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This article first
appeared in Nude & Natural 37.1
(Fall 2017), with 200 schools known at that time. The list had tripled to approximately 600 when it was reprinted in Naturist Writings of Paul LeValley, Including Movie Reviews in 2022. This online version will continue to be updated as new information comes in.
Nude Swimming in School
by Paul LeValley
Boys were required to swim nude in many American
high schools for about 65 years—from the building of the first
indoor school pool in 1913 to the late 1970s. This remained
standard practice in public schools and Catholic schools. Just
about any school large enough to have a pool required nude
swimming.
I grew up in a Michigan county with little villages
and nine high schools—only one of them big enough to have a
swimming pool. My uncles (five and six years older than me) swam
nude there, so I was always aware of the practice. But I attended
a small school with no pool. Years later, I arrived to teach
English at Saginaw High School the first year that boys were required
to wear suits.
There are deniers who claim such a thing could never
have happened in the U.S.A., yet it certainly did. Why?
In Europe, the tradition goes back much
earlier. In the 1830s, Dr. Thomas Arnold (father of the poet
Matthew Arnold) revived the ancient Greek tradition of a well developed
mind in a well developed body at Rugby school. Along with other
vigorous sports, the boys swam nude in the river. Of course,
Greek boys had attended all of their lessons nude.
In the U.S., the Young Men's Christian Association
led the way in swimming. The Brooklyn YMCA built the first indoor
pool in America in 1885. All men and boys were expected to swim
nude from the beginning—just as they had for thousands of
years. The swim suit had been invented just 16 years earlier, in
1869. Women and girls had taken to the clumsy outfits—men
only on the most crowded beaches, and boys rarely anywhere.
Mark Twain was writing about Tom Sawyer and
Huckleberry Finn skinny-dipping in the Mississippi River.
Photographs in tourist guidebooks and the paintings of George Bellows
frequently showed nude boys frolicking in the polluted waters of New
York Harbor. The YMCA was offering slum boys a better place to
hang out than pool halls and saloons. None of those boys owned
swim suits, or could afford one. Nude swimming was democratic,
and could be spontaneous.
Fibers and lint from wool swim suits clogged the
early pool filters. Soon, scientists discovered that swimsuits
harbored far more germs than freshly scrubbed skin. And so, when
questioned about their nudity requirement, Y officials gave three
reasons:
1. Cleanliness for the swimmer.
2. Cleanliness of the pool.
3. Encouraging a proper attitude toward the body and life.
The third reason would prove the most enduring.
In contrast, the Young Women's Christian Association
neither encouraged nor discouraged nude swimming. In 1918, the
official policy at the Pawtucket, Rhode Island YWCA was "bathing suits
permitted." One YWCA in Vermont even offered beginning swim
classes for prepubescent nude boys (taught by a woman in swimsuit).
In 1913, New Trier Township High School in Winnetka,
Illinois opened the first high school indoor pool. During the
1920s, several of the bigger high schools in the northern states began
building indoor swimming pools for all-weather instruction.
Smaller schools never had them. Since drowning ranked as the
second-highest cause of death (after disease) among teenage boys,
swimming seemed a good physical exercise to teach—far more
practical than football or basketball or baseball.
While swimming rarely became a high school subject
in the southeastern states, we know that by the 1960s college men were
expected to swim nude in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and
Georgia.
With the number of pools increasing, the American
Public Health Association in 1926 issued its first guidelines for
maintaining sanitation in school pools. They recommended that all
boys swim nude, but conceded that the insignificant number of girls
might wear simple costumes of undyed cotton. Usually, these were
ill-fitting baggy affairs owned and laundered by the school after each
use. Some schools left the suits optional for girls. All
classes were single-sex.
How could anyone question the morality of a practice
already endorsed for 40 years by the Young Men's Christian
Association? By 1937, the Administration of Health and Physical
Recreation training manual stated, "Nude bathing for boys is practiced
universally; in a few schools girls may swim nude and this is the most
sanitary method."
During the Depression years, the affordability of
birthday suits again became an important point.
With material shortages during World War II, the
saving of cloth became a proud patriotic duty. YMCA camps and
countless Boy Scout camps required nude swimming even in the
lake. One man from Schenectedy NY remembered, "The summer of 1940
I went to YMCA camp on the eastern shore of Lake George. We swam
nude, and every morning at about 6 AM, the entire camp, including all
the adults, traipsed nude through the camp site and had a nude morning
swim." A few rare schools even allowed the girls to wear skimpier
two-piece bathing suits. Many teachers came out of their war
experience, convinced that communal nudity was good preparation for the
expectations of military service.
During the post-war years, it occurred to some
people that saving girls from drowning might also be a good idea.
Junior high, and even elementary schools built pools, and required all
students to participate—especially in the Great Lakes
states. Again, they were single-sex classes, the boys nude, girls
clothed. Some schools without pools arranged for their students
to take swimming instruction at a nearby YMCA or YWCA. Countless
junior highs, high schools, and colleges demanded that all entering
students pass a swimming test (the boys nude of course).
In many high schools, the boys' swim team practiced
nude, but wore Speedos during competition. Yet if both teams
agreed, they might compete nude before a mixed-sex audience. This
happened routinely in some parts of the country, never in others.
There are even photographs of mixed swim teams—the boys nude, the
girls in swimsuits—but they appear to be of college age.
(Beware of doctored photos. Most schools drew the line at
picture-taking, and insisted on swimsuits one day a year for the
yearbook picture; a few of those have since been photoshopped to
reflect the everyday reality. You can usually spot the fakes
because the reconstructed penises are too long.)
I have seen only one convincing (though
unsuccessful) attempt to pose a whole nude high school team for a
yearbook—and it was water polo, rather than swimming. The
hairstyles say early 1970s, when water polo was just beginning as a
high school sport in California and Hawaii.
