Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America - Softcover

Wiltse, Jeff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807871273 ISBN 13: 9780807871270

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2010

Synopsis

From nineteenth-century public baths to today’s private backyard havens, swimming pools have long been a provocative symbol of American life. In this social and cultural history of swimming pools in the United States, Jeff Wiltse relates how, over the years, pools have served as asylums for the urban poor, leisure resorts for the masses, and private clubs for middle-class suburbanites. As sites of race riots, shrinking swimsuits, and conspicuous leisure, swimming pools reflect many of the tensions and transformations that have given rise to modern America.

About this title

About the Author

Jeff Wiltse is associate professor of history at the University of Montana.

From the Inside Flap

From 19th-century public baths to today's private backyard havens, swimming pools have been a provocative symbol of American life. In this social and cultural history of swimming pools in the U.S., Wiltse relates how, over the years, pools have served as asylums for the urban poor, leisure resorts for the masses, and private clubs for middle-class suburbanites. As sites of race riots, shrinking swimsuits, and conspicuous leisure, swimming pools reflect the tensions and transformations that have given rise to modern America.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807871273
• ISBN 13: 9780807871270
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288