StoryCorps: Founder of the country's first scuba club for Black divers

By Kayla Lattimore

Published April 26, 2024 at 5:10 AM EDT

In 1959, Albert Jose Jones founded the first Black Scuba Diving Club in the U.S. as a senior in college.

The Underwater Adventure Seekers in Sandy Point Beach, Annapolis, Maryland in 1974.

Since then the club has grown to over 3,000 members and traveled all over the world training Black divers and coming face to face with history.

At StoryCorps, Albert shared memories of 65 years of underwater exploring with his colleague Jay Hailger.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired April 26, 2024 on NPR’s Morning Edition.

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