With greatly expanded options, many African-Americans chose to take their rightful place alongside their fellow Americans in newly desegregated public accommodations, rather than to continue visiting oases of the past. The passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 brought a formal end to the era of legal discrimination in the United States. In parallel, the appeal of an African-American enclave faded. Attendance declined as the Civil Rights movement demanded integration of whites-only facilities. Paradoxically, the end of segregation also meant the end of an era at Winks Lodge.
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Guests were often treated to private readings and improvised musical "jam sessions" at the Lodge or at nearby Winks Panorama Tavern. As a result, Winks Lodge played host to some of the greatest African-American musical talents of the twentieth century. Segregation practices meant that after performing at jazz clubs in Denver's Five Points neighborhood, these highly esteemed artists often could not find suitable accommodations in the city, so they would travel the extra hour to stay at Lincoln Hills instead. According to oral tradition, notable guests included musicians Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, and Count Basie as well as writers Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. The June 1952 issue of Ebony featured Winks as part of a "Summer Vacation Guide" of destinations friendly to its readership. In the late 1930s and 1940s, Hamlet advertised in Ebony magazine, one of the first aimed at an exclusively African American audience. Winks Lodge remained open for business despite the Great Depression. Winks Lodge offered a dignified vacation retreat for African Americans to relax and enjoy themselves without fear of discrimination and abuse. Winks Panorama is a historic African American resort in Pinecliffe, Colorado. The property was used between 1925-1965 as a peaceful mountain oasis that offered African American vacationers’ leisure. The lodge was built by the original landowner of the area, Obrey Wendall "Winks" Hamlet in 1925. Early Lincoln Hills property owners came not only from Denver and other Colorado cities and towns, but from the neighboring states of Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas and New Mexico, as well as more distant states including Missouri, Florida, New York, Tennessee, Illinois, Virginia, Indiana, Michigan and Texas.