{"id":12527,"date":"2014-10-29T20:06:33","date_gmt":"2014-10-30T00:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/?p=12527"},"modified":"2024-01-27T18:16:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-27T23:16:05","slug":"playgrounds","status":"publish","type":"egp_essays","link":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/essays\/playgrounds\/","title":{"rendered":"Playgrounds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beginning in the late nineteenth century, children\u2019s play became an important concern of urban reformers, who regarded playgrounds\u2014outdoor environments designed, equipped, and sometimes staffed, to facilitate children\u2019s play\u2014as essential components in shaping behavior and ordering urban space. Many public and semipublic playgrounds established as a result of their efforts became permanent features of the Philadelphia landscape, and were (and remain) deeply valued by residents and city leaders.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Outdoor playground recreation was incorporated into the curriculum of school across the Philadelphia area, including the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind (later renamed the Overbrook School for Blind Children). (Library of Congress<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Philadelphia\u2019s earliest playground advocates were groundbreaking leaders in what became known as the American Playground Movement. Nationally, the movement was institutionalized in 1906 when the Playgrounds Association of America <\/a>(PAA)\u00ad\u2014later, the Recreation Association of America\u2014formed.\u00a0 One of many Progressive Era child-saving reforms, the playground movement was a response to a variety of problems that resulted from rapid immigration, industrialization, and urbanization. At the same time, new theories in child psychology, education, and medicine claimed that play was essential to child development. The impact of these combined forces linked play to childhood in unprecedented ways. Key players (in the movement and on playgrounds) changed over time as the field of recreation professionalized nationally and locally, but goals connected to making the city a place that nourished healthy, happy, and productive citizens remained a core value for proponents of these spaces and programs, whether they were wealthy philanthropists, idealistic reformers, professional educators, or neighborhood residents.<\/p>\n

Historians have commonly viewed Boston as the place where the American Playground Movement originated when, in 1885, reformers dumped a few piles of sand outside of the Parameter Street Chapel and West End Nursery to facilitate young children\u2019s play.\u00a0 However, the establishment of Starr Garden Park<\/a>\u2014the seed of what would become Philadelphia\u2019s first municipal playground and recreation center\u2014in 1882 demonstrates that Philadelphia was also a forerunner in the playground movement. Locally, members of the City Parks Association <\/a>(est. 1888), the Civic Club <\/a>(a women\u2019s club, est. 1894), the Philadelphia College Settlement <\/a>(est. 1892), and the Philadelphia Board of Education<\/a> all established playgrounds well before 1906.\u00a0 Nineteenth-century precedents for the design and construction of twentieth-century playgrounds included a few American versions of German outdoor gymnasiums and designated play spaces within large urban parks, such as the Children\u2019s Quarters <\/a>in San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Park (est. 1888) as well as outdoor playgrounds affiliated with day nurseries (early childcare facilities), kindergartens, and schools. One of these was Starr Garden, which was created in conjunction with a free kindergarten program.<\/p>\n

For Progressives, effective playgrounds were not just spaces with a few swings and slides, but places where equipment was complemented by professionally designed programs in which children were taught \u201chow to play.\u201d\u00a0 This definition, though prevalent among reformers for several decades, was never accepted by the general public. Playgrounds\u00a0 more typically have been defined primarily as physical spaces, not programs, and \u00a0by the mid-twentieth century three main types of playgrounds had become commonplace: community playgrounds, located in residential neighborhoods; school-yard playgrounds, affiliated directly with educational institutions; and \u201cdestination playgrounds,\u201d impressive, multi-acre properties often situated on the edges of city limits that were in some ways sanitized versions of increasingly popular commercial amusement parks like New York\u2019s Coney Island. The Philadelphia region had all three types.<\/p>\n

Community and School-Yard Playgrounds<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In a pattern that became typical in the early twentieth-century playground movement, philanthropists established Starr Garden in a \u201cslum\u201d neighborhood, where children would otherwise be forced to play in cramped apartments or on city streets.\u00a0 Initially located on a tiny lot on a back-alley street (St. Mary Street, now Rodman, between Sixth and Seventh), under the leadership of several privately funded organizations\u2014the St. Mary Street Library (est. 1884), the Philadelphia College Settlement (est. 1892), and the Starr Centre Association <\/a>(est. 1900)\u2014Starr Garden expanded through the condemnation and demolition of nearby homes and buildings, a common method of playground development. By 1905, when philanthropist Susan Wharton (1852-1928) and other associates of the Starr Centre Association claimed Starr Garden as \u201cPhiladelphia\u2019s first real playground,\u201d it encompassed an entire city block. The Starr Center directors transferred control to the Playgrounds Association of Philadelphia (est. 1907) and then to municipal control under the Philadelphia Bureau of Recreation <\/a>(est. 1911). In comparison to other early playgrounds, Starr Garden\u2019s equipment was typical as well.\u00a0 Initially, it included swings and a place for playing ball; later, a sandbox and gymnastics equipment.\u00a0 When it became the Starr Garden Municipal Recreation Center on July 7, 1911, it gained a state-of-the-art recreation building and outdoor wading pool.<\/p>\n