A former high school swimmer from Grosse Point,
Michigan, recently reminisced, "Senior year (1968) our team did really
well and won the state championships. We had continued to compete
nude regularly when a few teams were beginning to insist that their
boys wear suits. (We objected loudly to that idea, and were never
forced to suit up.) But we had to wear suits for the state
competition in Ann Arbor. The boys from St. Joseph public HS
(rival team) also complained about the suits, but since photographs
were going to be published in the papers we all had to comply. At
least we were equally handicapped. Several of the St. Joe boys
were African-American, and in practice they clearly showed that the
somewhat racist view that they were often well-endowed had some basis
in fact. Nevertheless they suited up as we all did."
We hear occasional tales of girls sneaking in to
peek at the boys (just as boys tried to spy on the girls' locker
room.) And there were exceedingly rare times when the coach fell
sick, and the girls' teacher substituted—mostly in the lower
grades. Yet elite members of the male high school swim team were
supposed to be above caring, and we do hear of female assistant coaches
in Grosse Pointe. In another rare case, Van Nuys, California had
an outdoor pool, where passing girls could see the high dive board
above the wall. But in most schools, the boys swam inside, the
doors kept securely locked, with no females about. Girls in a few
schools swam nude in their separate classes.
A few women have given unconfirmed reports of boys
and girls swimming nude together in certain schools in Texas, Oklahoma,
Kansas, western New York, and the Philadelphia area—and later in
Oregon and the San Francisco area. I have marked those schools
with an asterisk. Oddly, men don't seem to remember that ever
happening. The same women have reported nude gym classes, track,
and other sports. Those schools are marked with #. Nude
boys' gym classes sometimes happened in 19th- and early 20th-century
Europe, so a few American examples would not be surprising.
Such widespread male nudity seldom made headlines
because it was not news. In fact, nudist magazines did not even
bother to mention anything so taken for granted. But the few
reported stories in the mainstream press are interesting. For
instance, as early as 1909, boys from 40 New York City elementary
schools showed up for what was supposed to be a clothed swim
competition. But during the practice rounds, they discovered they
could move faster without the suits, so they all discarded them.
The newspaper described the boys as tadpoles.
In 1940, the Sheboygan Press in Wisconsin ran a big
feature on the difference between clothed girls' swimming and nude
boys' swimming at Central High School. They included a
black-and-white rear-view picture of a boy on the diving board, then
gave his name and even address. About 25 other nude boys sat in
the background facing the camera, but the picture quality was too low
to reveal anything.
On October 16, 1950, Life magazine ran a full-color
picture of nude boys playing with beach balls in the new and bigger
pool at New Trier High School in Winnetka IL. They did not even
bother to comment on the standard nudity.
In 1947, the girls (age 9 to 13) in three Highland
Park, Michigan elementary schools asked to swim nude like the boys had
for years, so they could spend more time in the pool, and less in the
locker room. But after a few weeks of that, some mothers from
Liberty School complained to the school board. One mother
testified, "We are all alarmed about this freedom the girls have been
given. There is no telling what it could lead to and we want it
stopped at once." The one woman on the board responded, "No moral
issue is involved. This type of discussion I think is not going
to lead to anything constructive to discuss." The men on the
board silently bowed to the wishes of the mothers, and decided that the
150 girls of Liberty School would go back to wearing suits, but the 200
girls at the other two schools could continue to swim nude.
Mothers at Menasha High School in Wisconsin did not
have the same success in 1960. Some complained that their sons
felt embarrassed about being nude around other boys, and wanted
swimsuit optionality, the same as the girls enjoyed. School
officials sent questionnaires to 34 schools. 31 responded.
20 schools expected the boys to swim nude. The other 11 required
suits because their pools were outdoors or could not be privatized
enough. The board president stated that the cost of buying and
daily laundering of suits for the boys would be prohibitive.
Citing military expectations, board members implied that the boys
should learn to act like men, and not hide behind their mothers.
Request denied.
Then in 1961, the General Director of the Allentown,
Pennsylvania YMCA spoke the unspeakable: Improvements in filtration,
chlorination, and swimsuit materials made the Y's first two health
reasons for nudity obsolete. All that remained was "encouraging a
proper attitude toward the body and life." The following year, in
1962, the American Public Health Association dropped its nudity
recommendation for schools.
Was that the end of nude swim classes in
school? No way. Tradition had set in. Men and boys
saw lots of other good reasons to continue the practice. When a
member of the Rockford, Illinois school board suggested ending nude
swimming in 1968, a survey of 36 administrators, athletic directors,
and swimming instructors found only two educators who thought suits
would be a good idea. With the teachers' union and even the
janitors opposed to any change, nude swimming continued there for at
least another seven years.
Though a few late developers later complained about
traumatic embarrassment, the truth was that most boys enjoyed swimming
nude. In a 1960 poll at North Tonawanda High School in New York,
more than three-fourths of the boys favored nude swimming. Some
added pithy comments: "I only see mothers talking about
modesty—not the kids....If it was good enough for my father, it's
good enough for me." Another said simply, "I'm not ashamed of
myself." In 1973, the Duluth, Minnesota school board made nudity
for boys optional. When allowed to vote, the boys in every Duluth
junior high chose to continue swimming nude.
No, what killed nude school swimming was Title IX:
equal sports access for girls in 1972. Good things can have bad
consequences. But implementation was uneven. At Sarasota
High School in Florida, the principal let the boys' and girls' coach
each decide the dress code for their classes. The male teacher
said clothed for the boys; the female teacher said nude for the girls
all through the early 1970s.
While a few girls in other places argued for the
right to swim nude like the boys did, the solution at most schools was
to have mixed-gender classes with everybody clothed. The YMCA did
the same thing. School boards caved in with the slogan,
"Swimsuits rather than lawsuits." By the late 1970s, bastions of
male nude swimming were dropping off fast.
Later developments added nails to the coffin.
