USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1925 > Part 7
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1925 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
Such development is, of course, impossible with the pres- ent limited organization of workers, and with the extreme limitations of time at the disposal of present workers under the Commission.
Significant as to future possibilities, not only in this, but in other branches of this work, is the fact that this league was very largely financed from the proceeds of the play con- ducted for the league's benefit by the Little Theatre, as men- tioned above under "Recreational Drama." One recreation activity promoted another with mutual benefit and benefit to
121
WELFARE AND RECREATION COMMISSION
the Community at large. No expenditure was incurred by the city for either, other than the Director's time and effort, in- dicating that expenditure by the City would be negligible in promoting this kind of activity to its greatest possibilities.
Public Celebrations
Somerville concentrated into its special 17th of June ac- tivities its observance of the historic events of 1775 in which this City's territory so prominently figured. A major part of the program for June 17 was in charge of the Recreation Com- mission, which thus cooperated with the Committee of Alder- men directing the observance.
The program carried on by the Commission at Central Hill Park was for children and adults. It included children's games, athletic contests, procession, doll carriage parade, etc.
This undertaking was financed by special appropriation from the Celebration's Fund.
The preparations and the program itself were directed by workers under your Commission.
In the Director's 1924 report is contained a detailed ac- count of the Community Christmas Observance for that year, directed by agents of your Commission. The objectives, pro- gram, results, and estimated values are stated in this prev- ious report. (Pages 40-42.) A similar observance was con- ducted at Christmas time, 1925, with this difference in the procedure :- that the financial burden was assumed to larger degree by the City in 1925 than in 1924. The expenditures were shared by the Commission's fund and the Celebration's fund controlled by His Honor the Mayor.
Summary of 1925 Activities
This report, up to the present point, has dealt with all of the important divisions of the work during 1925 :- (1) The Summer Playgrounds, (2) The Spring and Fall After- School Playgrounds, (3) The Saturday "Neighborhood" Play- grounds, (4) The Girls' Canning Activities, (5) Evening Rec- reation Centers, (6) The Neighborhood Center, (7) The Gen- eral Public Activities, (8) The Experiment in Community Recreational Drama, (9) Public Celebrations. In summary it may be said that a secure footing in all of these fields of undertaking has been secured and that the future will show that the year 1925 has seen far-reaching, effective work for
122
ANNUAL REPORTS
community welfare in Somerville. While some of the begin- nings have been necessarily modest and slow, this is a natural condition attendant upon the limitation of resources and equipment at the disposal of your Commission. Experiences during the past year prompt the expression of the estimate that the near future will demonstrate that an effective basis for future work has been set up.
Finances
A complete general financial statement for 1925 is ap- pended to this report.
-0-
ANALYSIS, OUTLOOK, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Five years have passed since the establishment, by City Ordinance, of the Public Welfare and Recreation Commis- sion. Its predecessor, The Playgrounds and Recreation Com- mission, had been established three years earlier. Eight years of legal recognition of Recreation as a distinct element of public welfare have passed. Naturally the Commission's first duty has been that of exploring-investigating the na- ture of its task :- studying the general relation of Recrea- tion to a Community's well-being, discovering the peculiar needs of Somerville, devising means for coping with local needs and problems ; and organizing its policies, corps of workers, and mode of procedure. Its financial expenditures have been extremely small, averaging during these eight years mout four and one-half cents per capita a year. During this eight-year period, your Commission and the workers under its direction have eagerly and ceaselessly studied the problem in hand. From time to time your Commission and these workers have defined their conclusions and offered their recommenda- tions for use by the City Government in discharging its duty to Somerville in the field of this well-recognized department of modern public welfare. In all of these repeated recom- mendations, proposals for financial appropriations have been notably modest. The most severe economy has been practiced always.
