National Recreation Association

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Founded in 1906 as the Playground Association of America, the organization soon changed its focus to a more dynamic conception of recreation dedicated to improving the human environment through park, recreation, and leisure opportunities. Recruitment and training of recreation leaders, city planning, dissemination of information, technical assistance to local communities, and association activities during the two world wars are issues reflected in the collection. Reflecting the organization's changing mission, it changed its name, and was known from 1911-1930 as the Playground and Recreation Association of America, and from 1930 to 1965, as the National Recreation Association.

From the description of National Recreation Association records, 1907-1965. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63291479

The National Recreation Association was founded in 1906 as the Playground Association of America (PAA) by eighteen men and women from playground associations, public school and municipal recreation departments, settlements, teachers’ colleges, the kindergarten movement, and charity organizations. Industrialization and growing urbanization prompted a perceived need to encourage positive citizenship through supervised playground and leisure time activities. The organization was dedicated to improving the human environment through park, recreation, and leisure opportunities. Its concept of recreation evolved from the development of supervised playgrounds to one that includes a broad range of leisure-time programs and facilities that enrich the human environment. Reflecting the organization's changing mission, it changed its name to the Playground and Recreation Association of America (1911-1930) and the National Recreation Association (1930-1965). Ultimately, the National Park and Recreation Association was formed by a merger of the National Recreation Association, American Institute of Park Executives, the National Conference on State Parks, the National Recreation Society, and the National Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums.

At the organizational meeting in April, 1906, Luther H Gulick, director of physical education in the New York City school system and founder of the Public School Physical Education Society and the Academy of Physical Education, was elected as the association’s first president. Gulick brought a YMCA-influenced belief in the connection between physical and spiritual health to the PAA. Henry S. Curtis, supervisor of playgrounds for Associated Charities of Washington, D. C., became the secretary. The PAA promoted health and character through exercise and organized sports and the improvement of conditions for the poor through supervised recreation. It fought for public funding of playgrounds and recreation programs and provided consultation and training services for recreation professionals. The association’s journal, Playground, was a source of practical advice, programming ideas, and playground theory

Initially, PAA was funded by private sources and volunteers until the Russell Sage Foundation agreed to help fund services and start up costs. With more financial security, the organization was able to build, and hired the first professional executive secretary, Howard Braucher, a social worker who held the position for forty years. The organization flourished under the leadership of Braucher and new president Joseph Lee. In 1911, the name was changed to Playground and Recreation Association of America (PRAA), symbolizing its expansion into adult as well as childhood activities. PRAA put a new emphasis on field service and began to hold annual congresses. They also began an eventually successful lobby effort for local government responsibility to meet the recreation needs of its citizenry.

With the start of World War I, the PRAA expanded to provide services to troops at training camps. Due to poor physical fitness results of prospective recruits, fitness became a large concern in America. The entire post-war decade was one of large growth for the PRAA. It established the National Recreation School to train professional recreation leaders, funded scholarly research, and promoted physical fitness programs in schools and for African Americans. In the mid-30s, the name of the organization changed to the National Recreation Association (NRA), reflecting its efforts to increase support for and broaden the definition of recreation and leisure.

During the depression, the NRA cut back and, by the end of World War II, many government programs took over the majority of the recreation activities. Howard Braucher died in 1949, leaving the NRA without an effective leader. They continued to be a resource center, published literature and studies, and trained leaders. In 1965, many groups merged to form National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), with a goal to promote public interest in park and leisure opportunity.

Sources: For a more detailed history of the National Recreation Association, see William Wallach's essay in Peter Romanofsky, ed. Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Institutions, Social Service Organizations :,Vol. 2, 1978, pp. 587-592, from which this summary was drawn. See also Richard Knapp and Charles Hartsoe. Play for America: The National Recreation Association, 1906-1965, National Recreation and Park Association, 1979.) Additional information about the founding of the Playground Association of America was drawn from the National Recreation Association records as summarized in Linnea Anderson. “The Playground of Today is the Republic of Tomorrow:' Social Reform and Organized Recreation, 1890-1930’s" in the proceedings of the History of Community and Youth Work Conference, forthcoming.

From the guide to the National Recreation Association records, 1906-1972, (University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History Archives [swha])

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf National Recreation Association records, 1906-1972 University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History Archives
referencedIn William Ernest Hocking papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Johnson, George L. George L. Johnson papers, 1918, 1935-1938. Emory University. Special Collections and Archives
referencedIn Minnesota War History Committee. Collected research materials, [1940s]. Minnesota Historical Society, Division of Archives and Manuscripts
creatorOf White, Clarence Cameron, 1880-1960. Clarence Cameron White collection, 1872-1965 (bulk, 1930-1960). Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University
referencedIn Russell, Charles Augustus, 1886-1962. Charles Augustus Russell papers, 1928-1954 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn Roscoe Pound Papers Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
creatorOf National Recreation Association. National Recreation Association records, 1907-1965. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
referencedIn Physical education program records., 1887-2001. University of Minnesota Libraries. Kautz Family YMCA Archives. [ymca]
creatorOf National Recreation Association. National Recreation Association records supplement, 19-- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
creatorOf National Recreation Association. Correspondence with Marian Anderson, 1941. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Foss, Leon F. Collection of materials issued by or relating to the Recreation Commission, Concord, Mass., <1926-1982> Concord Free Public Library, Special Collection
referencedIn Clarence E. Brewer papers, 1914-1964 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn YMCA of the USA. Physical education program records, 1887-1997. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
referencedIn Brewer, Clarence E., 1892-1964. Clarence E. Brewer papers, 1914-1964. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn R. Philip Hanes Papers, 1928-2010 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
creatorOf Lee, Joseph, 1862-1937. Joseph Lee papers, 1845-1991; bulk 1874-1937. Massachusetts Historical Society
referencedIn Guide to the Eugene E. Agger Papers, 1935-1956 Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Clarence Cameron White papers (Additions), 1906-1963 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Section
referencedIn Davis, William Hammatt, 1879- . Papers, 1905-1963. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
creatorOf National Recreation Association. Letter, 1935, to Lewis Mumford. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) Archives, 1885-1990s David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Agger, Eugene Ewald, 1879-1966 person
associatedWith Attwell, Ernest T. person
associatedWith Brewer, Clarence E., 1892-1964. person
associatedWith Davis, William Hammatt, 1879- . person
associatedWith Finley, John H. 1863-1940. person
associatedWith Hanes, R. Philip, 1926- person
correspondedWith Hocking, William Ernest, 1873-1966 person
associatedWith Johnson, George L. person
associatedWith Lee, Joseph, 1862-1937. person
associatedWith Minnesota War History Committee. corporateBody
associatedWith Outdoor Advertising Association of America corporateBody
correspondedWith Pound, Roscoe, 1870-1964 person
associatedWith Russell, Charles Augustus, 1886-1962. person
associatedWith White, Clarence Cameron, 1880-1960. person
associatedWith YMCA of the USA. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
Subject
Leisure activities
Leisure activities
Recreation
Recreation
Recreation agencies
Recreation agencies
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

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