Formation | 1959 |
---|---|
Type | Nonprofit |
Location | |
Website | Official website |
The Nile Swim Club is a historically African American swim club located in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, a western suburb of Philadelphia. Continuously open to all races since July 1959, the Nile Swim Club was the first private swimming pool owned and operated by African Americans in the United States. The club provided the growing Black middle class with an alternative to the region's racially segregated swimming pools. [1]
By the late 1950s, middle-class African Americans, including physicians, ministers, businessmen, teachers, and journalists, formed a majority of homeowners in western Yeadon. White residents nevertheless established the Yeadon Swim Club as a de facto racially segregated facility. Membership applications from African Americans mysteriously disappeared or faced outright rejection. [2] [3]
In 1957, the Black community led by Carson Puriefoy, Elmer Stewart, and Zoe Mask rallied to crowdfund its own swimming pool, with 326 original bondholders from Yeadon and nearby communities contributing $250 each. The Nile Swim Club officially opened on July 11, 1959, welcoming a thousand people to its large outdoor pool on the first day. [1] [2] [3] The swim club expanded over time, adding basketball and tennis courts to its 4.5 acres. [4] Carnivals, parties, musical performances, and other events took place there. [1]
Named after the African river, the Nile Swim Club rapidly became integral to the African American community in Yeadon. [2] [3] West Philadelphia native Will Smith worked as a DJ at pool parties there. [4] Visitors often spotted Black celebrities such as Johnny Mathis, Harry Belafonte, the Supremes, DJ Cash Money, and others at functions. [1] It was a popular and respected establishment, as a 1959 issue of Jet Magazine observed that "the $250 fee and a good background are required to keep out the riffraff and undesirables." [5]
The club struggled financially as early as the 1970s, and its facilities fell into disrepair. It was nearly sold at auction to pay back taxes in 2018 before a crowdfunding campaign averted closure. [4] The all-white Yeadon Swim Club had already closed in 2000. [1] [3] The Nile stabilized and then rebounded in the late 2010s, growing from 200 to 1000 members, each of whom paid $300 a month. [1]
In May 2021, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission installed a roadside marker outside the Nile Swim Club entrance on 513 South Union Avenue, recognizing the club as the nation's first swim club owned and operated by African Americans. [2]
Yeadon is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders the city of Philadelphia. The population was 11,443 at the 2010 census.
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and the SEPTA Media/Wawa Line to the south. An alternate definition includes all city land west of the Schuylkill; this would also include Southwest Philadelphia and its neighborhoods. The eastern side of West Philadelphia is also known as University City.
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Pride is a 2007 American biographical film released by Lionsgate Entertainment on March 23, 2007. Loosely based upon the true story of Philadelphia swim coach James "Jim" Ellis, Pride stars Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac, and Kimberly Elise. The film was directed by Sunu Gonera.
The 1943 race riot in Beaumont, Texas was an anti-Black terrorist event that erupted on June 15, 1943 and ended two days later. It was related to wartime tensions in the overcrowded city, which had been flooded by workers from across the South. White workers from the Pennsylvania Shipyard in Beaumont attacked local black residents and destroyed their property following a rumor that a white woman had been raped by a black man. Two black men and one white man were killed in the widespread violence and more than 50 were injured. More than 200 were arrested and black residents were temporarily banned from going to work.
The Fairground Park riot was a race riot that broke out on June 21, 1949, at a newly integrated public swimming pool. The Fairground Park pool was located near Natural Bridge and Vandeventer Avenues in north St. Louis.
James Ellis is an American swim coach who founded the PDR swim team just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as one of the few predominantly Black swim teams largely for intercity youth. He coached the team from 1971 to 2008, at Nicetown's Marcus Foster Recreation Center outside Philadelphia then moved the team to Nicetown's newly built Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center from 2010-2023 where it became affiliated with the Salvation Army Kroc Center. The 2007 feature film Pride is based on his life story, and focused a great deal of attention on the accomplishments of his swimming program.
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground or built above ground, and may be found as a feature aboard ocean-liners and cruise ships. In-ground pools are most commonly constructed from materials such as concrete, natural stone, metal, plastic, composite or fiberglass, and can be of a custom size and shape or built to a standardized size, the largest of which is the Olympic-size swimming pool.
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The 28th Street YMCA is a historic YMCA building in South Los Angeles, California. It was listed as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2006 and put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The four-story structure was built in 1926 at a cost of $200,000. The building was designed by noted African American architect Paul R. Williams in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.
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