Less typical, but historically significant, the lot was situated near two institutions of great importance to black Philadelphians: the James Forten School (Sixth and Lombard, northwest corner), named for the prominent African American sailmaker and abolitionist, and Mother Bethel A.M.E Church (Sixth and Lombard, northeast corner). In 1882 several kindergarten advocates, including a white Quaker Anna Hallowell (1831-1905), Philadelphia\u2019s first female school board member, and a black Episcopal priest, Rev. Henry Phillips (1847-1947), rector of the Church of the Crucifixion, encouraged Starr Garden\u2019s namesake philanthropist Theodore Starr (1841-84) to transform a \u201ctrash heap\u201d into a small park\/playground to serve \u00a0Philadelphia\u2019s African American residents. Later, the Playground Association of Philadelphia (PAP) established a temporary play space, Coxe Playground (Eighteenth & Bainbridge), for African American children primarily. Despite this initiative, children of color remained generally underserved on playgrounds even after World War II when the PAA added a Colored Workers Bureau.<\/p>\n

Alongside private investors, the Board of Education played a central role in Philadelphia\u2019s playground movement. Beginning in 1894, leaders of the Philadelphia public schools, including later Pennsylvania governor Martin G. Brumbaugh<\/a> (1862-1930), provided widespread support for the development of supervised \u201csummer playgrounds\u201d situated on public school grounds. The provision of outdoor space in affiliation with schools was not unusual, for the existence of school-yards in neighborhoods with little available open space was what made them so appealing to play advocates. What was new was the provision of planned activities, specialized equipment, and professional supervisors. With these changes, further supported by the integration of play-centered kindergarten programs and physical education into the public schools, the provision of play and play space for children outside of school hours became, to some extent, an accepted role of the school.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Neighbors surrounding Dickinson Square Park at one point in its history rejected the construction of sports fields and playground equipment in the square, wishing to retain the traditional park landscape. (PhillyHistory.org<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the twentieth century progressed, neighborhood playground development in the Philadelphia region expanded into wealthy neighborhoods and suburbs, and movement leaders expanded their mission to include adults as well as children.\u00a0 Initially, both reformers and residents thought that playgrounds were unnecessary and even unwelcome in economically advantaged communities and that they might pose a threat to real estate values. In 1898, for example, attempts to transform Dickinson Square Park<\/a> (Fourth and Tasker) into a playground were successfully thwarted by neighbors who preferred a more traditional park. The establishment of the Philadelphia Bureau of Recreation in 1911 (it became the Department of Recreation<\/a> in 1952), however, demonstrated that residents and city authorities had accepted play and playgrounds as a public good. Locally and nationally the playground movement became the recreation movement. In addition to children\u2019s playgrounds, recreation centers featured swimming pools, athletic fields, extensive programming, and recreation buildings open year-round.<\/p>\n

Destination Playgrounds<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Much larger and more remote than community playgrounds, the Philadelphia region\u2019s earliest and most distinctive destination playgrounds were the Sanitarium Playground<\/a> (nicknamed \u201cSoupy Island\u201d\u2014a reflection of both its original location on Windmill Island in the Delaware River near the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the soup served daily to those who attended) and the Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse, located in Fairmount Park<\/a>. Both were understood by their founders to be charitable entities, though they served very different populations initially.<\/p>\n

Established in 1877, Soupy Island provided fresh air, nutritious food, medical care, and fun to poor, sick children from Philadelphia. The city\u2019s plans to remove the island to allow better access for large ships combined with the limitations of the island space prompted a move to Red Bank, New Jersey, where managers purchased over eighty underdeveloped acres of land in 1887.\u00a0 From that summer until 1984, ferries transported children from Philadelphia to this location. Over the years attendance at Soupy Island expanded to include a wider range of children and families, including New Jersey residents. When the ferries stopped running, they arrived by bus or car. Soup continued to be served daily to all those in attendance.\u00a0 In 2007 the Campbell Soup Company<\/a> provided support, donating soup and facilitating improvements to the property.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Smith Memorial Playhouse, a three-story, 16,000-square-foot building in Fairmount Park, was designed to provided space for various children’s activities. (Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Philadelphia\u2019s Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse<\/a> (the Children\u2019s Playground and Playhouse in the Park) was founded by Richard Smith (1821-94), whose brother John F. Smith had donated one of the earliest boats for the Soupy Island project, and his wife Sarah A. Walker Smith (1826-95). It opened in 1899 on six acres in Fairmount Park. Designed for use by children aged ten and under and their caregivers, Smith was not limited to the poor, and there was no transportation provided.\u00a0 As a result, middle and upper-class families tended to dominate the space, including some well-to-do African American families. Thus, even during time periods when exclusionary admission practices were common in recreational settings across the region, Smith Playground served as one of the few places in the city where wealthy, working class, and poor residents of all races and religions might meet.<\/p>\n

