Joseph Lee’s Thoughts on How to Make Good Citizens

Abstract

Joseph Lee (1862-1937) is known as the “Father of the Playground Movement.” He began his work in Boston, giving children in congested areas playgrounds and recreation facilities, and promoted the enactment of the Massachusetts Playground Law of 1908. He became president of the Playground Association of America (PAA) in 1906, and led the playground and recreation movement until his death in 1937. During his presidency of the PAA, which became the Playground and Recreation Association in 1911, and the National Recreation Association in 1930, Lee advocated the idea of making good citizens through recreation, and, over time, citizenship education became one of his main objectives.

This paper has two purposes: (1) to illuminate the ideological background of Lee’s thoughts on how to make good citizens; and (2) to clarify the meaning of “good citizenship” promoted by Lee.

In the late nineteenth century, Lee considered constructive philanthropy a unique American tradition that should be protected from new immigrants. By constructive philanthropy he meant the development of the spiritual life by facilitating its expression in definite achievement, or in the American way of life. New immigrants, who were unfamiliar with the American way of life, must be restricted judicially, since there was no hope of their becoming good citizens.

Recreation was essential for constructive philanthropy. According to Lee, human beings have natural instincts including spiritual elements, which, when they are fully developed through recreation, would lead to morality and good citizenship. Lee’s emphasis on human instinct and recreation derived from the theory of recapitulation advocated by G. Stanley Hall, though Hall emphasized the physical aspect.

The meaning of good citizenship, Lee asserted, is closely related to the belonging and fighting instincts. The belonging instinct begins in the home, which is the oldest, most fundamental place where a child can play and learn human relations. It is the first form of the state, the parent of all nations, and the single cell of which all nations are composed. Eventually, Lee associated the belonging instinct with patriotism and loyalty to the State, as well as with morality and good citizenship.

The fighting instinct is so deeply ingrained in the human race that it ought to be encouraged, not repressed. A child in his early years is self-assertive, individualistic, and competitive; but as he grows older, he participates in team sports and learns to fight for his team, his school, and his country. Through the experience of participating in games, he transforms the fighting instinct into a belonging instinct, or morality and good citizenship.