TA24-J F-Pages - Flipbook - Page 70
Barton Springs Pool in Austin was originally a whites-only facility. It was desegregated in 1962 after a series of swim-ins orchestrated by high school senior Joan Means Khabele.
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architecture and concrete construction returned these pools to the Progressive
Era ideal of a functional public bath rather than a community recreation center.
Most public pools in Texas were not legally desegregated until 1963 and
remained a point of contention throughout the Civil Rights Movement.
Barton Springs Pool in Austin became a site of protest after high school senior
Joan Means Khabele de昀椀ed segregation rules by jumping into the pool at a
school picnic in 1960, becoming the 昀椀rst Black person to enter the pool. Her
act of protest initiated a movement of weekly “swim-ins” that lasted the entire
summer. The swim-ins garnered outside support as Austinites rallied to push
local authorities to remove the segregation policy. Barton Springs was o昀케cially
desegregated in 1962, making it one of the 昀椀rst integrated pools in the state.
In many cases, desegregation led to “white 昀氀ight” from public pools to
private clubs. These swim clubs controlled entry with a fee and residential
requirement, often enforced for the purpose of racial exclusion. The number
of residential pools also began to skyrocket as new building techniques made
home pools a昀昀ordable for the middle class. Swimming at home restricted socialization to friends and family, reinforcing domestic culture and individualism.
The value of public pools as a part of community life was all but lost when
PHOTO [C01791], AUSTIN HISTORICAL CENTER, AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY
Many of Texas’ most iconic pools received federal aid during the Great Depression, including Balmorhea State Park in Toyahvale. The San Solomon Springs
was the center of life for Indigenous groups and farmers long before the park
existed but was little known outside of the Balmorhea area. The State Parks
Board acquired the land in 1934, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built
the park between 1935 and 1940. The CCC created a massive pool fed by the
springs, turning Balmorhea into a vacation destination. As a state park, the
pool at Balmorhea is less subject to decline than the average public pool, but
intensive repairs and consistent maintenance are necessary to keep the facility
safe and sanitary.
After World War II, the 昀椀ght to desegregate swimming facilities across the
nation began in earnest. In the South, pools were often openly segregated, and
those not restricted by law were socially segregated through racially motivated
violence and harassment. Purposeful segregation often happened through urban
planning; city planners placed pools in neighborhoods with a homogeneous
racial makeup in an e昀昀ort to discourage interracial socialization. The public
pools built in Black neighborhoods were much smaller than the resort-style pools
located in majority-white areas, and typically had no leisure space at all. Hostile
