--- title: The History of the Freedom Waders at Rainbow Beach description: Short documentary about Velma and Norman Hill, who confronted mob violence to integrate Chicago's beaches during the civil rights movement. canonical: https://time.com/7008124/history-segregated-beaches-chicago/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-08-08T15:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:45:39.363Z article:section: History og:title: The History of the Freedom Waders at Rainbow Beach og:description: Velma and Norman Hill confronted mob violence to integrate Chicago's beaches during the civil rights movement. og:url: https://time.com/7008124/history-segregated-beaches-chicago/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81607a69a8766370/698a59a3b3fce3e28e0cd760/Freedom-Waders-No-Title-Main-Photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: Freedom-Waders-No-Title-Main-Photo.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The History of the Freedom Waders at Rainbow Beach twitter:description: Velma and Norman Hill confronted mob violence to integrate Chicago's beaches during the civil rights movement. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81607a69a8766370/698a59a3b3fce3e28e0cd760/Freedom-Waders-No-Title-Main-Photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Segregated Beaches in Chicago; the History of the Freedom Waders at Rainbow Beach > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=b56d5a13-0ba9-4996-8c57-749af5a7eedc&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=b56d5a13-0ba9-4996-8c57-749af5a7eedc&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Segregated Beaches in Chicago; the History of the Freedom Waders at Rainbow Beach [Watch (HLS stream): Segregated Beaches in Chicago; the History of the Freedom Waders at Rainbow Beach](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kfMYOb0w.m3u8) (14:36)  _Published 2024-08-08. Freedom Waders is a short documentary by Alex S. Hinton about Velma and Norman Hill, who confronted mob violence to integrate Chicago's beaches at the height of the civil rights movement._ by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Aug 8, 2024 3:00 PM UTC Freedom Waders is a short documentary by Alex S. Hinton about Velma and Norman Hill, who confronted mob violence to integrate Chicago's beaches at the height of the civil rights movement. by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Aug 8, 2024 3:00 PM UTC Freedom Waders is a short documentary by Alex S. Hinton about Velma and Norman Hill, who confronted mob violence to integrate Chicago's beaches at the height of the civil rights movement. ## Transcript [00:17] Freedom does not come like a bird on the wing. [00:22] It doesn't come down like the summer's rain, [00:26] you got to work for it. [00:27] You got to struggle for it, [00:29] and every generation has to win it again. [00:37] Destination. [00:49] My name is Velma. [00:52] V E L MA. [00:54] My sister was Thelma, Velma Murphy Hill. [00:58] I was born on the south side of Chicago in a cold water flat. [01:05] I was a creature from a family of seven. [01:10] My dad died when I was born, [01:12] and my mother raised seven children. [01:15] She worked two factory jobs. [01:18] My mother was a very strong trade unionist, [01:22] and I recall going on Union picket lines [01:25] and singing union songs like which side are you on? [01:30] I went to Roosevelt University, [01:34] and I got very much involved in the NWACP Youth Council in Chicago. [01:42] In 1960, there were the winds of change. [01:48] There were young people a little about my age who were [01:54] struggling in the South for their dignity and for their rights, [02:02] I also met Norman in 1960. [02:06] He was organizing at the Republican Convention, [02:11] which was going on the summer of 1960. [02:15] On my right of lit and we're here to urge [02:18] the Republican Party to come out with [02:21] a strong forthright civil rights blank in the platform. [02:25] His younger brother met me, [02:28] and he says, You know, [02:30] you sound a little strange. [02:33] You sound like a socialist. [02:37] And you sound like my brother. [02:40] And I said, Oh, boy, [02:41] I want to meet your brother. [02:43] We met on a picket line. [02:45] Which picket line? [02:46] It was a picket line. [02:49] Oh, Norm. Norm. [02:52] It was a picket line and Whorse. [02:55] In support of the students sitting in. [03:00] I do remember the day. [03:02] That was the beginning of a relationship that [03:06] has continued of love and activism in the movement. [03:11] We have been married for 61 years, [03:15] soon to be 62 next month. [03:18] I don't know about you, Dan. [03:21] I I I haven't been married that long. [03:25] And then Norm came to a meeting of the NAACP Youth Council. [03:32] And he talked about the struggles for civil rights. [03:37] I got enthralled in his conversation. [03:42] And it was at that moment that I was listening to him and [03:47] my life changed because I wanted to know more about A Philip Randolph. [03:54] I wanted to know more about Byard Ruston, [03:57] and I wanted to know more about Norman Hill. [04:01] He and I started to date. [04:04] Practically, every evening, we would find some time to be together. [04:08] We didn't spend a lot of time on the movies, [04:11] but we spent a lot of time on the picket lion. [04:16] And we had heard about people who were trying to use the beaches, for instance, [04:24] there was an incident of a Black policeman who went to Rainbow Beach with his family and [04:32] got run out of Rainbow Beach because they did not allow Black African Americans. [04:40] The beach was not segregated by law. [04:46] It was segregated by custom. [04:49] There's a deep history of Chicago's segregated beaches. [04:55] In 1919, two black boys got drowned, [05:01] and a riot occurred. [05:05] So we decided. We said, [05:08] we're going to go and have a sit in. [05:11] We're going to do like the youth in the South did. [05:15] And a little nervous about this, [05:18] but we were