By George Welton
Cal-State University, Northridge

The First Playgrounds

It was not until the last half of the 19th century that the play of children captured the imagination of society. The first generally accepted theories as to the importance of play were articulated by Herbert Spencer, Principles of Psychology (1898), and Karl Groos, The Play of Animals (1896) and The Play of Man (1898). Their ideas were used to justify the actions of popular urban reformists such as Joseph Lee, Jacob Riis, William Kent, Jane Addams and Luther Halsey Gulick. In turn, these reformists inspired the cooperative efforts of concerned parents and citizens to make a place for children's play.

In 1885 mothers along Parminter Street in Boston dumped a pile of sand in the yard behind a neighborhood church and titled it the "Boston Sand Garden." It is recognized as the first "official" playground. Leadership for this pioneer effort was voluntary but by 1887 there were 10 playgrounds all with paid leadership which were financed through private donations. In 1889 the City of Boston began to contribute support funds. Eventually a city-wide citizen group emerged called the Massachusetts Emergency and Hygenic Association. By 1898 it maintained and supervised most of the playgrounds in Boston.

In Philadelphia it was the Cultural League, an organization of citizens advocating playgrounds as an educational right, who first pressured the school board into providing play equipment for four school yards in 1893. By 1898 there were 27 playgrounds on school-yards. Encouraged by success the Cultural League sent representatives to New York City in 1897 to help organize citizens. The result was the Outdoor Recreation League, formed to:

1. obtain recognition of the necessity for recreation and physical exercise as fundamental to the moral and physical welfare of the people.

2. secure the establishment in the city of New York of sufficient recreation places, playgrounds and open-air gymnasiums for the people.

The West End District of Associated Charities, in Chicago, sponsored a playground in 1897, however, it was not the first. Hull House, a settlement house for immigrants, had since 1892 maintained "a large playground on an empty lot equipped with swings, seesaws, giant stride, and sand bins." And Northwestern University, in 1896, sponsored a playground with a capacity for 3,000 to 4,000 children. Other early efforts include the Foster School and Episcopal City Mission of Chicago who each sponsored playrooms during the summer of 1898.

The first municipal provision for play came in 1900 when the Chicago Park Commission formed neighborhood recreation centers. The following year, according to the July, 1901, issue of Independent, when the commission appropriated $2,500,000 for small parks and playgrounds. This began the municipalization of playgrounds. In 1910 Henry Curtis observed that half or more of all playgrounds were under some city department while in 1905 only one in ten were sponsored by local government.

Illinois Parks and Recreation      29      May/June 1982