Description: Caption reads: "Yankee Road Swimming pool and Foundation for filter house, Yankee Road at Taylor St." Middletown is located in Butler County, which is in Ohio's southwestern corner and borders Indiana on its western border. Butler County was established by the State of Ohio on March 24, 1803. Originally a part of Hamilton County, Butler County was named in honor of Richard Butler, who was killed in St. Clair’s Defeat in 1791. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F03_011_1
Subjects: Swimming pools--Pictorial works; Butler County (Ohio)
Places: Middletown (Ohio); Butler County (Oho)
 

Description: Taken in 1936, this photograph shows a large number of people swimming in the pool at Bomberger Park. The pool has colonnades running down two sides. The far side has a tall wall with the warning "DON'T RUN." Bomberger Park is located in the St. Anne's Hill neighborhood of Dayton, Ohio, just north of the University of Dayton. Though still a small park, it is a shadow of its earlier state. The wading pool pictured is no longer in existence. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F02_009_001
Subjects: Swimming pools; Urban Parks--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Recreation; Children; Dayton (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Free Period -- Scott Pool." This is a photograph of Scott Pool most likely located in Toledo, Ohio. There are several children and adults in the pool posing for the camera. There is a recreation building behind them. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B10F11_006_001
Subjects: Swimming; Parks--Ohio; Swimming pools--Pictorial works; Pools; Sunbathing; Recreation; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Norwalk Pool." This photo depicts lots of children playing at the Norwalk Pool in Norwalk, Ohio on a summer day. There is an adult in white on the far side of the pool who looks to be talking to one of the children. This pool was most likely built as part of the Works Progress Administration, a project that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F03_0018_001
Subjects: Norwalk (Ohio)--Social life and customs; Swimming pools; Swimming; Recreation; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Norwalk (Ohio); Huron County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "'A' dormitory swimming pool. Chillicothe, US Reformatory." The United States Industrial Reformatory in Chillicothe, Ohio opened to inmates in January, 1926 after being authorized in 1923. Until 1929 when Congress approved $3,000,000 in funding for permanent buildings, inmates were housed in the repurposed buildings of Camp Sherman, a World War I military training camp. The Camp Sherman quarters included the brick superintendent’s house and a wooden chapel, as well as temporary buildings made up of six dormitories, dining room, kitchen, and auditorium. Prisoner activities consisted of four hours of school daily, viewing movies three times a week, and access to a library and 50 bed hospital. The new reformatory facilities were to include a receiving building, one inside cell house, two outside cell houses and eight dormitories, as well as a hospital building, mess hall, warehouse, six shops, and a school building and auditorium. Construction of the new reformatory began in 1928 and was completed in 1936. In the mid-1930’s a foundry and brick plant opened at the reformatory as part of the Federal Prison Industries (FPI). Items manufactured at the reformatory were sold to the Federal Government. The reformatory is now known as the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F11_002_1
Subjects: Chillicothe (Ross County, Ohio)--History; Chillicothe Correctional Institution (Chillicothe, Ohio); Swimming Pools; Reformatories--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Chillicothe (Ohio); Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Butler Co., Middletown, O. Swimming pool at Verity Park. Aug. 10, 1936." This is a photograph of a swimming pool at Verity park in Middletown, Ohio. It was most likely one of 45 municipal swimming pools built by the Works Progress Administration. Middletown is located in Butler County, which is in Ohio's southwestern corner and borders Indiana on its western border. Butler County was established by the State of Ohio on March 24, 1803. Originally a part of Hamilton County, Butler County was named in honor of Richard Butler, who was killed in St. Clair's Defeat in 1791. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F02_018_001
Subjects: Swimming pools; Recreation; New Deal; Works Progress Administration; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Middletown (Ohio); Butler County (Oho)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "The swimming project, Linden Center, Dayton, Ohio. Life guards instructing in the way to break wrist holds. March 1936." This is a photograph of several men practicing breaking wrist holds at the Linden Center pool in Dayton, Ohio. These lessons were most likely a part of the Works Progress Administration, a project that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F02_027_001
Subjects: Swimming pools; Swimming; Lifeguards; Bathing suits; Self-defense; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Flutter board - 'Learn to swim' campaign. Navarre Pool." This photograph depicts a "Learn to Swim Campaign" swimming instructor teaching four children how to use flutter boards at Navarre Pool in Navarre, Ohio. The children are surrounding the practicing student and the instructor stands to the right in the white hat. These "Learn to Swim Campaign" was a part of the Works Progress Administration, a project that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F03_0016_001
Subjects: Swimming pools; Swimming; Lifeguards; Swimming for children--Safety measures--Study and teaching; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Navarre (Ohio); Stark County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Water Pagent? [sic] Scott Pool." This photograph depicts participants in a water pageant at Scott Pool in what is most likely Toledo, Ohio. There are six actors shown, four on the edge of the pool, one sitting on stage portraying Poseidon, and one standing next to the set. There is a map of North America on one side of the set and South America on the other, and a large painting of the Statue of Liberty in the center. There are people standing behind a fence in the background who appear to be watching the pageant. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F03_0017_001
Subjects: Theater, Open-air; Swimming pools; Acting; Swimming; Theaters--Stage setting and scenery; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "An N.Y.A. Senior Life Guard giving instruction at Roosevelt Pool, March 1936." This is a photograph of a National Youth Administration (NYA) senior lifeguard giving swimming instruction at the Roosevelt Pool most likely located in Dayton, Ohio. There are six girls present and one appears to be practicing diving. The National Youth Administration was one of Roosevelt's New Deal agencies and operated from 1935 to 1943 as part of the Works Progress Administration. The NYA operated numerous programs for youth and during its active time, served about 327,000 teenagers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F04_005_001
Subjects: Swimming pools; Swimming; Lifeguards; Bathing suits; Swimming for children--Safety measures--Study and teaching; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)