Public Pools in America

On a blistering summer day, taking a dip in the pool is like paradise. Some are fortunate enough to own a private pool, but those who are not flock towards a community pool. The issue with this is that not every city has a public pool, and not every pool is as welcoming as one might expect. In the city of Elsberry, Missouri, there is not a public pool. Clarence Cannon, who was born in Elsberry and was a Missouri congressman in the United States House of Representatives, wrote a letter in which he argued that Elsberry should not have a public pool. Cannon took this position because installing a public pool in the United States in the 1950s brought with it cultural, economic, and sometimes even political implications.

The ‘50s may be best known for Elvis, poodle skirts, and retro diners, but the wave of swimming pools cannot be missed. A family pool was private, and what people did in private was fine. Bring those swimsuit-clad residents to a highly public area and one has an etiquette emergency. The style of clothing post WWII for women was, mostly, classy yet conservative. The times were changing as teenagers began to “. . . wear jeans, shorts and swimsuits that differed from what their mothers wore. Often during the '50s, teenagers were rebelling from the styles of their parents” (Latzko). This change in the United States’ cultural climate would allow for more states to establish large numbers of public pools without much morality-based push back. It would make sense if conservative states were opposed, but cities in Missouri and Texas were diving in head first as well (Kennon and McClure). Some schools were fine with having a public pool opened in their vicinity (“Santa Rosa and Schools Agree On Operation of Proposed Pool”). Cannon, however, wrote in reference to having a public pool that there would be, “Little school girls and boys. . . wearing bathing suits and abbreviated shorts on the streets from the pool. . . create an atmosphere and occasion comments which are anything but desirable” (Cannon).

The other moral predicament was the issue of segregation. Many pools in the 1950s were segregated, and cities were applauded for their efforts to keep African-Americans out of pools ("City to Be Commended"). In 1951, there was a young black child in Ohio who was told after a baseball game, “Whatever you do, don’t touch the water”, as though he was somehow dirtier than the other teammates with whom he had just played ball (“Plunging into Public Pools' Contentious Past”). Even today, the harmful effects of segregation have kept Americans from enjoying pools. Black children, whose parents were never taught to swim due to the grandparents growing up in the Jim Crow era, are more likely to drown or be unable to swim than white children (Hackman). Those who were never allowed to go to pools based on the color of their skin are at a disadvantage in the water, and it highlights the divide between black and white pool goers. This disdain against the “immoral” aspects of pools served as only one factor in the fight against a pool for Elsberry.

While moral values played a part in the establishment of pools or lack thereof, the varying economies of cities and states were just as important. California has a higher standard of living and more tourism services that draw in revenue. Other cities in Missouri were trying to attract tourism through the same methods as states like California. Moberly, Missouri intended to build a public pool with money from the city bond ("Swimming Pool Is Included In City Bond Issue Plans”). This pool was voted down because citizens did not want to pay the tax, forcing a few local mothers to point out that, “We’re all 100 percent for anything to combat juvenile delinquency as long as it doesn’t cost a dime” (Nicholas). Other cities, like Elsberry, preferred that their tax money would go towards projects that would support the community by bringing new jobs, not a recreational hotspot. Clarence Cannon’s letter about the pool plan also included his belief that, “The one thing that Elsberry needs is a factory. Elsberry needs jobs" (Cannon). While building a pool would create construction jobs for a short period of time and a few lifeguard and management positions after its completion, it would ultimately bring less opportunity to the people who desperately needed a steady income. The economic strife that keeps a city from building a pool may be under yet another influence: politics.

Clarence Cannon was the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations for the United States House of Representatives, so when a public works project was being advocated for by a potential opponent in a race for a public office, he was not too pleased. The Planned Progress group from Louisiana, Missouri was pushing for the pool. Cannon was outraged that the committee members posed “as great philanthropists” when he believed they were essentially stealing “$100,000 out of Elsberry and [handing] back $500” (Cannon). To anyone else, it would seem as though the head of Planned Progress, A.F. Wilmes, was a hero if he brought a pool to Elsberry that would generate funds and provide a place of leisure ("Rev. A. F. Wilmes Is New Head of Planned Progress”). For Cannon, who might have wanted to run unopposed in 1958, had already secured himself for the U.S. House of Representatives for 1956. In the two years until reelection, he could not allow someone to outshine him in his hometown. Steady factory jobs and the blockage of an unnecessary pool were achievements he could show his constituents, successfully securing his place in the House for the following years.

Public swimming pools can be located in millions of cities today, but their tumultuous spread across the US and Missouri alike can be attributed to the issues of culture and race, the economy, and politics in some cases. The influences of society and wealth may have given pools a bad reputation at first, they are cemented in American lives today as a result of a cultural and economic shift.

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