Revisiting Pasadena’s Brookside Plunge

Brookside_Park,1920s. Inserts: Two-time Olympian Sammy Lee, Sammy Lee.

When the Brookside Plunge opened in 1914 it was a different time in Pasadena and the rest of the nation as the specter of Jim Crow was predominant, even in the West.

By Brian Biery

Soon after the pool opened, the City of Pasadena prohibited the use of the pool by people of color. In response to public pressure, the City created ‘International Day’, which allowed persons of color to use the pool just once a week, on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 5:00 pm.  No white people were allowed to swim on that afternoon. When the last patron departed, the pool’s water was emptied and fresh water filled the plunge, ensuring that white swimmers the following day would not have to share the same water with the people from ‘International Day’.

‘International Day’ deemed unconstitutional

In 1919 the Pasadena Branch of the NAACP was founded, in large part to fight City Hall to allow for greater access to one of the city’s most valued recreational assets. For nearly 28 years the NAACP and its supporters battled the City in courtrooms and the council chamber for the ability to swim in the pool whenever it was open. Finally, in 1947, the California Supreme Court ruled that ‘International Day’ was unconstitutional and that the City of Pasadena was thus required to open the pool to all swimmers, regardless of their race.

Two-time Olympian Sammy Lee

One athlete of color who was impacted significantly by this local edict was two-time Olympian Sammy Lee. His is an intriguing story of an athlete overcoming the inability to train equally with his white counterparts at the only Olympic-sized pool in the region. Lee was raised in nearby Highland Park. The Brookside Plunge was the closest pool with a 10 meter diving platform. However, when Lee attempted to train in the pool, he was turned away because he was Korean.

Determined to reach his goal to become a world-class diver, Lee found a coach who would train him, no matter what barriers were in their way. His coach, Jim Ryan, dug a pit in his backyard, filled it with sand, and placed a diving board next to the pit for Sammy to use for practice.  Later in life, Lee observed that diving into sand actually made him a stronger diver because his legs were able to lift him high into the air for his beautifully executed triple-somersault dives.

Letter from City of Pasadena (Photo – Pasadena Museum of History)

As Sammy continued to excel in the sport during high school, the diving world began to take notice of his exceptional talent. He qualified for numerous competitions throughout the state, including one that was slated to take place at the Brookside Plunge in 1937.  The City of Pasadena, through its Parks Superintendent William H. Nicholas, continued to enforce the ‘International Day’ rule, stating that since the competition would not take place on that designated day, Lee wouldn’t be able to compete. However, Vice Principal Frank Axe of Franklin High School wrote an impassioned plea to the City requesting that Sammy be allowed to compete in this important event.  Nicholas eventually relented by responding in a letter that “…as long as those in your group are willing that this Korean boy swim with them, we will allow him to pass for that day only.”

Two gold medals

Sammy went on to win a gold medal at the London Olympics in the 10 meter platform diving event in 1948 and won another gold in the same event at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952.  He attended Occidental College, and earned a medical degree from USC as an ear, nose and throat specialist, which he practiced for 35 years. Along the way he served in the U.S. military as a physician and was invited to become an international cultural diplomat by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Lee accepted the invitation and spent several months in 1954 traveling throughout Asia as a goodwill ambassador for the U.S. government.

Lee excelled not only as an athlete, but as a humanitarian. Throughout his professional career he was able to raise the controversial issue of race in America which served as a catalyst for reducing discrimination and racism. Despite the barriers that he faced as a Korean American at the Brookside Plunge, Lee once told the L.A. Times that he was able “to prove that in America, I could do anything.” And indeed, he did.