Often, when people hear the phrase historic preservation, the first thing they think of is saving old buildings. And while, yes, that is sometimes the outcome, it is certainly not that simple. Historic Landmarks are rooted in community. They are tangible connections to the people and events that have shaped our city and collective histories. Preservation today is not just about protecting grand old structures. Our landmarks represent stories and events from our city’s history that are maintained and protected to serve as a foundation for building a better future.
That brings us to the Queen Anne Pool, a Historic Landmark designated in May 2024. Nestled in the verdant streets of one of Seattle’s oldest neighborhoods is an unassuming building with a simple blue awning that reads “Queen Anne Aquatic Center.” Located across from the neighborhood community center, it has served as a gathering place for neighbors since 1977. However, most people probably don’t realize that this modest brick building holds a powerful story of a painful past, a societal shift, and an architect who advocated for social, racial, and environmental justice.
The Queen Anne Pool was designed by famed architect Benjamin McAdoo. McAdoo was born in Pasadena, CA in 1920, a time when Jim Crow laws were in place across the country and access to public pools was limited for people of color. As a youth, he would have only been able to swim in a public pool in his hometown once a week for three hours on what was known as “International Day.”
In 1944, McAdoo moved to Seattle to study architecture at the University of Washington, and two years later he became the first Black architect licensed in Washington state. The years he spent in school and building up his business were fraught with racism in Seattle. Redlining was rampant and several neighborhoods, including Queen Anne, were “sundown” areas meaning Black people were prohibited after dark. Many public pools in Seattle also enacted race-based restrictions to limit access for people of color.
“I cannot overstate the significance of Washington’s first registered Black architect designing a public building for use in a neighborhood in which he would not have been welcomed to live, enclosing a pool he would not have been permitted to use as a child,” says Maureen Elenga, Queen Anne Historical Society Preservation Committee Chair.
Despite racial discrimination, McAdoo grew his business in Seattle primarily designing private residences. By the mid-1950s, his work was being published regularly and he became known for his innovative style that fused modernism and regionalism and often integrated architectural concepts from different cultures. Growing up, the McAdoo family ran several businesses in Pasadena where segregation often brought Black, Asian, Latino, and Indigenous residents together for shared commercial enterprises. His childhood home was filled with intercultural furnishing, textiles, and artwork that may have influenced his diverse architectural style and aesthetic.
McAdoo was also deeply engaged with his community. He served four years as president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); wrote several columns for the Seattle Times on police brutality, school segregation, and redlining; and was a civic leader and national advocate for the advancement of low-cost housing solutions. In 1962, he was appointed as administrator for a housing program in Jamaica for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He then went on to work in Washington D.C. where he set up the Latin American Division of USAID and served as a coordinating architect for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Fisheries Center and Aquarium.
When McAdoo returned to Seattle, the racial landscape was beginning to shift. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, the City of Seattle unanimously passed an ordinance to end racially restrictive covenants and sundown zones. Around the same time, a series of bond propositions known as the Forward Thrust initiatives were approved by voters in King County to improve public recreation and urban space. Within the program, $65 million was allocated for the City of Seattle to build and improve public recreation facilities including swimming pools.
The first of the Forward Thrust aquatic facilities constructed was Medgar Evers Pool, which opened in 1970. Built in the historically Black Central Area and named for the assassinated Black civil rights leader Medgar Evers, the pool was designed by White architect John M. Morse and was initially slated to be built by an all-White construction hired by the City. Around the same time, a group of Black independent contractors formed the Central Contractors Association in an effort to gain access to local construction contracts. The group was led by local electrician and activist, Tyree Scott and McAdoo served as a board member. In 1969, Scott organized a march of around 100 Black construction workers to the Medgar Evers Pool job site, halting work until Black contractors were hired.
Although there was a progressive move toward racial justice in Seattle at this time, tensions were still high. Many public pools began charging high membership fees to sidestep desegregation and limit equitable access to nonwhite residents.
In 1974, the Seattle Parks Department selected McAdoo to design a new aquatic center in Queen Anne, the final project of the Forward Thrust program. Construction began in July 1976, and the pool opened to the public on November 10, 1977. Staying true to his style, McAdoo designed the Queen Anne Pool with a simple exterior and Modern elements visible on the interior including a concrete stem wall, thin wood slat paneling, and exposed brick walls and glulam beams. This was a shift from the traditional Queen Anne, Victorian, Dutch Colonial, and Craftsman architectural styles predominant in the neighborhood – which was intentional. McAdoo believed that modern design should be accessible to all and wanted to move away from architectural styles that seemed to serve the privileged few. His pool was welcoming and invoked warmth. He chose inviting wooden interiors and integrated other natural materials often seen in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Caribbean architecture.
“Benjamin F. McAdoo, Jr. was an architect ‘of and for the people,’ says Black Heritage Society of Washington State President, Stephanie Johnson Toliver. “As a brilliant visionary who advocated for accessibility and open concepts, so do his designs. At The Black Heritage Society of Washington State we will always honor McAdoo’s legacy as an architect, activist, and public servant. Queen Anne Pool is a fine architectural example of McAdoo’s significant contribution to Seattle’s landscape.”
McAdoo continued to work in the Puget Sound region until his death in 1981. During his four-decade long career, he carved out an important legacy in Seattle through both his architectural design and social justice advocacy.
“Mr. Benjamin McAdoo built a pool in a neighborhood he would not have been able to swim in, or sleep in as a child, or as a young University of Washington student,” wrote Dawn Dailey in an article for the Queen Anne Historical Society. “The human history and intention behind that pool makes it historically significant. This is his legacy – a symbol of barriers broken.”
Historical restrictions on access to safe swimming spaces continue to impact communities of color today. When racial covenants were lifted at public pools and beaches, many Black adults lacked basic swimming or water safety skills. The USA Swimming Foundation found that when an adult does not know how to swim, children in the same household have a significantly lower chance of learning to swim themselves. The latest CDC data shows that 37 percent of Black adults in the United States do not know how to swim.
“Socio-political discrimination leads to a lack of access which leads to Whites swimming in much higher numbers than Blacks swimming,” said University of Montana Professor of History Jeff Wiltse in a 2001 news article. “Then it becomes cultural perceptions, then perceptions of physiological difference. It’s watching the process of racism work.”
And that is part of the reason this seemingly simple brick building in Queen Anne holds such historical significance. It represents a monumental break in a destructive historical pattern. An important societal shift for our nation and our city.
“Therein lies an important opportunity for people to seek out and learn why this building is significant,” says Elenga, “and to learn about the important role preservation can play in keeping alive the lessons of the past, particularly as they relate to the experiences of underrepresented communities in American society.”
The Queen Anne Pool continues to play an important role in bringing community together. A wide array of programs and special events for neighbors are hosted at the pool including water fitness classes, lap swim, family and recreational swim times, and a pool playland. It is one of ten local aquatic centers operated by Seattle Parks and Recreation.
This year, as part of the Swim Seattle Initiative, Seattle Parks and Recreation has partnered with Oshun Swim School to offer trauma-informed and Afro-Indigenous centered swim opportunities and educational workshops for communities of color. To learn more about this partnership visit: www.parkways.seattle.gov/2024/04/08/swim-seattle-partners-with-oshun-swim-school