A 1980s panic about teacher molestation didn't help. Nor did a
later tendency to put nude teens and adults on sexual predator
lists. The Gay Rights movement was another good thing that had
some bad consequences. Increased awareness of homosexuality can
be blamed for boys today fearing to shower around other boys.
Despite all this, high school wrestlers continued to weigh in nude
until 2010—a tradition that ended because of cell phone
cameras. While these changed attitudes stand in the way of a
return to nude swimming in school, they came way too late to cause its
demise.
To revisit those times, perhaps the best you can do
is talk with older relatives. Or you can watch the 1985 movie,
Heaven Help Us, which includes a nude swimming class in a Catholic high
school in Brooklyn during the mid-1960s. Evangelical protestant
schools did not arise until after the nude swim class era was
over. But The Sugar Creek Gang had been a series of Christian
novels in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s about a group of boys who always swam
nude. When the books were finally made into a movie series in
2004, all nudity disappeared.
The loss of nude swimming (whether together or
separately) is a significant loss for boys and girls.
1. It builds confidence and pride in
themselves.
2. It helps them understand the varying
time-clocks of adolescent growth.
3. When mixed, it builds respect for the
opposite sex, and appears to reduce teen pregnancy.
4. Outside the enclosed pool, it helps them
become a natural part of nature.
5. It links them with the thousands of
generations of humankind who have swum nude before us.
Boys and girls still need these qualities today.
From newspaper clippings and testimonials on the
Internet, I have compiled a list of more than 600 American elementary, junior, and
high schools that definitely required boys to swim nude. Surely
there were many more. Surely the dates extended far beyond the
four years when the testifier attended.
The tradition died out later than I realized.
End dates for nude swimming at some schools can be documented by people
who were there. Figuring out when nude swimming began at a school
is much more difficult, because the earliest participants would be well
over 100 years old by now. Usually, it was the date the pool was
built—which varied from school building to school building within
the same district. Such decisions were usually made by the local
school board, and applied to all schools in the district that had pools
at that particular time. So far, we know the precise beginning
and end dates at only 19 schools—mostly latecomers built in the
1960s.
Help us complete this list. Please send
additional schools and extended dates to paullevalley@peoplepc.com.
Alabama
Mobile
Murphy HS 1960-late '60s
Arkansas
Little Rock
Catholic Boys HS 1970s
California (only 31 school pools in 1934. 8 required boys to wear suits.)
Alameda
Alameda HS* 1953-75
Anaheim
Servite [Catholic] HS optional 1995-99
Burbank
Burbank HS* late 1940s-early '50s
Daly City
Jefferson Union HS 1948
Gilroy
Gilroy Union HS 1948
La Verne
Damian [Catholic] HS 1960s
Los Angeles
Thomas Starr King Junior High 1940s
Los Angeles HS 1940s-ended early 1970s
Mill Valley
Tamalpais HS 1947
Monterey
Monterey HS 1960-64
Oakland
Oakland HS* 1968-72
Redwood City
Sequoia Union HS 1948
Richmond
De Anza HS* 1968-72
Richmond HS* 1968-72
San Diego
Memorial Junior High at the Boys' Club next door 1950s
St. Augustine HS 1962-66
San Francisco
Balboa HS* 1968-c.81
Lincoln HS* 1968-c.81
Lowell HS* early 1960s-c.81
Washington HS* 1968-c.1981
San Jose
San Jose HS 1948
San Pedro
San Pedro HS 1959 No pool. Swim team practiced nude at the YMCA.
Santa Ana
Santa Ana HS 1950s-'60s
Van Nuys
Birmingham HS 1961-65
Connecticut
Windham
Windham HS late 1950s-77
Delaware No school pools in the state. Boys' teams swam nude at YMCAs 1930s-60s
Wilmington
David W. Harlan Elementary School 1931
Palmer Elementary School 1931
Bancroft Junior High 1931-57
Bayard Junior High 1946
Warner Junior High 1946-59
DuPont HS 1956
Willard Hall HS 1931
Florida
Sarasota
Sarasota HS--up to teacher: boys clothed, girls
nude 1970-74
Hawaii
Honolulu
Junior high 1960s
Puunene
Puunene Elementary School 1932-36 after school, boys and girls
Illinois
Berwyn
Berwyn HS late 1960s
Calumet City
Thornton Fractional South HS no date
Champaigne-Urbana
Edison Junior High 1960-65, optional 1966-67
Chicago district requirement 1920s, ended 1972. A few schools
continued past 1980.
Wright Junior High no date Amundsen HS 1960-64
Austin HS 1928-69
Bloom HS early 1960s
Bogan HS 1960s-1971
Bowen HS 1956-ended 1980s
Calumet HS 1960s
Crane HS 1940s
Dunbar HS no date
Farragut HS no date
Fenger HS early 1960s-1967
Foreman HS 1960s
Harlan HS 1966
Harper HS 1960s
Harrison HS 1946-50
Kelly HS 1956-75
Kelvyn Park HS no date
John F. Kennedy HS 1962 (when built)-ended 1979. Briefly revived 1980.