determined. [05:21] And it was Norman that said to us, [05:24] it should be an integrated group. [05:27] So he got in touch with young people at the University of Chicago. [05:34] Eagerly joined with the members of the NWACP youth Council under Vilma's leadership. [05:42] We said, Oh, I don't know whether or not we want to go up with those guys. [05:47] They're white. They're not accustomed to our parties. [05:52] We don't know whether we're going to be comfortable with them. [05:55] My Vice President Barbitla and I said, Look, [06:00] we want to integrate this beach, [06:05] and we want to go out there with an integrated group. [06:21] I was very nervous. Norman came and picked me up, [06:24] and we were driving there. [06:26] And I was saying to myself, [06:28] Belma, don't be nervous. [06:31] Don't throw up because you're the leader here and you and you've got to be cool. [06:38] There were a 35 people. [06:40] And it was mostly black but certainly well integrated. [06:45] And we gathered together. [06:47] We had our bathing suits underneath our clothes. [06:51] And I looked at Norman Norman had on a pair of trunks, [06:55] and his legs were terrific, by the way. [06:58] We walked out to the beach. [07:01] We had our chest boards and our checkerboards Socializing, [07:05] a little radio to play. [07:07] I sat on the beach. And there were people and families on the beach, all white. [07:14] Things went calmly and smoothly until we noticed big wall. [07:20] And on that wall, [07:22] there were at least 50 white guys, [07:27] young guys, older than we were, [07:30] and we heard somebody say, [07:32] you're on the wrong beach, ******. [07:35] And it was like a slap in the face. [07:39] All of a sudden, there was a phalanx. [07:44] A gang of white youth and young adults. [07:48] That sort of gathered around us. [07:51] Moving toward our integrated groups. [07:55] And we looked around. [07:57] There were no people on the beach. [08:00] All the kids were gone, [08:02] all the women were gone. [08:04] You know, I remembered a face. [08:08] It was a guy like, in his 40s, [08:12] and his eyes were like, Very angry. [08:19] So they started to come at us. [08:22] We got up and we decided that we were going to leave the beach. [08:26] We were singing. We shall overcome. [08:30] And then all of a sudden, [08:33] people people start to throw things at us. [08:37] Rocks and bricks and throwing stones and rocks at us. [08:43] We didn't run, but we walked fast. [08:47] And I remember getting hit in the head. [08:53] Being hit on the head with a with a rock picking her up off the beach. [08:59] I remember my brother and Norman picking me up. [09:03] And she was bleeding from the wound. [09:06] There was blood all over my white shirt running to the area where you changed clothes. [09:14] And we were in there, [09:15] and they were pounding on the doors. [09:17] And I remember asking whether Norman was okay. [09:23] The police coming to the door. [09:27] Is anybody there asked if anybody were short and we said, said, yes. [09:34] And I remember going to the hospital. [09:37] I went in the ambulance. [09:40] And later I found out I had, [09:41] like, 17 stitches in my head. [09:50] The defender did a story about us [09:55] that when I came out of the the room where they stitched me up. [10:00] There were all the NAACP and all the kids from the UFC University of Chicago were there. [10:09] And everybody was talking about how we were scared, [10:14] but we were brave and that we would come back again. [10:18] We would come back until that beach was integrated. [10:21] And even though we were attacked, [10:24] we were determined to come back. [10:27] We came back the next week. [10:31] We came back, and there were hundreds of people who came out to support us. [10:38] And I think hundreds of people who came out and the police kept them away from us. [10:44] We came out there until the beach was safe. [10:48] Having a sense of accomplishment in terms of integrating the beach by [10:55] our participation setting the stage for other groups to come and join us. [11:03] This was a way in which not lawyers are not involved in [11:09] bringing civil rights cases before the courts could directly participate. [11:16] There there's another story which I got married and pregnant that same year. [11:25] And lost the baby. [11:28] And because I I was paralyzed from the incident. [11:44] But I never, ever was sorry that we went there. [11:51] And even today, there is a civil rights plaque at Rainbow Beach that we struggled there, [11:59] and we were victorious. [12:05] Norman, if you would talk about the principles that [12:12] brought us together then and that remain important for us today. [12:19] Committed to mass action. [12:22] Yes. By that, you mean the march, [12:25] the picket line, the boycott, [12:28] some means by which those who were mistreated along with their allies [12:33] can directly confront key decision makers and press for real change. [12:41] Yes. We've seen jobs created for Americans, [12:48] and legislation introduced to better wages, [12:52] improve health care, and provide worker protection for all Americans. [13:15] When we re with the spirit of [13:19] law and with the spirit of dignity that we have row here today. [13:26] Victim. [13:41] Unions have given African Americans an opportunity to work as truly free men and women. [13:51] Random was the father of the modern Civili You got to work for it. [14:01] You got to fight for it. [14:02] Day and night for it, [14:05] and generations got to win it again. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7008124/history-segregated-beaches-chicago/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7008124/history-segregated-beaches-chicago/"},"headline":"Segregated Beaches in Chicago; the History of the Freedom Waders at Rainbow Beach","datePublished":"2024-08-08T15:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:45:39.363Z","description":"Freedom Waders is a short documentary by Alex S. 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