Desegregation of Laurel Pool

Desegregation of Laurel Pool. , The pool opened here in 1958 was originally private and whites only. Dr. John Warren of the Lions Club led the effort to open a pool in Laurel after seeing so many children swimming in the polluted Patuxent River., Warren formed the Laurel Park Commission to oversee the planning and funding of the pool Most of the money raised came from bonds, and the community held several fundraisers. One fundraiser that received generous local press coverage was a minstrel show hosted at the segregated Laurel High School where prominent Laurel citizens performed in blackface to a sold out crowd., Barred from enjoying the pool were Laurel's Black residents, most of whom lived in the historically Black Grove community. If Black families wanted to go swimming, their best option was the Black owned and operated Carr's Beach in Annapolis. Demand for change grew in 1967 after the Grove became the target of hate crimes led by local Ku Klux Klan members. After KKK members attempted to burn down a home in the Grove, residents organized and demanded change from Mayor Merrill Harrison, including the desegregation of the pool., Laurel would have to purchase the pool in order to desegregated it and it reopened as a municipal pool in 1968., To learn more about the Grove's struggle against the KKK, please visit the sign at St. Mark's United Methodist Church at 601 8th Street (0.6 mile walk).