Lake View HS 1959
Albert G. Lane Technical HS 1937-ended 1978
Loyola Academy 1945-46
Manley HS no date
Mather HS 1964-68 Morgan Park HS 1957-73
Mount Carmel [Catholic] HS mid-1960s
Francis W. Parker prep school no date
Wendell Phillips HS no date Prosser HS late 1950s-'60s
Roosevelt HS early 1960s-ended early 1970s Schurz HS 1960s-'72
Senn HS 1949-late1960s
South Shore HS 1960-64
St. George HS no date
St. Patrick HS 1967 (when built)-ended 1980
St. Viador HS 1964-70s. Also nude
calesthenics
Steinmetz HS 1960s-73. Ended by 1977
Sullivan HS 1962-76
William Howard Taft HS 1974
Edward Tilden HS 1960s
Tuley HS 1961-75
University of Chicago Laboratory HS 1959-late
1960s
Von Steuben HS 1965-1970s
Robert A. Waller HS 1950s
Chicago Heights
Bloom HS 1960s-'70s
Cicero
Morton East HS early 1960s-ended 1976
Morton West HS no date
Deerfield
Deerfield HS 1968-72
Dekalb
DeKalb HS no date
Des Plaines Old Maine HS 1915 (when
built)- ended 1930 (when building abandoned)
Thacker Junior High (same building) 1930-68
(when torn down) East Chicago
Washington HS no date
Evanston
Evanston Township HS 1968-ended 1978
St. George HS 1967-69
Freeport Carl Sandburg Junior High optional 1969 (when built)-ended 1976
Freeport HS late 1960s
Galesburg
Galesburg HS 1949-52
Glenview
Glenbrook North HS 1961-82
Glenbrook South HS 1962 (when built)-ended 1977 Granite City
Central Junior High no date
Gurnee
Warren Township HS 1933-37
Harvey
Thornton Township HS 1960s-78 one report that it ended around 2000
Highland Park
Highland Park HS 1967-71
Hillside
Proviso West HS 1960s-ended 1978
Lansing
Thornton Fractional South HS 1962-74
Lincolnshire
Daniel Wright Junior High no date Maywood
Proviso East HS 1974
Niles
Notre Dame HS no date
Northbrook
Northbrook Junior High no date
Northlake
West Leyden HS 1958-80
Oak Park
Bishop Fenwick HS 1969-73
Oak Park HS no date
River Forest HS late 1970s
Ottawa
Ottawa HS 1956-60
Park Ridge
Maine East HS 1966
Peoria
Peoria HS mid 1970s
Riverside
Riverside-Brookfield HS 1965-ended 1977
Rockford
Jefferson Junior High 1962-75
Abraham Lincoln Junior High 1927 (when built)- ended 1971
Auburn H S 1962-75
Rockford East H S 1940-75
Rockford West H S 1940-75
Spring Valley
Hall HS no date
Streator
Northlawn Junior High 1974
Streator HS 1964-68
Warrensburg
Warrensburg Latham HS 1950 (when built) -70
Waukegan
West HS no date
Winnetka
New Trier Township HS 1913 (when first pool
built)-early '80s
(Later called New Trier East HS)
Woods River
Lewis & Clark Junior High 1966 (when
built)-early 1970s
Indiana Culver
Culver Military Academy early 1970s
East Chicago
Washington HS probably 1924 (when built)-1939
Gary
Emerson HS probably 1908 (when built)-1939
Froebel HS 1939
Horace Mann HS 1928 (when built)-1976
Lew Wallace HS 1931 (when built)-1959
Theodore Roosevelt HS (all black) 1930 (when
built)-39
Hammond
Eggers Junior High 1980s
Spohn Junior High 1972
Bishop Noll HS 1965-'70s
Gavitt Jr./Sr. HS no date (only when the washing machine was not working)
Hammond HS 1921 (when built)-1979
Indianapolis
Cathedral HS 1960s
Kokomo
Kokomo HS early 1960s
Muncie
Muncie Central HS (at the nearby YMCA) 1957-1971
Munster
Munster HS 1970s
Whiting
Whiting HS 1939-1970s
Zionsville
Zionsville Community HS 1970s
Iowa
Cedar Falls
Cedar Falls HS 1940s-70s Also girls.
Cedar Rapids
Washington HS no date
Des Moines
Ames HS* mid 1930s-74 Also girls.
East HS* early 1930s-74
Lincoln HS 1960s-early 70s
Hoover HS* 1967 (when built)-74
North HS* early 1930s-73
Roosevelt HS* mid 1930s-74
Knoxville Middle School 1961-early 80s
Marshalltown
Marshalltown HS 1962
Mason City
John Adams Jr. High no date
Monroe Jr. High ended 1969, occasional in 1970s when laundry didn't arrive
Roosevelt Jr. High 1960s
Mason City HS no date
Waterloo
Edison Junior High no date
Hoover Junior High 1970-72
Logan Junior High 1953 (when built)-74
McKinstry Junior High 1953 (when built)-60
West Junior High 1968-73
East HS early 1960s-71
West HS no date
West Des Moines
Valley HS*
mid-1940s-74 Also girls.
Kansas
Derby
Derby HS 1970s
Ellinwood
Ellinwood HS* began 1937-ended c.1977
Ellsworth Ellsworth HS* began
mid-1930s-ended c.1977
Great Bend
Great Bend HS* began 1937-ended 1977
Hays Hays HS* began 1936-ended
1977
Hoisington Hoisington HS* began
1930s-ended 1977
Hutchinson Hutchinson HS* began
1932-ended 1976
Kansas City
Wyandotte HS 1960s
Lawrence Lawrence HS* 1954 (when
built)-late 1970s
Leavenworth
Leavenworth HS* 1930s-late 70s
Manhattan Manhattan HS* began
1930s-ended 1974
Newton
Newton HS* 1941-late '70s
Piper
Piper HS* 1937-late '70s
Pratt Pratt HS* began 1936-ended
c.1976
Topeka
Topeka HS 1964-68
Victoria Victoria HS* began
1930s-ended 1977
Wichita
Wichita East HS 1950s-c.1979 Suits optional but rare.
