During the early 1920s, Matt and Zemmie Bransford renovated their house into a hotel for African American tourists at Mammoth Cave National Park. Matt Bransford was a cave tour guide and offered “underground cave tours” for African Americans.
African Americans played a vital role in developing the cave tour routes and the visitor experience throughout the 19th and early 20th-century.
References:
- National Park Service. 2018. “African American History – Mammoth Cave, National Park Kentucky.” National Park Service.
- Alego, Katie. 2012. “Underground Tourists/Tourists Underground: African American Tourism to Mammoth Cave.” Taylor & Francis Online.
Video:
- “Jerry Bransford Discusses the Bransford Summer Resort,” Ranger Lore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks, YouTube video, 3:13, March 14, 2016.