During the Progressive Era, the playground movement sparked a wave of park and playground construction in cities nationwide, with advocates promoting organized play as a deterrent to juvenile delinquency and green spaces as enhancements to urban aesthetics. Recent research shows that in the San Francisco Bay Area, cities established playground commissions, hosted conferences, and launched projects to transform cityscapes. However, the small yet vibrant Black middle class, initially excluded from these public spaces, worked to secure access while also investing in their own community institutions. With the onset of World War I, the focus of recreation rhetoric shifted from curbing delinquency to embracing cultural pluralism, providing Black Americans new opportunities to assert their claims to full citizenship.

Image courtesy of interviewee. January 1, 2025