Wichita North HS 1964-'70s
Wichita South HS no date
Wichita Southeast HS no date
Kentucky
Lexington ended district-wide in 1960s
Henry Clay HS no date
Maryland
Baltimore required in all school pools for many years
Baltimore City College HS no date
Baltimore Polytechnic HS 1969-ended 1977
Calvert Hall HS 1966-70
City HS 1971-74
Douglas HS no date
Eastern HS (all girls) no date
Edmondson HS 1962-66
Forest Park HS no date
Loyola HS 1963-67
Merganthaler HS late 50s-1963
Mervo HS 1967-71
Northern HS 1967-71
Patterson HS 1968-75
Southern HS no date
Western HS no date
Massachusetts
Boston
Boston Boys HS no date
Hyde Park HS 1947-51
Gloucester
Central Grammar (Junior High)
School (at the YMCA) 1966-71 (when closed) Springfield
John J. Duggan Junior High 1955 (when
built)-1966
Westfield
Westfield Intermediate School 1957-58
Worcester
Worcester Academy 1915 (when pool built)-ended
1974
Worcester Boys Trade HS (at
Lincoln Square Boys Club) 1930 (when built)-c.1975
Michigan
Adrian Adrian Junior High 1939-74
Drager Junior High no date
Adrian HS late 1950s-early '70s (optional after 1964, but most stayed nude)
Albion
Washington Gardner HS 1922 (when pool
built)-1967 (when abandoned)
Allen Park
Allen Park HS (only if boys forgot suits) no date
Alpena
Alpena HS 1937-ended 1967 when building abandoned
Ann Arbor
Forsythe Junior High 1961-63
Ann Arbor HS 1938-66
Battle Creek
Central High School 1950s
Bay City
Kolb Junior High 1961-70
T. L. Handy Junior High--later HS 1940-70
Central HS 1962-70
Birmingham
Brother Rice HS 1964-68
Cranbrook Institute 1964-68
Dearborn--began district-wide 1928
Oxford Elementary School c.1920-c.1979
Lowrey Elementary and Junior High 1948-54
Adams Junior High no date
Barbour Junior High 1966-69
Bryant Junior High 1966-70
Edison Junior High no date
Stout Junior High 1972-ended 1976
Dearborn HS c.1920-1982
Edsel Ford HS 1955 (when built)-1971
Fordson HS 1941-57
Catholic schools no date
Detroit
Longfellow Elementary school (at the YMCA)
1960s
Barbour Junior High no date
Burroughs Junior High no date
Cleveland Junior High no date
Durfee Junior High early 60s
Foch Junior High 62-65
Huff Junior High late 1960s-early 1970s
Jackson Junior High 1956-60
McMichael Junior High no date
Nolan Junior High no date
Post Junior High no date
Tappan Junior High no date Wilson Junior High no date
Cass Tech HS 1950s-70
Cody HS 1970s
Cooley HS 1930s-1968
Denby HS 1956-68
Dunbar HS no date
Mackenzie HS 1951-69
Mumford HS no date
Northwestern HS 1930s
Pershing HS 1966-70
Southeastern HS mid 1960s
Southwestern HS 1963
University of Detroit Jesuit High School 1976 Western HS no date
Ecorse
Ecorse HS 1967-72
Ferndale
Ferndale HS 1958 (when built)-ended 1977
Lincoln HS 1949 (when pool built)-1958 (when
abandoned)
Lincoln Jr. High (same building) 1958-73
Grand Haven
Grand Haven Junior High no date
Grosse Pointe
Brownell Middle School 1950s-1964
junior high no date
Grosse Pointe (South) HS 1950s-68
Grosse Pointe Woods
Parcells Junior High 1962
University Liggett School 1960s
Hamtramck
Hamtramck HS no date
Harper Woods
Harper Woods High School 1960s-74
Hazel Park
Hazel Park Junior High 1961
Hazel Park HS 1941-1960s
Highland Park ended mid-80s
Ford Elementary School Nude girls' classes
added 1947
Liberty Elementary School (age
9-13) long before 1947-69 Girls' class briefly in 1947
Willard Elementary School Nude girls' classes
added 1947
Barber Middle School 1960s
Ferris Middle School 1960
Ishpeming
Ishpeming HS 1956- mid-60s
Jackson
East Junior High no date
Frost Junior High early 1960s-1973
Northeast Junior High no date
Lake St. Clair Shores
Lakeshore HS 1966-68
Lansing Walter French Junior High probably 1926-1970s
Gardner Junior High 1973-79 Dwight Rich Junior High 1963-73
Waverly Junior High 1971 optional
West Junior High 1956-68
Eastern HS 1961-72
Harry Hill HS 1977-81
J. W. Sexton HS 1965-68
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park HS 1955-70s
Marysville
Marysville HS 1951 Optional for elementary boys using the pool
Monroe
Monroe HS 1930 (when built)-1960
Mt. Clemons
Mt. Clemons HS mid-1960s-1973
Muskegon
Jolman Elementary School 1959
Bunker Junior High 1965-ended 1977
Nelson Junior High no date
Steele Junior High 1969-72
Muskegon HS 1957-ended 1977
Orchard View HS no date
New Buffalo
Thornton Township HS 1948-52
Oscoda
Oscoda HS 1977
Owosso Owosso HS probably 1928 (when built) certainly by 1937-ended 1976
Owosso Junior High 1962 (when moved into the old building)-ended 1976
Plymouth
Plymouth HS 1955-60
Pontiac
Pontiac HS (renamed Pontiac Central HS) 1935-70
Redford
Redford HS 1950s-76
River Rouge
River Rouge HS early 1950s-66
Riverview
Riverview HS 1957-61
Royal Oak
Dondero HS 1967
Saginaw
Arthur Hill HS ended 1967
Saginaw HS ended 1967
Sault Ste. Marie
Sault HS no date
St. Joseph
St. Joseph HS 1964-1968
Taylor
John F. Kennedy HS no date
Traverse City
Traverse City HS 1966-70
Trenton
Trenton HS 1962-72
Wakefield
Wakefield Public Schools 1926-
Warren
Warren Middle School no date
Fitzgerald HS 1961-1968
Warren HS no date
Wyandotte
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School 1950s nude
boys' gym but no pool
Roosevelt HS 1920s-ended c.1973
Minnesota
Austin
Austin HS 1970s
Bloomington
Penn Junior High 1962 (when built)-ended 1966
Portland Junior High 1960 (when built)-ended 1965
Southwest Junior High no date
Cloquet
Cloquet High School no date
Duluth district requirement ended 1973.
