A.D. Clark Pool
The A.D. Clark Pool is a historic public swimming facility located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Opened in 1961 at the Hargraves Community Center, the pool was established to provide a safe and accessible swimming space for the town’s Black community during the era of segregation. Named after Adolphus D. Clark, a local civil rights leader and the first president of the Chapel Hill NAACP, the pool was funded through significant local fundraising efforts and a $40,000 donation from Cornelia Love, a Chapel Hill resident who supported Clark’s vision for a community pool.
Today, the A.D. Clark Pool is operated by the Town of Chapel Hill and continues to serve as a vital community resource, offering seasonal public swim times, lessons, and local events.
Background
Before the 1960s, Chapel Hill’s two public swimming pools were operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and both were functionally segregated, barring African American residents from accessing the pool. As a result, members of the Northside community often swam in local creeks and swimming holes, which were frequently polluted. Unsafe conditions led to fatalities from Typhoid infections, and one reported death from a Copperhead snake bite. Some individuals traveled to Raleigh to swim at Pullen Park, one of the few accessible alternatives in the area.Efforts by the Northside community to negotiate access to the University of North Carolina’s swimming facilities were ultimately unsuccessful. Previous attempts to establish recreation centers in Chapel Hill had also failed due to issues with securing funding from the town. In 1960, the town began to invest in neighborhood recreation infrastructure and maintenance. Adolphus Clark, a prominent member of Northside and president of the Chapel Hill–Carrboro Swimming Pool Association, led a proposal to construct a swimming pool at the Hargraves Community Center. The project was intended to be funded through private donations and supported by community chest funds, with ongoing maintenance provided by the town of Chapel Hill.
Construction and opening
Following Adolphus Clark's proposal in 1959, the community received an anonymous donation of $40,000 from Cornelia Love to fund the pool. When interviewed later in her life, Love revealed that Adolphus Clark, whom she thought highly of, had spurred her donation. Clark, a staff member at the Wilson Library at UNC where Love worked, would do side jobs for her, watching her house while she traveled or stepping in as her driver.Construction officially started early in 1960, spearheaded by a local Northside mason, White Bynum, who laid much of the concrete himself. With help from A.D. Clark and other residents, the Northside community built the pool on weekends and afternoons, only bringing in outside contractors for the specialty system. The pool officially opened its doors to locals in June of 1961 and was named after A.D. Clark in recognition of his role in the pool, as well as his larger advocacy for the Northside community. Becoming the first public pool in Chapel Hill that served African Americans, the A.D. Clark Pool provided not only recreation but also jobs for local teenagers as lifeguards.