During this time a well-organized system of outdoor rec- reation for children, limited, unfortunately, to certain sec- tions of Somerville, restricted to a comparatively few days of each year, and seriously impeded by lack of facilities not with- in the Commission's power to provide, has been evolved ;-
123
WELFARE AND RECREATION COMMISSION
a system whose results, it may be affirmed without hesitation, are far beyond the proportions of the money expended. And beginnings have been established in a recreation program for adults.
That the exploratory time has passed, and that no fur- ther considerable progress can be made in meeting the very great recreational needs of this Community without a far- reaching movement on the part of the City Government cal- culated to extend this system to the entire Community, to re- move the impediments in the lack of facilities mentioned, and to make unnecessary the limiting of the benefits from your Commission's work to a small fraction of the year, is the cen- tral idea of this supplementary statement, offered by the Di- rector in response to the Commission's direction.
The considerations on which this conclusion is based are here set forth, with an effort at brevity.
To understand the situation it is necessary to keep in mind the paradoxical arrangement whereby the Recreation Commission has no jurisdiction over the facilities, which might be styled the tools, of Recreation. The play areas, maintained and controlled by two other Departments; storage places ; basins for wading pools; and the municipal bathing beach,. are examples. Skating facilities and regulation in allotment of baseball fields to users, are other examples. While the officials of these other Departments have practised coopera- tion within the limits of possibility, the resources at their disposal are so extremely limited and the business of provid- ing and conditioning these "recreation tools" is so decidedly incidental to their general jurisdiction, that little is being accomplished in way of first-class Recreation service, in spite of the apparent desire to cooperate on the part of the officials concerned.
Putting together the two propositions stated above, namely
(1) that a far-reaching movement by the City Govern- ment, calculated to bring service to the entire Com- munity and to remove present limitations and im- pediments, is imperative for progress ; and
(2) that the distribution of responsibility for, and control of, recreation facilities among several de- partments, is essential in the Somerville Recrea- tion situation ; the conclusion is obvious that the present situation demands from the City Govern- ment
124
ANNUAL REPORTS
(a) Provision for increased emphasis on those branch- es of the work under the City Engineer's, Build- ing, Water, and other Departments that have to do with Recreation facilities :
(b) Recognition of the essential fact that the grounds for play, buildings for storage, basins for wading pools, baseball diamonds, etc., are of the nature of "Recreation tools" the utilization of which should be largely directed by the Recreation Department ;
(c) Substantial increase in appropriation of funds to all of these Departments, with specification that the Recreation Commission's intentions and plans be regarded and consulted in the disposition of these funds ;
(d) Substantial increase in appropriation of funds to the Public Welfare and Recreation Commission.
The foregoing generalization is reduced, in the following paragraphs, to specific enumeration of needs and difficulties ; and specific recommendations are given. In the presentation of these the order of consideration coincides with the division of the Commission's activities, as outlined in the earlier part of this Report.
Playgrounds
Progressive cities are obtaining a minimum standard of 50 square feet per school child for play area. In Somerville, if those improvised play areas under supervision in the Sum- mer of 1925 be included, there are available about 10 square feet per child. Of the acreage included, more than half is in poor condition and without play-provoking equipment. If some of the school yards were conditioned, if the newly-purchased Cherry-Street site were made usable, and if the extensions were provided at Kent St., Joy St., Glen St., and Fellsway Playgrounds as recommended by the Director in the 1924 Report, and again recommended in this Report, the addition- al areas would, at maximum, raise the play area to about 25 square feet per school child.
For play supervision on the already available areas only a seven-weeks program in Summer, and Saturday morning supervision in that end of Somerville east of Spring Hill, can be carried on because of the limitation of money available.
No playground in Somerville is fully equipped to meet the needs of both boys and girls of various ages.
125
WELFARE AND RECREATION COMMISSION
Lincoln Park, Richard Trum Field, and Dilboy Field are the only playgrounds affording good baseball fields. More than one-half of Somerville's boys of baseball age must walk from points ranging from a half-mile to a mile away from these spots.
Shelter houses are totally lacking on Somerville play- grounds.