Lincoln Junior High mid-1970s
Ordean Junior High probably 1926 (when built)-1971
Washington Junior High 1964-67
West Junior High ended 1972
Woodland Junior High 1960s-mid'70s
A sixth Junior High 1973
Central District HS 1930s-71
Denfeld HS 1960s
Duluth East HS no date
Proctor HS ended 1978
Edina
Valley View Junior High 1956 (when built)-
Ely
Ely Memorial HS 1924 (when built)-1960s
Hibbing
Hibbing HS 1924 (when built)-
International Falls
Falls HS 1970s
Mankato
Mankato HS early 1950s-c.1971
Minneapolis
Bryant Junior High 1942-56
Franklin Junior High 1960s
Jordan Junior High 1952-65
Abraham Lincoln Junior High late 1950s-68 Some suits after 1965.
Northeast Junior High no date
Penn Junior High no date
Plymouth Middle School no date
Edison HS late 1960s
Minneapolis North HS 1950s-60s
Washburn HS no date
Minnetonka
Minnetonka HS 1970s
Mt. Iron
Mt. Iron HS no date
Nashwauk
Nashwauk-Keewatin HS 1979-83
New Hope
Hosterman Junior High 1970-early '80s
Plymouth
Plymouth Junior High no date
Proctor
Proctor HS early 1970s-ended 1978
Robbinsdale
Hosterman Junior High no date
Robbinsdale Junior High 1960s-ended 1977
Sandburg Junior High no date
Armstrong HS no date
Robbinsdale HS 1969-73
Rochester
Central Junior High 1970s
St. Louis Park
Westwood Junior High 1967 (when pool built)-
St. Louis Park HS no date
St. Paul
Highland Park Junior High 1969-71
Central High School no date
Harding HS ended 1973
North St. Paul HS no date
St. Peter
St. Peter Junior High (at the YMCA) 1962-66 unconfirmed reports of clothed girls in class
Superior
Superior HS 1965 (when built) -ended c.73
Virginia
Virginia HS 1968-71
Winona
Cotter [Catholic] HS probably 1924 (when built)-1960s
Missouri
Independence
Van Horn HS 1961-69
Jefferson City
Jefferson City Senior HS 1926 (when
built)-1963 (when abandoned)
Kansas City
Northeast Junior High 1973
Northeast HS 1960s
Southwest HS 1960s
Knob Noster
Catholic HS 1961-66
St. Louis
Cleveland HS 1957-61
Normandy HS 1955-ended 1977
Roosevelt HS 1955-59
Nebraska
Lincoln
Northeast HS 1948
Omaha
Omaha North HS 1967-71 Also nude
basketball & track. Optional for girls in same classes.
