06/26/2026
“The Negroes were permitted to gain access to the water, the police said, and then a crowd of several hundred white youths began dragging them out and beating them,” was reported by The New York Times on August 21, 1931, about the Pittsburgh Highland Park pool.
Even at the time, racial segregation in public areas was illegal in Pittsburgh but white residents enforced de facto racial segregation at the Highland Park pool with violence. Desegregating the pool took Pittsburgh 30 years.
Enjoy your summer and cool off at the pool as well as remember that civil rights are not automatic and require community engagement!
Read more about the history of the Highland Park Pool here: https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-swimmers-segregated-pools/