Constructive suggestions for remedying the situation are mentioned in the Director's comments earlier in this Report under the caption, "Summer Playgrounds-Grounds." They are here summarized and others are added :
The Glen Street Playground is located on the vacant land (a large part of which is City property) at the junction of Glen and Oliver Streets,-a piece of land which the Director urges upon the Commission as extremely desirable for com- - plete ownership by the City and very thorough-going conver- sion into a playground. Its operation during the past Sum- mer was a boon to hundreds of children who reside in an area hitherto totally unserved. The immediate district, within four minutes of this land, has a child population of several hundred, and the districts outlying are also unequipped with playgrounds. Several main thoroughfares for motor vehic- les-Franklin Street, Cross Street, Washington Street, Med- ford Street, Glen Street, and newly paved Pearl Street-pass within one or two minutes' walk of this playground, constitut- ing a menace to so many hundred children who might be freed from danger by means of a properly equipped, active and at- tractive playground. Regardless of more detailed plans the Director urges complete fencing of this area by a 12-ft. wire screen fence ; provision of drinking-water facilities and seats, re-surfacing, re-placement of baseball backstop; provision of shelter or shade trees or both.
The surface of the Joy Street grounds has been some- what improved by operations by the City Engineer's Depart- ment. But there is imperative need of still further improve- ment of the ground, providing of shade trees, and the erec- tion of a durable screen fence for the triple purpose of pro- tecting the children at play from the extreme danger of in- tense commercial traffic through the adjoining streets (which are among the narrowest in the City,) protecting neighbor- ing property, and affording a touch of attractiveness to the grounds which at present have a most cheerless and unattrac- tive appearance. Equipment is lacking.
126
ANNUAL REPORTS
Even under conditions of great improvement the total area of the Joy and Bennett playgrounds is so small that the provisions would be extremely inadequate for this locality, which has a greater child population within the immediate vicinity of the playground than can be found in any other district of similar size in the City. It seems, therefore, that the City would do well to make some approach to providing at- tractive safe, and play-provoking features on the present area, and to consider seriously the possibilities of increasing or even multiplying the area of both of these playgrounds.
At the Morse School Playground, there is need of resur- facing the ground. One section was formerly surfaced with concrete, which is now higher by inches than the remainder of the area; and that part which is not concreted is uneven and stony, with here and there uncovered parts of tree roots. Another screen fence along the Craigie Street side is almost a necessity both from the standpoint of safety on the play- ground and for the interest of the abutting property.
The grounds of the Western Junior High School, where the area affords possibilities for the play of active games, but where the City has long delayed in providing presentable sur- face and any play equipment, meet only to a feeble degree the needs of an ever-increasing population in a district where no playground suitable for active boys' play is nearer than a mile almost in any direction. The Western Playground for boys and the Hodgkins School-yard unit for girls were jointly supervised. The combination has proved effective in spite of the wretched condition of both grounds.
Equally desirable, in my opinion, would be the carry- ing out of plans contemplated some time since for the im- provement of the rear end of Saxton C. Foss Park, with a view to getting the maximum use from this area for recrea- tion purposes. In the light of the rapid development of rec- reation activity on this playground, the urgent need of early attention to this improvement is still more apparent.
Saxton C. Foss and Fellsway Playgrounds are in fact conducted on the same area, with segregation and separate supervision of boys and girls for sectioning off the area. The attendance and the activities have so increased as to place both the girls' and boys' units among the most successful play- grounds.
As an alternative to the course recommended above, should there be question on the advisability of using a corner of Foss Park for a playground, attention is called to the
127
WELFARE AND RECREATION COMMISSION
land that comprises the so-called Fellsway playground. This land is owned in part by the City, and was formerly a part of a much larger open space that is gradually being used up by the erection, in various spots, of unsightly buildings. While the location is highly desirable for a play area, the city-owned land is too small and poorly surfaced; and the privately owned land is hilly, weedy and unkempt. The two taken to- gether would afford possibilities, provided that further en- croachment for building be forestalled.
