The club provided the growing Black middle class with an alternative to the region's racially segregated swimming pools.
[1] By the late 1950s, middle-class African Americans, including physicians, ministers, businessmen, teachers, and journalists, formed a majority of homeowners in western Yeadon.
The Nile Swim Club officially opened on July 11, 1959, welcoming a thousand people to its large outdoor pool on the first day.
[4] Visitors often spotted Black celebrities such as Johnny Mathis, Harry Belafonte, the Supremes, DJ Cash Money, and others at functions.
[1] It was a popular and respected establishment, as a 1959 issue of Jet Magazine observed that "the $250 fee and a good background are required to keep out the riffraff and undesirables.