New Jersey Englewood
Englewood HS 1926
Hackensack
Bergen County HS 1971-75
Jersey City
Public School 23 late 1940s-1968
Jersey Academy (at the YMCA camp) no date
Dickinson HS no date
Snyder HS mid 1940s-1964
Milburn
Columbia High School 1950s-1972
South Orange
Central High School 1950s-1972
Trenton
Trenton Junior High #3 1964-65
Trenton Junior High #4 1970s
Trenton Central HS 1961-70
New Mexico
Santa Fe
Santa Fe HS Prohibited, but boys did it as an
annual stunt 1965-73
New York
Akron
Akron Central HS 1981-85
Albany
Hackett Junior High 1962-65
Alden
Alden HS 1974-78
Amherst
Amherst Junior High ended 1977
Amherst Central HS 1952-ended c.1979
Sweet Home HS no date
Angola
Lake Shore Central HS 1970s
Astoria
St. John's Prep School 1960s
Barker
elementary school no date
Brighton
Brighton HS* 1972-74
Brooklyn required in all public schools with pools 1960s
Abraham Lincoln HS 1965-69, optional 1969-73
Brooklyn Technical HS 1962-73
Erasmus Hall HS 1960-63
James Madison HS 1951-71
Samuel J. Tilden HS 1957- ended 1968
St. John's Preparatory HS 1950s
Buffalo--district-wide 1960s-ended 1976
1 report that girls were nude on alternate days in
1967. Where?
Public School #57 no date
Windermere Elementary School early 1970s
Frontier Junior High no date
Bennett HS 1957-1973
Canisius [Catholic] HS 1958-77
Grover Cleveland HS* 1970-74
Hutchinson Technical HS* 1949-69 Kensington HS* 1948-52
McKinley HS 1952-56
Nichols School no date
Canandaigua
Canandaigua Junior High no date
Cheektowaga
Union East Elementary School 1968
Cheektowaga Central Junior High 1969-71
Cheektowaga Central HS late 1960s-84
Cleveland Hill HS 1978-82
Maryvale HS 1961-ended 1983
Clarence
Clarence Junior High early 1980s
Depew
Depew HS 1983-ended 1986 [latest certain date on this list]
East Aurora
East Aurora HS optional
Elma
Iroquois Central HS 1970-76
Far Rockaway
Far Rockaway HS 1961-69
Fredonia
Fredonia HS* 1965-75
Gowanda
Gowanda Central Elementary School late 1970s
Gowanda HS 1956 (when built)-ended 1976 Grand Island
Grand Island HS 1970s
Greece
Arcadia HS 1963 (when built)-1970
Olympia HS 1965-70
Hamburg
Amsdell Jr. High mid-1970s
Hamburg Jr. High 1969-71
Frontier Central HS late 1960s
Hamburg HS 1960s-1979
Irondequoit
Iroquois Middle School 1970s
Eastridge HS 1968-75
Irondequoit HS no date
Kenmore
Benjamin Franklin Junior High late 1950s-early 80s
Herbert Hoover Junior High late 1950s-ended mid-80s
Kenmore Junior High 1954-79
Kenmore East HS 1959-84
Kenmore/Kenmore West HS 1954-80
Lackawanna
Lackawanna HS 1968-ended 1973
Lancaster
Lancaster HS* mid-1940s-1950s
Lockport
Lockport HS (across the street at the YMCA) 1941-1960s New York City--School board policy in 1960 was boys swim nude in all
pools. 40 schools (probably grades 5-8) competed nude 1909
Public School 44 1960s
Public School 70 (later named Max Schoenfeld Elementary) 1960s
John Adams HS 1953-65
HS of Art and Design no date
Bayside HS 1953-72
Bronx HS of Science late 1940s-early 1950s
Evander Childs HS 1960s
Curtis HS 1968-72
DeWitt Clinton HS 1958-74
Andrew Jackson HS no date
Jamaica HS 1953-mid 1970s
Abraham Lincoln HS no date
Manhattan HS of Commerce 1905
Manual Training HS 1928
Monroe HS 1959-ended 1983
Rice HS no date
Richmond Hill HS 1967-71
Theodore Roosevelt HS late 1960s
Stuyvesant HS no date
Taft HS swam nude at CCNY-Baruch no date
George Washington HS 1928-43
Woodrow Wilson HS 1964-74
a Jesuit HS early 1960s
Niagara Falls
24th Street Elementary School 1966-67
Cleveland Avenue Elementary School 1965-66
Maple Avenue Elementary School 1956-65
Gaskill Junior High held city-wide nude swim meet
for 200 boys from about 20 elementary schools, 1967
LaSalle Junior High 1974
North Junior High clothed 1967-70, nude
1976-ended 1978
DeVeaux Prep School 1959-65 closed 1972
North Tonawanda
Payne Junior High ended 1980
Reszel Junior High ended 1980
North Tonawanda HS 1929-early 1980s
(officially optional after 1960)
Oyster Bay
Every year until high school 1930s
Penfield
Penfield HS* 1945-49
Ridgewood
Grover Cleveland HS 1960
Rochester
Ben Franklin HS 1957-67
Charlotte HS 1955-ended 1979
East HS* 1973
Edison Tech HS 1960s-75
Madison HS 1963-67
John Marshall HS early 1960s-70s
Monroe HS 1958-62, optional 1964-65
Thomas Jefferson HS no date
West HS 1942-46
Rome
Rome Free Academy (public HS) no date
Silver Creek
Central HS* 1960-78
Springville
Springville HS no date
Syracuse
Delaware Elementary School late 1950s
Henninger HS 1975-78
Tonawanda
Tonawanda Junior High 1975
Kibler HS# early 1950s-75
Tonawanda HS 1950s-78
Troy--boys nude in all schools with pools 1930-63 School 12 (K-8) late 1930s-55
School 14 (K-8) no date
School 16 (K-8) 1955-1960s
School 18 (K-8) 1955
Troy High School 1955-65
West Seneca
Allendale Jr. High 1973-77
West Jr. High ended 1980
West Seneca HS 1962-70s
Williamsville
Williamsville North Elementary School late
1970s-early 80s
Casey Middle School early 1970s
Heim Middle School no date
Williamsville Middle School mid-1970s
North HS 1968 (when built)-mid '70s
South HS 1960-ended 1976
Yonkers
Riverside HS 1963-67
North Carolina
Durham
Durham HS 1933-47
North Dakota
Fargo
Central HS 1950s-1966 (when the building
burned)
South HS 1967 (when built)-
Minot
Central HS 1918 (when built)-1964 (when closed)
Ohio
Akron
Lincoln Elementary School 1945-68
University School (2nd-5th grades) late 1960s
Goodyear Junior High 1950s-77
East HS no date
Harvey S. Firestone HS no date
Kenmore HS no date
Bellevue
Bellevue Junior High mid-1970s
Bellevue HS late 1970s
Cincinnati
Central HS ended 1974
Oak Hills HS 1960s
Walnut Hills HS 1932-74
Western Hills HS 1960s-ended 1974
Woodward HS 1932-ended 1974
Cleveland Cleveland
Heights HS 1938-'73 a few suits--never enough--provided
after 1963
John Adams HS 1959-63
John Marshall HS 1959-63
University School 1930s-1950s
Hawken
Hawken School (at The Hangar in Lyndhurst)
long before 1962-68
Sandusky
Sandusky HS 1927 (when built)-57 (when abandoned)
Jackson Junior High (same building) 1957-70s
Oklahoma
Altus
Altus HS* 1930s-1973
Ardmore
Ardmore HS# 1940s-ended 1976
Cache
Cache HS mid-1940s-'70s
Chickasha
Chickasha HS* 1940s-'67
(when abandoned)
Comanche
Comanche HS# began 1942-ended 1973
Del City
Del City HS 1953-1970s
Duncan
Duncan HS* began 1942-ended 1975
Guthrie
Guthrie HS* 1940s-1973
Lawton
Eisenhower HS# 1962 (when built)-ended 1978
Lawton* HS 1945-74
Madill
Madill HS# no date
Marietta
Marietta HS# mid-1940s-1972
McAlester
McAlseter HS# mid-1940s-mid-1970s
Midwest City
Midwest City HS* 1953-1970s
Norman
Norman HS* began 1947-ended
1978
Oklahoma City
Taft Junior High 1949-65
Classen Jr/Sr High School
1920s-72 Nudity required in many gym classes for boys or girls. Later optional for both.
