{"exhibit":{"title":"Were people ever allowed to swim in the Tidal Basin or the Reflecting Pool? ","description":"Swimmers and bathing beauties filled the swimming areas of the Tidal Basin after its construction out of the mudflats on the Potomac in the 1880s. In 1914, Congress voted to create an official beach on the Tidal Basin for white patrons.\u00a0 African Americans swam nearby in a segregated area that never received funding or buildings. Facing increased criticism from black leaders and concerns that the water was polluted, Congress voted to ban swimming in the Tidal Basin in 1925. Swimming has never been allowed in the Reflecting Pool, but there were segregated, whites-only swimming pools near the Washington Monument during the late 1920s.","credits":"","featured":1,"public":1,"theme":"","theme_options":null,"slug":"swimming","added":"2012-11-29 11:08:27","modified":"2019-08-07 13:30:11","owner_id":5,"use_summary_page":1,"cover_image_file_id":null,"id":8},"item":{"item_type_id":1,"collection_id":null,"featured":0,"public":1,"added":"2012-11-29 14:38:36","modified":"2015-09-02 13:19:14","owner_id":5,"id":170}}