Curt Gentry, one of the key organizers and participants in the wade-in at the Terrace Club in the summer 1964, was well-known in both the white and black communities of the city. He had been a standout student and athlete at the integrated Portsmouth High School (PHS), serving as the Vice-President of the Class of 1955 and starring in varsity sports. His former PHS basketball coach, Charles Lorentz, it turned out, also managed the segregated pool at the Terrace Club. After graduating from PHS and attending Maryland State College, Gentry participated in demonstrations organized by a local chapter of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Inspired by his experience in Cambridge, Maryland, and the larger non-violent protest movement, Gentry played a critical role in the successful direct action that led to the end of racial segregation at the Terrace Club, what is today remembered as Dreamland Pool.