PREFACE 



Although the history of parks in municipal corporations in the United 

 States may be traced to the very beginning of many of the oldest towns and 

 cities, and while there has been a definite park movement since the middle 

 of the last century, there is very little literature available on parks in local 

 political corporations. For the past few years a number of public park offi- 

 cials and private individuals interested in parks have felt it would be very 

 desirable to gather together the experiences of the movement in the local 

 communities and compile them into a reference work, covering as nearly as 

 possible the varied fields of park planning, government, financing, executive 

 administration and uses, as these are being developed and practiced today. 



Early in 1924 the Playground and Recreation Association of America 

 had under consideration a study of parks throughout the United States 

 which would result in the compilation of such a reference book. Plans for 

 carrying out these projects were under way when it was announced that a 

 conference of individuals and agencies interested in outdoor recreation would 

 be called in Washington under the auspices of the Federal Government. 



In May, 1924, President Coolidge convened the conference known as 

 the National Conference on Outdoor Recreation. One of the results of the 

 conference was the definite request that an inventory of the outdoor recre- 

 ational resources of the American people be taken for the purpose of secur- 

 ing adequate data on which to base plans for a nation-wide systematic 

 planning for outdoor recreation. The Playground and Recreation Associa- 

 tion of America was requested in conjunction with the American Institute 

 of Park Executives to undertake a study of municipal and county parks 

 and their systems of administration. 



Early in 1925 a grant from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation 

 enabled the Playground and Recreation Association of America to begin 

 work, and the Association, in consultation with the Executive Committee 

 of the American Institute of Park Executives, appointed Mr. L. H. Weir 

 as director of the study, and formed a National Committee on the study of 

 municipal and county parks. The personnel of the committee was as 

 follows : 



C. E. BREWER, Recreation Department, Detroit, Mich. 



MARTIN G. BRUMBAUGH, Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa. 



WILL O. DOOLITTLE, Executive Secretary, American Institute of Park Executives, 



Rockford, 111. 



LEE HANMER, Russell Sage Foundation, 120 East 22d Street, New York City. 

 HENRY V. HUBBARD, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 



