Playgrounds in Boston
Essay
The first developments of parks were designed not for recreational purposes, but rather carefully planned areas of nature to mediate human behavior. Frederick Law Olmsted designed landscapes for the intention of reflecting the tranquility of the natural environment, rather than the uncontrolled nature of society. The Emerald Necklace was largely designed by Olmsted, incorporating areas such as the Back Bay, to connect the city of Boston through a central gathering landscape. Playgrounds, which is what this transect tour will be focusing on, highlight Olmsted’s aversion to the uncontrolled nature of society, as playgrounds cater more toward children and their need to play and let out energy. However, playgrounds also offer a distinct space for children to play, while keeping the outside landscape intact and in use for its patrons, highlighting how playgrounds can still implement Olmsted’s values of how our natural environment should be used. In fact, playgrounds can be seen as an improvement to Olmsted’s design of parks, as he did not originally take into account how children use, and do not use, their environment.
While the Emerald Necklace was supposed to be enjoyed by all, specific places for children to let out their energy had not yet been designed. This became an issue in cities like Boston due to increased industrialization, which required more space to be made for buildings like factories and housing for immigrating families, ultimately decreasing the space for other recreational activities. As a result, the issue of unsupervised child’s play began to rise in the 1800s, creating the idea of having designated spaces of play, and inspiring an entire playground movement within the city of Boston, in which playgrounds were constructed throughout the city. This changed the physical aspects of Olmsted’s parks and public land within Boston, creating a shift in the use and audience of park spaces to include areas of play. The development of playgrounds kept Olmstead’s envisions of parks intact, leaving his landscape undisturbed, but the creation of playgrounds raises the question of whether Olmsted would have approved of the movement based on his vision of human behavior and interaction with nature. As some of the playgrounds we are investigating have been built along the Emerald Necklace, we shall seek to answer this question. Not only do we seek to answer this question, but also how the landscape of Boston was improved, as well as the health and safety of its children, with the implementation of playgrounds, regardless of Olmsted’s views on his ideals for park systems and the natural landscape.
The first playgrounds were designed for poor, immigrant, and/or homeless children as a place where they could have fun while being protected from the health risks of crowded tenement housing, the danger of playing in the streets or vacant lots, as well as providing an alternative to other dangerous, rebellious, or criminal activities (“When Boston Invented Playgrounds”). Because the first playgrounds were designed to offer a regulated area of recreation, they were initially supervised spaces of play for children to go to, specifically while their parents worked in nearby factories. Over time, however, they have evolved into less regulated spaces that families can enjoy together, or older children can congregate, broadening the space to cater to a much larger audience than they did historically. This is greatly emphasized within this tour, and can be analyzed through particular features at each stop.
By exploring and researching the playgrounds around Boston, we noticed that there is a contrast in the quality of playgrounds between playgrounds designed in higher income neighborhoods as opposed to playgrounds designed in lower income neighborhoods. This contrast can be applied to the more historic playgrounds, as well as the newer ones. As the playground movement took off and playgrounds became more popular, one can also notice that, historically, playgrounds catered to different genders and some excluded girls and women. This is another aspect that we explored in our transect tour. Playgrounds such as Martin’s Park and Phillips Street show the social inequity between how certain playgrounds are designed, maintained, and improved, emphasizing how conflict of interests negatively impact the goals for the playground movement. Additionally, the playgrounds of Charlesbank and Joseph Lee are interesting examples of how girls were excluded, or separated from boys when it came to playing. Playgrounds could also be a site for racial and social justice, however, as depicted through Gertrude Howes Playground, Carter Playground, and others.
The question of how a city or society may define what a child is also comes up within this tour, and is highlighted throughout the playground sites. Oftentimes along the walking tour, the playgrounds are shown to define the ages of the children that are “supposed” to use the space; an overarching trend. Parks such as Stoneman Playground or the Esplanade Playground depict the ages of the children that should be using the space. The trend in age, that determines who can use a playground, between most of these parks is 5-12 years of age. This begs the question of who determines this distinction of age and when a child should no longer be able to use these spaces. There is a certain inequity between who is able to frequent these spaces when signs like these are put in place and discourages certain people using the equipment, despite the playground movement’s goal to provide safe environments for play. Spaces like these should not only be used by children but people of all ages, and the playgrounds along the tour like Gertrude Howes, Phillips Street Playground, Stoneman Playground, and many more that include various spaces for sitting encourage a larger audience. The implemented benches can also be seen as a way for Olmsted’s ideas of enjoying the natural environment to be preserved.
Another common feature between almost every playground along the tour is that of the implementation of a fence, or fences, around each park or playground depicted. This is not only the case within the playground in this tour, but playgrounds everywhere. It can be assumed that this is a direct representation of the playground movement that this safety feature is now used. Because one of the main goals of this movement was specifically for providing children with a safe environment to roam free and let loose, the fences allow this to happen without the patrons of the playground having to worry about getting hurt in the nearby streets, getting lost, etc. Not only do the playgrounds themselves provide a safer way to play, but the use of the fences offer a greater certainty of safety.
Overall, Olmsted’s ideas of how the environment should be used, while slightly changed through the implementation of playgrounds, still holds based on the distinct areas that are created for children to enjoy their outdoor environment, and for adults and families to similarly enjoy the surrounding landscapes.
Sources
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Joseph Lee’s Columbus Ave Playground
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Fellow’s Street Playground
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Charlesbank Park
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Carter Playground
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Stillman Street Playground
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Harambee Park
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Georges Island
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Gertrude Howes Playground
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Martin’s Park
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Miriam and Sidney Stoneman Playground
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Esplanade Playground
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Phillips Street Playground
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Tadpole Playground
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Freida Garcia Park
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Edgerly Road Playground
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Playground at Carleton St.
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Mother’s Rest Playground
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Mission Hill Playground
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