Ponca City
Ponca City HS began 1949-mid-'70s
Sulphur
Sulphur HS* 1930s-1958
Tulsa
Central HS 1920s-76 (when abandoned)
Walters
Walters HS* 1934-'40s
Oregon
Albany West Albany HS* 1940s-1973
Corvallis Corvallis HS* 1930s-1977
Eugene Sheldon HS* 1940s-1973
Gresham Gresham Union HS*
1940s-1970s
Hillsboro
Hillsboro Junior High#* 1940s-1963
Hillsboro HS#* 1941-78
Molalla
Molalla HS* early 1940s-late 1970s
North Bend
North Bend HS* 1940s-late '70s
Portland
Cleveland HS#* 1963-67
Grant HS#* 1963-67
Washington HS#* 1963-67
Pennsylvania
Allentown
Allentown/William Allen HS 1940 (when pool
built) -1970
Bethlehem
Liberty HS 1954-65
Butler
Butler Junior High 1962-65
Clairton
Clairton HS 1940s-60s
Drexel Hill Upper Darby HS* 1946-77
Erie
Cathedral Prep HS mid-1970s
East HS no date
Folsom
Ridley HS 1969-73
Lancaster
McCasky HS 1963
McKeesport
McKeesport Area HS* late 1940s-'76
Philadelphia
Frankford HS* early 1950s-76
La Salle College HS 1970s Northeast HS* early
1950s-ended late '70s
Pittsburgh Manchester elementary early 1950s
several junior highs 1960s-ended 1981
Prospect Jr. High 1938 (when pool was
built)-late 1970s Taylor Allerdice HS 1950s
Baldwin HS* early 1950s-76
Central HS# 1939-late 1970s Oliver HS 1948-84 optional toward the end
Peabody HS 1959-74 Schenley HS* late 1940s-1976
South Hills HS late 1960s-early 1980s
Radnor
Radnor HS early 1960s-73
Sewickley
Sewickley HS no date
Wilkes-Barre
Elmer L. Meyers HS 1957-66
York
Phineas Davis Junior High (at the YMCA) 1946
Hannah Penn Junior High (at the YMCA) 1946
Edgar Fahs Smith Junior High (at the YMCA) 1946
William Penn Senior HS (at the YMCA) 1944-1960s
Texas
Dallas
Rosemont Elementary & Upper School#
1946-67
Bryan Adams HS* 1957 (when built)-72 Crozier Tech HS#* (Dallas
HS) 1952-ended 1971. Nudity required in some gym classes
for boys or girls
Lincoln HS# 1969-73
Thomas Jefferson HS* 1955 (when built)-72 Woodrow Wilson HS#*
1967-ended 1976
Houston Boys swam nude at all pools in 1950s through mid-60s
Redd Elementary School opened in 1969
F. M. Black Junior High 1960-63
Burbank Junior High mid-1950s
Cullen Junior High no date
Edison Junior High no date
Jerald Edwards Junior High 1960s
R. H. Fonville Junior High no date
Charles Hartman Junior High 1971
Jane Long Junior High 1963
San Jacinto HS 1932-
Waltrip HS late 1960s
Meyerland
Albert Sydney Johnston Junior High 1930-66
Ranger
Ranger HS#* 1932-ended 1968
Wichita Falls Wichita Falls High School#
1947-70s. Nudity required in many gym classes for boys or girls
Utah
Brigham City
Box Elder HS (later Jr. High) 1930s (when built)-1962
Granite
Granite High School 1944-48
Virginia Lexington
Virginia Military Institute 1969-ended 1972
Norfolk
Norfolk Junior High (bussed to the Navy YMCA)
early 1950s
Washington
Tacoma
Lincoln HS 1947, 1954-73
West Virginia
Wheeling
Ritchie Elementary School 1955-early '70s
Wisconsin
Appleton
Appleton Senior HS 1938-61
Eau Claire
Delong Middle School 1983-84
Eau Claire HS 1956-57
LaCrosse
Central High School ended 1966 when building
abandoned
Janesville
Edison Junior High 1975-77
Marshall Junior High 1923-ended 1982
Craig HS 1954 (when
built)-83 (two reports that nudity remained an option another 20 years)
Parker HS 1977-81
Kenosha suits allowed for the first time 1965
Mary D. Bradford HS long before 1963-65
Madison
Central HS (at the nearby YMCA) no date
East HS 1968-77
James Madison Memorial HS 1968
Robert M. La Follette HS 1960s
West HS 1950s-1974
Manitowoc
Washington Junior High early 1960s
Washington HS 1948-73
Lincoln HS 1950s-ended 1974
Menasha
Menasha HS long before 1960-ended late 1960s
Milwaukee
public HS 1974-78
Bay View HS 1961-72
Casimir Pulaski HS 1961-mid '60s
Custer HS 1955 (when built)-1960s
Sheboygan 1952 allowed swimsuit option at swim meets only
Jefferson Elementary School 1953
South Side Junior High 1953
Central HS 1940-ended 1973
North HS 1953
Two Rivers
Two Rivers HS ended 1966
Waukesha
7 elementary schools (at Edison Building Pool)
1945-60
Horace Mann Middle School no date
Waukesha HS Central Campus 1957-61
Waukesha HS South Campus 1961-62
Wyoming
Casper
Natrona County HS 1926-30
Ontario, Canada
London
A. B. Beal HS 1950-79
Sault Ste. Marie
400 boys from all 10 public elementary schools competed nude 1941. Schools named:
Bay View
Campbell
Edith Cavell
Central--winners
Cody
King Edward
King George
David Kyle
McFadden
Alex Muir
Toronto Board of Education summer swimming classes (age 7+) Nudity optional for boys 1963
Danforth Technical School 1957-ended 1979
University of Toronto HS 1959-66
# = Also unconfirmed reports of boys' nude gym, track, or other sports
* = Also unconfirmed reports of girls' nude swimming, gym, or other
sports
Again, if you are aware of schools not on this list,
or can extend the dates, please contact paullevalley@peoplepc.com.
If you are interested in this topic, you may also be interested in three
large books by Paul LeValley: Art Follows
Nature, A Worldwide History of the Nude [nude art] Seekers of the
Naked Truth: Collected Writings on the Gymnosophists and Related
Shramana Religions [ancient naked philosophers in India] Naturist Writings of Paul LeValley, Including Movie Reviews [including this article]
You can read about all three of them at http://www.paullevalley.com/books/index.htm.