The Collective Community Arts Center in Lafayette is holding an exhibit of panels that tell the story of discrimination at the town’s 1934 public swimming pool and how Rose Lueras, her daughter Rosebelle Vargas and other Latino community members fought for their civil rights.
The “Racism & Discrimination at the Lafayette Swimming Pool, 1934” exhibit consists of panels written in both English and Spanish and will be on display at The Collective until Oct. 11.
After the story was brought to the attention of the Lafayette Arts and Cultural Resources department by community member Frank Archuleta, Program Manager of the Arts and Cultural Resources Department Rachel Hanson knew it needed to be brought to the public’s attention.
“The history that is told in this exhibit is history that is not told elsewhere, in books or at museums or in any written record at all,” said Hanson. “This story has been handed down through oral tradition, perhaps through families, but never told to the general population.”
The exhibit can be visited Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Guests may schedule special times or view the panels online if they aren’t able to come in during public hours.
According to Hanson, Archuleta was integral in the research of the story. Some of the research he did included requesting public documents, speaking with local historians and reaching out to the Vargas family and other Latino families involved in the story.
“Our goal and desire is to create change with the process through education,” said Archuleta. “We will try to help build a community, a truly inclusive community to respect human rights and to help eliminate racism and discrimination in all communities of Lafayette and elsewhere. Also, to respect and value the Latino families of Lafayette.”
Lueras’s story starts with the opening of a swimming pool in Lafayette in 1934 for children and young people. Many people in town had donated money, supplies or labor in order to help fund the pool and complete its construction, including the Lueras family which contributed 10 bags of cement. While it was built with public funds and citizen contributions, the pool was leased to the Lafayette Volunteer Fire Department, a private institution.
Shortly after, a sign that read ‘White trade only’ was posted at the gate.
After being denied entry, Lueras organized several Latino residents in Lafayette who raised money and filed a lawsuit against the city and the fire department. According to the exhibit, the petition asserted that the defendants had conspired together to deny Latinos the right to use the swimming pool, citing their 14th Amendment rights. The pool closed while the case worked its way through the courts.
“I imagine she was a very strong woman and she was probably very determined,” said Hanson. “She gathered up 25 families who were willing to sign the petition and they filed in district court. I think she was really brave and I think it was very admirable to speak up for civil rights, especially during that time.”
The Ku Klux Klan began to target Lueras and her family for her actions, and Lueras and her daughter had to move to Santa Monica, California, to avoid persecution. While awaiting their case to go to trial, Lueras was later struck and killed by a delivery truck in June 1935 in front of her daughter. Vargas, at the age of 13, would testify in place of her mother in court.
The District Court ultimately dismissed the case after hearing from Vargas and other plaintiffs, ruling the evidence presented did not warrant a judgement of discrimination against the defendants.
“There was clearly plenty of evidence to warrant a judgement against racial discrimination against the City of Lafayette and the Lafayette fire department,” said Pilar Anich, administrative assistant at the Brighton Police Department and great granddaughter of Lueras. “Why could they not see nor understand that my great grandmother was not asking for anything other than for her daughter, my grandmother, to be able to swim with the other children?”
Anich said she had first heard this story from her grandmother, who she called “Grandma Rosie,” and was grateful Hanson and Archuleta worked hard to share it.
Anich and other members of her family were shown the exhibit during a private event at The Collective. She said the exhibit was breathtaking and they did a beautiful job putting it together.
“I’m proud of them for taking a stand and bringing the story forward,” said Anich. She and her family were also present at the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center when the pool was named the Rose Lueras Pool after her great grandmother by Lafayette City Council during a dedication ceremony in Dec. 2019.
According to Hanson, she has received a lot of positive feedback from people viewing the exhibit. Many of the visitors have left their comments on sticky notes posted to the ‘Join the Conversation’ board inside the arts center, some written in Spanish.
“We need to recognize and face our history in order to create a better future for ALL,” read one of the notes posted.
In conjunction with the exhibit, The Collective is also displaying the Latinos of Lafayette Photo Exhibit which highlights generations of Latinos in Lafayette including veterans, civic leaders, athletes and individuals that have lived in town.
Hanson hopes that the story told at this exhibit will start a community conversation on the issues of racism and discrimination.
“I think there are so many different conversations that can be generated because of this exhibit,” said Hanson. “Looking at how history has good things and bad things in it and how we address those bad things in a way that produces growth not shame, I think that’s part of the conversation that we want to help the community get to. That we acknowledge that bad things have happened and how we move forward out of that without hiding it or being shameful of it.”
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