AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin woman was honored Saturday for her actions in ending the segregation of Barton Springs Pool.
Joan Means Khabele swam in Barton Springs Pool to protest the segregation of the pool. Her actions sparked the civil rights era swim-ins that eventually led to the desegregation of Barton Springs Pool.
The pool is an iconic Austin landmark that sits across from Zilker Park along Barton Springs Road.
At the event Saturday, April 9, city leaders held a proclamation and spoke before the water was blessed. There was also free entry to the pool before noon and free valet parking from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A PBS documentary about Khabele was screened at the pool.
Khabele was an activist and scholar from Austin, the City of Austin said. She was in the third group of students to integrate Austin High School in the 1950s.
She led the integration of Barton Springs Pool and Zilker Park when she was a senior in high school. She started the work after she wasn't allowed to swim at her high school senior picnic. After she jumped in the Barton Springs Pool, a movement of swim-ins took place on a weekly basis throughout the summer of 1960, the city said.
Her activism was in her genes. KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman reported that she was the daughter of civil rights activist Bertha Sadler Means and her great-grandfather was the Rev. James Sadler. The reverend founded the freedom colony of Valley Mills in Bosque County after emancipation.
The Statesman reported in 2021 that Khabele died at the age of 78 from leukemia.
According to the City, Austin Parks and Recreation will continue to collect and tell diverse stories in order to give a full history of the pool.
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