Highland Park is among Pittsburgh’s oldest and most expansive parks, providing patrons with countless ways to enjoy a day surrounded by nature. From jogging around the reservoir to hiking along forest trails, Highland Park is one of Pittsburgh’s most accessible spaces. But every year, come Memorial Day, attention shifts away from those other activities and focuses squarely on the pool. For those that frequent the park in the summer, the pool is undoubtedly the main attraction. Today, it is the city’s largest public pool, and comes complete with a kiddie pool, water attractions, and even beach volleyball courts. Yet, despite all its modern-day appeal, the Highland Park pool has a not always been welcoming to all guests. In the 1950’s, the pool found itself at the center of a lawsuit regarding racial discrimination that forced the entire city to confront its relationship with race and public spaces.
The Historical Context
Understanding the events that occurred at the Highland Park pool in the early 1950’s and their importance to the African American civil rights movement, requires a familiarity with both the development of Pittsburgh’s predominantly African American communities and the history of public pools in the city. Historically, Pittsburgh was divided into semi-autonomous neighborhoods, each with their own cultural identity. This is especially true of the predominantly African American neighborhoods which came into existence because white city officials wanted to protect the status quo by “[segregating] black migrants into designated colored areas” (Dickerson 138). By placing African Americans in specific neighborhoods, blacks were effectively segregated from most white communities and their public spaces.
Public swimming pools began popping up across the eastern United States in the late 19th century. Initially, at least in northern cities, public pools were not segregated by race, but rather by gender. However, the stark separation of black and white neighborhoods meant that integration was uncommon in most city pools with some key exceptions. In the mid-20th century, Highland Park was a white neighborhood, but it sat next to two predominantly African American neighborhoods, Homewood and East Liberty. As a result, the Highland Park pool was one of the few pools in the city that black and white children routinely enjoyed together. The only group noticeably lacking from this equation was girls, who experienced gender discrimination in the early years of American public pools. This dynamic would eventually shift, as explained by historian Jeff Wiltse, “… during the 1920s and ’30s… cities across the country built large, resort-like swimming pools and allowed males and females to use them together for the first time. In northern cities such as Chicago, New York and Pittsburgh, gender integration brought about racial segregation”. So, while the decision to allow girls to swim with boys was a victory for gender equality, it had unintended effects on race relations throughout the city.
What Exactly was the Problem?
To understand why race did not become a central issue in Pittsburgh’s public pools until girls were introduced, it can be helpful to reference urban theorist Edward Soja’s spatial theory. Soja asserts that humans exist in historical, social, and spatial terms, and that the relationship between these three elements dictates how we interact with one another. It is in this context that we must consider the situation at public pools in the mid-20th century. First let us consider the spatial aspect of pools in general. Despite being a space available to everyone, public pools have some intimate qualities that that make them unique. They are spaces where people feel comfortable or obligated to reveal more skin, and as a result, they are places where our relationship to sex is at the forefront. When we consider this spatial context in relation to the historical and social aspects of American race relations, it becomes clear that white parents, who had just confronted their fears regarding gender, were not yet ready to confront their fears about race (Soja).
The problem that white parents faced was that Pittsburgh did not have any laws allowing the segregation of swimming pools, meaning Law Enforcement could not be counted on to prevent black swimmers from going to pools in white communities. Unwilling to sit idly by, white swimmers took matter into their own hands and “…imposed de facto segregation through violence and intimidation.” (Wiltse). Still, African Americans were within their right to attend any pool in the city and should have been protected by police, yet, “Police officers typically arrested the black victims, charging them with inciting a riot” (Wiltse). This illegal state of segregation existed in the city for years and became the basis of the lawsuit that would eventually force to city to address African American civil rights.
Fighting for Change
The legal fight against segregation in Pittsburgh’s pools was primarily championed by the Pittsburgh Urban League, though many members of the African American community played a significant role in furthering the cause prior to the Leagues formal involvement. Figures like Dr. Patrick, a pastor from Homewood who took a group of African American kids to the former Corrigan pool to protest informal segregation, were essential in bringing the issue of pool segregation to the mainstream. Dr. Patrick’s recollection of the experience speaks volumes, "white teen-agers were jumping over our heads into the water. I was desperately afraid for my young people. I was afraid they would be injured” (Fuoco). Stories like this were common in the years that lead up to the legal battle over pool segregation, which was fought over a strikingly similar, if not more disturbing event.
The effort to address de facto segregation in the city of Pittsburgh had been underway for a few years prior to the events of July 6, 1951, but it was not until Alexander Allen that the fight made it to the court room. A member of the Pittsburgh Urban League, Allen was enjoying a summer day at the Highland Park pool when a group of white teenagers chased him all out of the park. The police were called, and while they managed to diffuse the situation, they did nothing to discipline the white children who had tormented Allen. It was at this point that Allen and the Pittsburgh Urban League decided they could not stand for inequality any longer. A group of ten African American Pittsburghers, including Allen, filed a suit against the city citing a failure to protect their civil rights, and demanding that the Highland Park pool be closed until city officials were willing to uphold existing law. They argued that, “[the public] must be made to realize that any public facility has to be made available to the public or not used at all.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1951). Without any legal options, the city conceded that the plaintiffs argument was sound, and the rights of African Americans were to be better protected moving forward. The case was a major win for the Pittsburgh Urban League and African Americans throughout the city (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1951).
Realization of a Vision
Despite the legal victory, change did not happen overnight, and the city’s new anti-discrimination policy was unevenly enforced. African American swimmers were still routinely harassed at pools in predominantly white neighborhoods, and police could not be relied upon for protection. Still, the verdict slowly improved conditions at the pools. In the 1950’s African American lifeguards became common at integrated pools like Highland Park, and by the mid-1960’s they could even be found at some pools in predominantly white neighborhoods (Fuoco). The situation continued to improve steadily to where it is today. Currently there are few places in the city as inclusive and diverse as the Highland Park pool. On any given day, a diverse group of lifeguards work together to protect children of every race as they enjoy one of the city’s nicest public spaces.
Works Cited
Dickerson, Dennis C., and Latoya Ruby Frazier. The Notion of Family. New York, Aperture Foundation, 2014.
Fuoco, Linda Wilson. "Black History Month: Local Activists, Black and White, Worked to Integrate Sully's Pool in South Park." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 21 Feb. 2001. PG News, old.post-gazette.com/neigh_south/20010221spool2.asp. Accessed 16 Mar. 2018.
Harris, Charles Teenie. Swimming Lessons at Highland Park Pool. 1955. Historic Pittsburgh, historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A1996.69.463. Accessed 16 Mar. 2018.
Hunter, J. R. Get Set-Go Highland Park. 7 Aug. 1936. Historic Pittsburgh, historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A20100614-ocl-1032. Accessed 16 Mar. 2018.
"Protection of Negros' Rights Urged: Racial Issue Argued in Suit to Close Highland Park Pool." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [Pittsburgh], 19 July 1951, Second sec. Newspapers.com, carnegielibraryofpittsburgh.newspapers.com/image/89453814/?terms=highland+park+pool. Accessed 16 Mar. 2018.
Soja, Edward W. Thirdspace: Journey to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Spaces. Wiley-Blackwell, 1996.
Wiltse, Jeff. "Racism in Pools Is Nothing New." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [Pittsburgh], 14 June 2015. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2015/06/14/In-Pittsburgh-blacks-were-beaten-to-keep-them-out-of-the-Highland-Park-Pool/stories/201506140159. Accessed 16 Mar. 2018.