Chicken Bone Beach Foundation Bringing Free Music Education to Atlantic City Children

Henrietta Shelton says approximately 40 students are learning instruments at the organization's Indiana Avenue institute, with a public recital planned for December.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — An organization best known for preserving Atlantic City's African American history and presenting free jazz concerts on the Boardwalk is also helping develop the city's next generation of musicians.

The Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation is providing free music lessons to approximately 40 children at its youth music institute at 726 North Indiana Avenue, according to founder and president Henrietta Wallace Shelton.

During an appearance on The AC Mike Lopez Show on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND, Shelton described how a donated building, community support and years of fundraising helped turn her vision for a neighborhood music education center into reality.

The foundation offers instruction in piano, guitar, bass and drums, giving young Atlantic City residents opportunities to learn instruments and develop musical skills without the financial barriers that can prevent families from accessing private lessons.

"We have about right now, we have about, I guess, 40 students," Shelton told Lopez.

She said the program operates Monday through Saturday, with students receiving individual lessons lasting approximately 30 minutes.

The initiative grew out of the foundation's long-running commitment to exposing children to jazz and connecting them with professional musicians.

For 17 years, Shelton said, the organization brought young performers to Atlantic City's Boardwalk to participate in summer jazz programs.

The students sometimes performed alongside accomplished musicians appearing in the foundation's concert series at Kennedy Plaza.

"For 17 years, we had the students playing along with the famous artists," Shelton recalled.

She said many of those young musicians came from Camden, where her sister, Cynthia Primus, was involved in music education.

"You should see those little babies on the stage with the instruments almost bigger than they were, but they were playing," Shelton said. "I mean, they were fantastic."

When that program ended, Shelton wanted to create similar opportunities specifically for Atlantic City children.

The turning point came when Wells Fargo offered the foundation a building.

Shelton recalled receiving an unexpected message asking whether she would be interested in owning a property.

"So would you like to own the building?" she recalled being asked.

Initially skeptical, she contacted the bank to determine whether the offer was legitimate.

"I called them up, and Wells Fargo said, 'Yeah, we're for real. We have a building for you,'" Shelton said.

The property was a rowhouse at 726 North Indiana Avenue.

Shelton explained that she wanted to use the building to revive the organization's youth jazz program.

"Since I had jazz camp for 17 years, I said, 'I'm going to start teaching the kids in Atlantic City so I could actually create another jazz camp and bring them to the Boardwalk and play with my masters,'" she recalled.

Wells Fargo donated the building, but significant renovations were necessary before it could serve as a music education center.

Shelton said the foundation obtained funding through the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and later received additional assistance to complete improvements and purchase equipment.

She described approaching the authority after realizing more money was needed.

"I need $45,000 to finish this building," Shelton recalled telling officials.

According to Shelton, the organization subsequently received a $175,000 commitment that helped move the project forward.

The improvements included a recording studio designed to give students additional opportunities to learn about music production.

Shelton said the studio was created with assistance from an audio production company based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

"It's a state-of-the-art recording studio," she said, although she acknowledged that the foundation has not yet fully implemented that portion of its programming.

The institute's development has also contributed to improvements in the surrounding neighborhood.

Shelton described work on nearby properties, a pocket park and parking facilities intended to make the area more welcoming and accessible for families.

She said the goal is to create an environment where children can learn music while their parents have convenient access to the building.

The foundation's broader mission dates to 1997, when Shelton co-founded the organization to preserve the history of Chicken Bone Beach, the section of Atlantic City's shoreline historically designated for African American beachgoers during segregation.

Over the years, the organization has become a fixture of Atlantic City's cultural scene through its free summer jazz concerts at Kennedy Plaza outside Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

Shelton said the concerts introduce audiences to accomplished musicians who might otherwise be accessible only through expensive performances in larger cities.

But the foundation's educational mission is equally important.

Shelton said she particularly values the improvisational nature of jazz, which encourages musicians to listen to one another while developing their own musical voices.

"They give each artist a chance to come in and just improvise and just do his thing, and they all come back in unison and give you some beautiful music," she said.

"That's what I love about straight-ahead jazz, and that's the type of lesson that we want to teach the kids."

The public will have an opportunity to see the students' progress at a recital scheduled for December 19 at the Noyes Arts Garage in Atlantic City.

Shelton said the event will be free and will feature children demonstrating what they have learned.

"We're going to have a recital with the kids," she said. "You guys are welcome to come. It's free."

The recital is planned for the Arts Garage at Mississippi and Fairmount avenues. Additional details about the program and performance are expected from the foundation.

Shelton also emphasized that continued financial support is necessary to sustain the institute and its other community programs.

"I definitely need grants," she said.

The foundation accepts contributions and provides information about its music programs through its website, chickenbonebeach.org.

For Shelton, the youth institute represents a continuation of the same mission that inspired the foundation's creation nearly three decades ago: preserving African American cultural history while ensuring that new generations have opportunities to participate in the arts.

What began as an effort to remember a historically significant stretch of Atlantic City's beach has grown into an organization helping children develop talents that could one day bring them to the same Boardwalk stage where nationally recognized jazz musicians perform.