [[Shel Silverstein]] and [[William Styron]] also lived on the Vineyard, as did writer, journalist and teacher [[John Hersey]], poet and novelist [[Dorothy West]] and artist [[Thomas Hart Benton (painter)|Thomas Hart Benton]]. Various writers have been inspired by the island—including the mystery writer [[Philip R. Craig]] who set several novels on the island. On a related note, [[Martha's Vineyard Poet Laureate]], Lee H. McCormack, has written many poems about the island. The Academy Award-winning [[Patricia Neal]] owned a home on South Water St in Edgartown, and [[James Cagney]], [[Lillian Hellman]] (who is buried in Abel's Hill Cemetery near the site of Belushi's grave), and [[Katharine Cornell]] all found the Vineyard an exciting, rewarding place to live.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} In addition, the famous ''Life'' magazine photographer [[Alfred Eisenstaedt]] was a fifty-year summer resident of the Vineyard until his death in 1995. Since 2006 the Australian-born author [[Geraldine Brooks (writer)|Geraldine Brooks]], writer of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel<ref>{{cite book|last=Brooks|first=Geraldine|title=March|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0732278414|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Fourth Estate|location=London|isbn=978-0-00-716586-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0732278414/page/280 280]}}</ref> ''[[March (novel)|March]]'', has lived there with her husband, [[Tony Horwitz]], himself a Pulitzer Prize winner and successful novelist, and their two sons.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Roosevelt |first1=Laura D. |title=Writers in Residence |url=http://mvmagazine.com/news/2016/03/01/writers-residence |access-date=February 25, 2019 |work=Martha's Vineyard Magazine |publisher=The Vineyard Gazette}}</ref>

Brooks wrote a  book of historical fiction ''Caleb's Crossing'' in which [[Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck]] is the title character and depicts early colonial settlement of Martha's Vineyard.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Atlas |first1=Amelia |title=Pride of the Indian College |url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2011/05/pride-of-the-indian-college |website=Harvard Magazine |access-date=October 10, 2021 |language=en |date=April 17, 2011}}</ref>

Other well-known celebrities who live on or have regularly visited the island: Harlem Renaissance artist [[Lois Mailou Jones]];  former president [[Bill Clinton]] and his wife, former Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]]; former U.S. President [[Barack Obama]];<ref name="Obama">{{cite news
|url = http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?22680
|title =President Obama and Family Arrive
|last =Seccombe
|first =Mike
|date =August 25, 2009
|access-date =September 9, 2009
|newspaper =Vineyard Gazette
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Martha's Vineyard: Race, property, and the power of place|last=Taylor|first=Richard L.|year=2016|isbn=9780997670400|pages=265–274|publisher=Richard L. Taylor }}</ref> comedian and talk show host [[David Letterman]]; [[Bill Murray]]; [[Tony Shalhoub]]; [[Quincy Jones]]; [[Ted Danson]] and wife [[Mary Steenburgen]]; [[Larry David]]; the [[Farrelly brothers]]; [[Meg Ryan]]; and [[Chelsea Handler]]. [[Mike Wallace]] of ''60 Minutes'' was a summer resident of Martha's Vineyard. Late anchorman [[Walter Cronkite]] was a prominent summer resident as well. Other regularly appearing celebrities include film writer/director [[Spike Lee]], attorney [[Alan Dershowitz]], comedians [[Dan Aykroyd]] and [[James Belushi]], politico [[Vernon Jordan]], television news reporter [[Diane Sawyer]], fashion designer [[Kenneth Cole (designer)|Kenneth Cole]], former Ambassador and President of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] [[William H. Luers]], and [[Charlayne Hunter-Gault]]. Despite popular perceptions of the Vineyard as "Hollywood East", the island is very low-key and quiet; celebrities go to the Vineyard to enjoy the atmosphere, and not to be seen. Locals tend to be protective of [[celebrity privacy]], though recent coverage of celebrity sightings (most notably in the two local newspapers on the Island) has begun to erode that respect for privacy through more frequent reporting on celebrity sightings and famous visitors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125150193908668295 |work=The Wall Street Journal |first=Elizabeth |last=Williamson |title=Newspaper War Disturbs the Peace In a Summer Haven |date=August 29, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510021750/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125150193908668295.html |archive-date=May 10, 2013 }}</ref> In August 2014, both President Obama and Hillary Clinton planned to have overlapping visits to the island, where the presence of security details that create traffic challenges is becoming an annual affair.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Zezima|first1=Katie|title=Is Martha's Vineyard big enough for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/08/11/is-marthas-vineyard-big-enough-for-both-barack-obama-and-hillary-clinton/?tid=hpModule_f8335a3c-868c-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=August 11, 2014}}</ref>

