James Lee Dickey: An Analysis of One African-American's Leadership in Jim Crow Texas

Playground Movement

During the industrial revolution of the late 1800’s, reformers determined that lack of play was detrimental to a child’s development. They studied behavior of immigrant children in Boston, New York and Chicago and found that unsupervised children, whose parents worked long hours at low-paying jobs, often wandered the streets and fell under the influence of thieves and pimps. Teenage energy often turned to mischief and vandalism. To alleviate this problem, the playground movement determined that green space, parks, and playgrounds should be created at the cost of municipal governments to provide a safe sanctuary for children. Major cities in America complied by 1905. (Anderson)

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