Born in Jacksonville in 1935, Betsch lived at American Beach on Amelia Island, Florida, the African-American Hyannis port, where the crème de la crème of black society came to relax in the Jim Crow South. MaVynee’s millionaire grandfather, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, founded the beach, and she was raised in luxury as a member of the African-American upper class.
MaVynee Betsch was born in Jacksonville in 1935 and spent her childhood at American Beach on Amelia Island, Florida, a fashionable retreat for black high society during the Jim Crow era. Her grandfather, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, had built the beach, and she enjoyed a life of privilege as a member of the African-American upper class.