Many of the country's most affluent African-American families have enjoyed a century-old tradition of summering on the island. Concentrated primarily in and around the town of Oak Bluffs, and the East Chop area, these families have historically represented the black elite from Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Today, affluent families from around the country have taken to the Vineyard, and the community is known as a popular summer destination for judges, physicians, business executives, surgeons, attorneys, writers, politicians, and professors. The historic presence of African-American residents in Oak Bluffs resulted in its Town Beach being pejoratively called "The Inkwell", a nickname which was [[Reappropriation|reappropriated]] as an emblem of pride.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blackpast.org/aah/inkwell-martha-s-vineyard-1890s |title=Inkwell, Martha's Vineyard (1890s– ) |last=Jefferson |first=Alison Rose |website=BlackPast.org |date=February 8, 2013 |access-date=February 3, 2017}}</ref> ''[[The Inkwell]]'' (1994), directed by [[Matty Rich]], dealt with this close-knit Vineyard community.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} The Run&Shoot Filmworks Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival, held every second week in August, highlights the works of independent and established filmmakers from across the globe. This annual event draws attendees from all across the world.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hufstader |first1=Louisa |title=African American Film Festival Grows into Cultural Powerhouse |url=https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2017/08/03/marthas-vineyard-african-american-film-festival-grows-cultural-powerhouse |access-date=February 25, 2019 |work=Vineyard Gazette |agency=Vineyard Gazette |date=August 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225103103/https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2017/08/03/marthas-vineyard-african-american-film-festival-grows-cultural-powerhouse |archive-date=February 25, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Since the 19th century, the island has had a sizable community of [[Portuguese-Americans]], concentrated primarily in the three down-Island towns of Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, and Edgartown; they have traditionally worked alongside other island residents in whaling and fishing. It also has a large community of [[Brazilian diaspora|Brazilian]] [[Immigration to the United States|immigrants]] who work mainly in the maintenance of the island's vacation facilities.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[BBC News]]|date=August 23, 2009|title=Obama island's Brazilian 'engine'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8216840.stm}}</ref>

The island's permanent residents were profiled in a London ''Telegraph'' article showing "the dark side of Martha's Vineyard".<ref>{{cite news
|url =https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6104806/The-dark-side-of-Marthas-Vineyard.html
|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090830021137/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6104806/The-dark-side-of-Marthas-Vineyard.html
|url-status =dead
|archive-date =August 30, 2009
|title =The dark side of Martha's Vineyard
|last =Leonard
|first =Tom
|date =August 28, 2009
|access-date =September 12, 2009
|work=Daily Telegraph|location=London
}}</ref> In the same month an article titled "Edgartown's Darker Side" appeared in the ''Boston Globe'' detailing the extremely poor working conditions suffered by Irish and Serbian students in a newly built private members club in Edgartown.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/13/edgartowns_darker_side/|title= Edgartown's darker side|last=Cullen|first=Kevin|date=August 13, 2009|access-date=May 21, 2019}}</ref> Concerns over munitions that may be buried on Martha's Vineyard, most from World War II,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/10/peril_lingers_along_marthas_vineyard_beaches/|title=Along pristine beaches, hidden dangers linger|last=MacQuarrie|first=Brian|date=December 10, 2010|work=Boston.com|access-date=November 21, 2018}}</ref> have led to an 8.1 million dollar project to remove and rebuild part of a privately owned barrier beach off the [[Tisbury Great Pond]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2017/09/28/bomb-removal-begins-long-point|title=Bomb Removal Begins at Long Point|work=The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News|access-date=November 21, 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203742/https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2017/09/28/bomb-removal-begins-long-point|archive-date=November 21, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The year-round working population of Martha's Vineyard earns 30 percent less on average than other residents of the state while keeping up with a cost of living that is 60 percent higher than average.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Community Reinvestment Act Performance Evaluation |url=http://www.occ.gov/static/cra/craeval/Apr09/7957.pdf |page=3 |date=December 9, 2008 |access-date=August 21, 2015}}</ref> Many people are moving to more affordable areas.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} Schools have seen a successive drop in enrollment over the past few years.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} Typically home to artists, musicians, and other creative types, the Island has many residents who manage by working several jobs in the summer and taking some time off in the winter.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} The lack of affordable housing on the island has forced many families to move off-island.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

Many high-profile residents, movie stars, politicians, writers, and artists contribute to fundraisers and benefits that raise awareness of the fragile ecosystem of the Vineyard and support community organizations and services. The largest of these is the annual Possible Dreams Auction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.possibledreamsauction.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618232317/http://www.possibledreamsauction.org/|url-status=dead|title=Possibledreamsauction.org|archive-date=June 18, 2013}}</ref>