Few People Know The Historic Background Behind Fred Hampton Pool In Illinois
By Elizabeth Crozier|Published June 26, 2020
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Elizabeth Crozier
Author
An Illinois transplant who grew up and went to school in Indiana for 22 years, Elizabeth holds a BFA in creative writing and has enjoyed traveling across the country and parts of Europe. She has visited half of the states, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and regularly travels home to the Hoosier State to see friends and family. With more than five years of writing experience, Elizabeth’s articles have been featured on several websites, and her poetry and short stories have been published in multiple literary journals.
There’s a historic pool in Maywood, Illinois that is named for a civil rights activist most people have never heard of before. Most of the state refuses to recognize this important leader of the Black Panthers, but there is a town outside of Chicago that wants his legacy to live on.
This public pool has a lot to offer. Water slides, places to tan, and plenty of space make this pool excellent. Check it out:
The Fred Hampton Aquatic Center in northeast Illinois is managed by the West Cook County YMCA and is open seasonally when the weather is cooperative.
Not everyone knows that there is a story behind the name of this historic pool. Fred Hampton was a civil rights leader and chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers in the late 1960s. In 1969, the Chicago police and FBI worked together to raid the homes of Black Panthers and Fred Hampton was one of the men killed in the homicide.
The event was described as a homicide; ninety-nine shots were fired into Hampton's home while only one was fired from inside (due to an involuntary death convulsion by one of the occupants after police shot him). Hampton was killed while sleeping next to his fiance who was eight months pregnant at the time. Fellow Black Panther Mark Clark was also murdered on this night in the raid.
Naming the pool in Maywood for Hampton was a testament to his legacy. As a youth, he organized trips for local Black residents to go to a pool that would accept Black people and campaigned for a public pool in his own area that would integrate. He also worked with the NAACP, and many believe that this path overall led him to the Black Panthers.
Hampton always dreamed of a pool in his hometown where kids of all races could play together. Though he never lived to see that day, the pool now exists in his honor because he never gave up hope.
