Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America

Index

INDEX Addams, Jane, 61, 74, 133 American Youth for Democracy, 158 Atlas, Charles, 134 Automobiles, 105, 107 Avalon, Pa., 87, 89 Baltimore, Md.: municipal swimming pools in, 154–57; social geography of, 155; racial desegregation of municipal pools in, 156–57; de facto segregation at municipal pools in after legal desegregation, 157; use of municipal pools in by black Americans after desegregation, 187 Baltimore Afro-American, 154, 155–56 Bathing in natural water, 11, 19 Bathing suits. See Swimsuits Baths, private, 13, 19 Baths, river and beach, 20–22, 23, 24, 218 (n. 57) Baumus, Palmer, 167, 168 Beaches, 54, 67, 68, 82, 111–12, 202 Beauty contests, 87, 89, 114, 212 Bethlehem, Pa., 105–6, 116 Bicycling, 32, 36, 220 (n. 4) Boston, Mass.: laws against naturalwater swimming in, 10; population of, 17; report on bathing in, 18–19; L Street Beach Bath, 20–21; river and beach baths in, 20–22, 23; bathing pools in, 22–24; Cabot Street pool, 22–24, 51–52, 54, 55; Frog Pond pool controversy, 50–51; Boston Common, 51; debate over pool funding, 54–55; political divisions in, 55; opposition to municipal pools in, 56; lack of pools in during Progressive Era, 75 Brookline, Mass.: stream bath in, 37– 38; location of pool and bath house in, 38; public lessons on proper use of swimming pool, 38–40; administration of swimming pool, 41; elite composition of bath committee, 41–42; Victorian sensibilities of bath committee members, 42, 43; exclusion of working-class swimmers from pool in, 43–44; social use of swimming pool in after exclusion of working-class boys, 44; bath committee welcomes working-class children back to pool in, 45 Brookline Swimming Club, 40, 42, 44 Brown v. Board of Education, 153, 179 Central Park Protective Association, 69–70 Channing, Walter, 38, 41, 42–43, 52 Charleston, W.Va., 163 Chicago, Ill.: private-club pools in, 16; Douglas Park Pool, 31–34; social geography of, 32, 139; South Park Board, 55–56; Progressive Era recreation centers in, 56–60; conditions in city slums, 57–58; locations of Progressive Era pools in, 57–58; Progressive Era swimming pools in, 58–65, 75; unequal provision of municipal pools in for black Americans, 63–64, 186–87; interracial use of recreation centers in, 64–65; interracial use of municipal pools in, 65; number of municipal pools in, 74, 90; play reformers in, 74–75; 1919 race riot, 123–24; 1966 race riot, 185–86, 187 268 Index Chicago Athletic Association, 29 Chicago Commission on Race Relations , 64, 152 Cincinnati, Ohio, 140 Cities: nineteenth-century development of, 17; class-divided social geography of, 17, 22, 24–25, 32, 48–49, 57–58, 62–63, 71–73, 79, 186–87; middleclass perceptions of, 17–18; race-divided social geography of, 25, 63–64, 123, 139–40, 144, 145, 155, 167, 175, 186–87; early twentieth-century conditions in, 48, 57–58; cultural geography of, 75; fiscal crisis in during 1970s, 189–90 Civil rights laws, 135, 146, 147, 159, 162, 197, 198. See also Fourteenth Amendment Clairton, Pa., 91 Class: health and cleanliness prejudices based on, 18, 20, 25, 34, 40–41, 73, 76, 106, 124, 151–52; municipal pools as social levelers, 27, 32, 104, 208; exclusion of working-class swimmers from municipal pools, 32–34, 43–44, 44–45; weakening of prejudices related to during interwar years, 89, 104, 106–7. See also Class conflict; Class divisions; Class integration of municipal pools; Social values: assumptions about public recreation based on Class conflict: over access to municipal pools, 8; over proper use of municipal pools, 9, 23, 26, 34, 37, 41, 42–43, 75–76; over the location of municipal pools, 51, 70–73. See also Class: exclusion of working-class swimmers from municipal pools Class divisions: in use of municipal pools, 1, 3, 24–25, 37, 40–41, 44, 48– 49, 57–58, 62–63, 65, 76, 79, 209; in natural-water swimming, 14–15, 16; in use of river baths, 21–22 Class integration of municipal pools, 3, 4, 32, 78, 81–82, 88–89, 103–4, 105–7, 145 Cleveland, Ohio, 139 Columbus, Ohio, 96–97 Commercial recreation, 3, 48, 76–77, 84, 92, 107, 120 Community life: municipal pools as centers of, 6, 61, 89, 94–95, 106, 107–9, 206, 207–8; privatization of swimming pools degrades quality of, 6, 183, 183–84, 201, 204–5; municipal pools as venues for events important to, 87, 89, 108; public discourse...