On Saturday, May 16, 2026, I was one of the speakers at the Dedication of the “Benny Gordon Recreation Center” in Webster Groves. To introduce historical remarks about Mr. Gordon and his work as a real estate developer, I offered the following facts and figures about the 1949 – 1953 effort Mr. Gordon led, to integrate the Webster Groves municipal pool:

1949 – the year St. Louis City integrated its municipal pools.

06-19-1949 – Father’s Day, when Bennie and Bennie III went with others to enjoy the new Webster pool (also Juneteenth)

12 – by my calculation, the number of adults and children in the group; also, the number of Black people that day who were not admitted to the new Webster pool.

3 + 1 – the number of City Council members, plus the Mayor, who showed up at Mr. Gordon’s demonstration to ask him and his friends to leave peaceably, which they did, although he also promised he was calling his lawyer, Theodore McMillian (Don’t recognize the name? Look him up.)

5 – the number of people named as plaintiffs in the resulting lawsuit against the City of Webster Groves

4 – in 1952, the number of days the City Council proposed to open the pool to white people only after they received a court order to open the pool to all

1 – in 1952, the number of days the City Council proposed to open the pool to Black people only

1 – the number of days twice weekly the City Council said would be needed to drain, clean, and refill the pool before and after the Black people only day

04-07-1953, the date of the Webster Groves municipal election, with a referendum on the ballot to desegregate the pool

8,069 – the number of voters who turned out on 04-07-1953, a record for a Webster municipal election

4,223 (or 52.3%) – how many voters (percent of the electorate) said Yes to integrating the pool

3 – the number of City Council members in addition to the Mayor in 1953, but also the number of City Council members who with the Mayor were voted out of office

70 – the number of years after 1953 when I was introduced to Bennie Gordon’s Subdivision