Funded through endowments and private donations, Soupy Island and Smith Playground avoided municipal control throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century.\u00a0 Soupy Island remained in the care of the Children\u2019s Cruise and Playground Society and Smith Playground was supported primarily by private trusts until it was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2004.<\/p>\n

Ebbs and Flows<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The creation of playgrounds continued in the Philadelphia region, as elsewhere, into the twenty-first century, in urban and suburban neighborhoods, on small and large scales. Increasingly playgrounds were built to allow adults and children of all ages and abilities to play together, one of the most noteworthy being Jake\u2019s Place<\/a>, Cherry Hill (est. 2011), the first fully accessible playground in southern New Jersey. Spray parks replaced wading pools as a common water feature at playgrounds like Seger Park<\/a> (Tenth and Lombard, Philadelphia) and Herron Park (250 Reed Street). Other unique destination playgrounds developed, including Kid\u2019s Castle <\/a>(est. 1996) in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and the Camden Children\u2019s Garden<\/a> (est. 1999).<\/p>\n

Like many city programs, public playgrounds were rarely fully funded or adequately staffed to meet the needs of residents. Thus, neighborhood playgrounds more often reflected demographic trends than shifted them.\u00a0 Community-led revitalizations are often connected to the gentrification of the surrounding neighborhood. In 2011, neighbors formed the Friends of Starr Garden in order to revitalize the neglected space, no longer situated in a slum, but in what had become known as Society Hill. Neighborhood residents also created new play spaces, as was the case with the volunteer-led effort to create Liberty Lands Park<\/a> in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia in 1995. Unlike their nineteenth-century counterparts, in 2012, Dickinson Park neighbors aided and applauded the renovation and replacement of basketball courts and playground equipment by the city. The YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties participated in the revitalization of the playground at Northgate Park in North Camden in 2012.<\/p>\n

Historic preservation and playground support collided in 2012 around the revitalization of one of Philadelphia\u2019s earliest playgrounds, Weccacoe. Initially championed by the Philadelphia College Settlement in the early 1900s, its improvement was delayed when research confirmed that it was located on a site of great importance to Philadelphia\u2019s history, a nineteenth-century Bethel A.M.E. Church graveyard<\/a>.\u00a0 It was not unusual for early playgrounds to be established on graveyards; like school-yards, these open spaces were often viewed by reformers as wasted land.\u00a0 However, given the particular significance of Bethel AME, this situation led to vexing questions about how to honor the value of the space as a community asset as well as the lives of those buried there.<\/p>\n

Less impacted by changing demographics and purposes, aging destination playgrounds faced ongoing challenges as well. Both Soupy Island and Smith Playground deteriorated in the late twentieth century and required revitalization early in the twenty-first. The eight-level Doylestown Castle in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, closed due to safety concerns in early 2013 and required community financial support to avoid permanent closure.<\/p>\n

Playgrounds did not solve Philadelphia\u2019s social problems as many of their founders hoped they would, but they clearly had staying power. Perhaps in part because they have been symbols of idealistic visions of childhood and community, they could be the target of frustrations, as evidenced in incidents of arson and other forms of vandalism. Because they have been open spaces, they could leave users vulnerable to violence and provide gathering places for activities that tear down communities rather than build them up. Concerns about lawsuits related to playground injuries increasingly constrained playground design and use in the early twenty-first century. A perceived conflict between play and children\u2019s academic progress left school-yards increasingly empty. Increased competition with more high-tech forms of entertainment posed a constant challenge for destination playgrounds.\u00a0 However, when both the city government and neighborhood residents invest in them, Philadelphia\u2019s playgrounds have been and can be places that significantly improve the quality of urban life. It may be necessary to let go of idealized visions of playgrounds as magical spaces that can solve social problems, but it is hard to imagine greater Philadelphia without them.<\/p>\n

Deborah Shine Valentine<\/strong><\/a> is assistant professor of Early Childhood Education at Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia.\u00a0 She received a Ph.D. in Childhood Studies from Rutgers-Camden (2013).\u00a0 She is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the history of playgrounds, race, and early childhood education in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Philadelphia.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beginning in the late nineteenth century, children\u2019s play became an important concern of urban reformers, who regarded playgrounds as essential components in shaping behavior and ordering urban space. Many public and semipublic playgrounds established as a result of their efforts became permanent features of the Philadelphia landscape, and were (and remain) deeply valued by residents and city leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":12744,"template":"","egp_featured_subjects":[1991,1999,2007,2031],"class_list":["post-12527","egp_essays","type-egp_essays","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","egp_featured_subjects-activism","egp_featured_subjects-children-and-youth","egp_featured_subjects-environment","egp_featured_subjects-sports-and-recreation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/egp_essays\/12527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/egp_essays"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/egp_essays"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/egp_essays\/12527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39904,"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/egp_essays\/12527\/revisions\/39904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"egp_featured_subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philadelphiaencyclopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/egp_featured_subjects?post=12527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}