Contested waters [electronic resource] : a social history of swimming pools in America / Jeff Wiltse.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [255]-266) and index.

Introduction : "just don't touch the water" -- A "peculiar kind" of bath : the origin of municipal pools in America -- "A means of physical culture" : the redefinition of municipal pools during the 1890s -- "A good investment in health, character, and citizenship" : municipal swimming pools in the Progressive Era -- Interlude : the traumatic early history of Fairgrounds Park Pool -- The "swimming pool age" : 1920 to 1940 -- "One for the white race and the other for the colored race" : the onset of racial discrimination, 1920 to 1940 -- "More sensitive than schools" : the struggle to desegregate municipal swimming pools -- "Alone in the backyard" : swimming pools in recent America -- Conclusion : the promise and reality of swimming pools as public spaces.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2013. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.