Whether anything additional is to be considered or not, the Director urges the imperative necessity of immediate provision of a high screen fence along the Boulevard side of the Fellsway grounds, both to protect children from the great num- ber of speeding automobiles on the Fellsway East, and to pro- tect motorists from flying baseballs, etc. Several cases of shattered windshields and flying bits of glass have come to the Director's notice recently.
The attention of the Commission is again respectfully called to the necessity of more space for playing in the district served by the Kent St. Playground. This ground caters to a very populous section of our city, and is at present inadequate for the playing of active games.
Play Supervision
Following is an excerpt from the report of the Somerville Planning Board, 1923 :-
"Supervision is crucial in playground operation. An un- supervised playground is for the child, hardly better than a vacant lot. On an un-supervised playground the large boys and rowdies will keep the girls and small boys off. There will be little play, and that ordinarily of poor quality, except for baseball ; and there is a tendency for boys' gangs to congregate and smoke, engage in low conversation or shoot craps. A situa- tion of this sort is most regrettable where there are thousands of children needing the peculiar moral and physical help which supervised play has to offer, for play provides one of the major opportunities for moral development on the part of the youth of the land. Family supervision of play is generally not pos- sible, particularly in those sections where the mother in her second or third story kitchen cannot watch the play or choose the associates of her child. A good playground director is a Godsend to the children of such families. There is supervised play during only about two months of the twelve on the Som-
128
'ANNUAL REPORTS
erville playgrounds and on some playgrounds there was no supervision of play at all. In visiting the playgrounds, it was found that there was no play of value going on, as a rule, out- side of the days and hours and places where supervision was provided. This finding, however, is in accordance with the experience of American cities in general. During six months of the year play can be directed during the daylight hours when children are not at school, to the enormous advantage of the children and of all citizens."
Under our present system, the greatest asset is a zealous and competent corps of part-time supervisors, who, in the Director's judgment, are underpaid. The problem of directing this corps is increasing with the growth of the system.
During 1924 and 1925 the number of summer units has increased from 11 to 17, and the number of children under supervision has increased about 40 per cent. Direct su- perintendence by the Director of individual supervisors' work among their own groups of children is more difficult. Admin- istrative problems are larger and more complicated. Special supervision for special activities can no longer be delegated to part-time specialists, but requires full-time special supervi- sion. Any progress, and in fact maintenance of present efficiency, urgently demand
(a) Employment of Assistants to the Director, who shall not be attached to any given playground in particular.
(b) Increased provision for interplayground visitation and transportation of supplies.
(c) Increased provision for expense of coordinating supervision through central headquarters.
(d) Employment of additional persons to assist in supervision on larger units,-Lincoln Park, Foss- Fellsway, Glen Street.
A problem that confronts us annually is that of "breaking in" new workers as a result of the fact that our skilful play leaders are attracted by higher salaries to other communities. The energy and time expended by your Director in this "break- ing in" process might be diverted into channels leading to im- provement of the system by new enterprise, if there were avail- able the very small fund necessary for advancing the salaries of the experienced workers.
129
WELFARE AND RECREATION COMMISSION
For Supervision of Saturday play, the present Saturday corps should be doubled, as only about one-fourth of the City's area is now reached by the Saturday opportunities.
Playground Equipment
The report of the Planning Board, 1923, is again quoted :-
"It is necessary that there should be sand boxes for the very young; swings, slides, the Giant Stride, and similar ap- paratus for the somewhat older but pre-adolescent boys and girls; and there should be small ball fields for the younger adolescent boys and larger fields for the larger boys and men. In addition to these, provision for golf, tennis, wading, bath- ing, boating, outdoor basket ball or volley ball, skating, tobog- ganing, and a variety of other games and sports should be made. Of the existing playgrounds, Lincoln Park and the Richard Trum Playground are the only ones physically ad- equate in size to meet the needs of children, young and old, of their districts, even after they have been properly organized and equipped.
"Often it is good policy to separate the playgrounds for large children from those for small children."
"TYPES. In general it may be said that there should be small playgrounds for little children, that is children under school age, ranging from a city lot to a quarter of an acre in size, equipped with sand boxes for the very young children, and seats under the trees for their mothers and nurses. There should be one of such playground within one-eight of a mile of every home. For children of elementary school age, there should be a larger playground equipped with apparatus, wad- ing pool, volley ball and basket ball courts, and an outdoor gymnasium, within a quarter-mile of each home. For children over 12 years of age, a play field is necessary upon which sev- eral games of baseball may proceed at the same time. Other games as tennis, football, soccer, volley ball, should also be provided for. This playground should also be at least sev- eral acres in size and should be located within one-half mile of every home. To meet these standardized needs of the populace of Somerville, it would be then necessary to increase several- fold, both the playground space and the amount of supervision: available."
130
ANNUAL REPORTS
"In the above suggestions, no criticism of the quality of the present supervision of playgrounds is intended, for the in- vestigators have been most favorably impressed with the char- acter of supervised play so far provided. What is suggested, is an increase in quantity, which means eventually a several- fold increase of the appropriation for play purposes in the city. Such an increased appropriation should come back to the city many-fold in the form of healthier, happier and better cit- izens."
The same Planning Board reported in 1923 the following general recommendation regarding establishment, equipment, and supervision of playgrounds :-
"The program for Somerville's playground improve- ment should include three things : first, the provision of apparatus for the playgrounds already established and supervised ; second, provision during six months of con- tinuous supervision for all the playgrounds already exist- ing; and third, the provision of supervised playgrounds with adequate apparatus for areas not yet served."
More specific recommendations have been made in this report under the captions "Summer Playgrounds" and "Satur- day-and afternoon Playgrounds," and they are included near the close of this report in a general list of recommendations.
Drama and Dramatics in Community Recreation
Regrettable from the civic point of view is the inability .of the Recreation organization to respond to the opportunities for developing Somerville's local social-civic spirit through the medium of recreational community drama, pageantry, and allied arts of expression. That the possibilities are great, and that hundreds of adult persons in the City are eager for munic- ipal encouragement and leadership has been amply dem- tonstrated by the experiment reported in 1924 and continued as reported in 1925.
Voluntary leadership has carried the experiment to the present conclusion. But voluntary leadership on the part of a non-resident cannot be had always. And it is physically impossible for the present part-time paid workers under the Commission to carry on this work in addition to the other work discussed in this report. A very moderate increase of funds could make possible a worthwhile program of Recreation
131
WELFARE AND RECREATION COMMISSION
in Somerville that could add a much-needed aesthetic note to Somerville life ; offer an antidote for some modern commercial- ized pleasure-habits that are more dissipative than recreation- al ; serve the City by its performances on such occasions as the observance of public holidays, etc; and furnish à medium for financing other recreational activities, so as to enable the City Government to promote varied Recreation without paying for it. An example of this last possibility is found in the financ- ing last Summer of the young men's baseball league from the proceeds of the Little Theatre's dramatic production.
The Director recommends urgently the appropriation of not more than $100 for initial expenditure for promotion of this branch of Recreation during 1926 as encouragement to non-official, non-governmental agencies, who can easily meet the financial needs of its continuance, if the City will lend, through your Commission, its official leadership.
General Public Activities
In general public activities during the past year the out- standing feature is the Twilight Amateur Baseball League promoted by your Commission. Two such leagues could be organized during the coming year, with greater results in each.
So strongly have the possibilities in this direction been demonstrated that the Director is fully convinced, with work- ers and facilities provided, and with very small expense, that there could be rapidly developed in Somerville a far-reaching organization of young men who would be actively interested in an all-year-round program of indoor and outdoor sports, with great profit to themselves physically, socially, and moral- ly, and with immeasurable benefit to the Community at large.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.