ABSTRACT
Long ago it was said that “one half of the world does not know how the other half lives.” It did not know because it did not care. Th ere came a time when the discomfort and crowding below were so great, and the consequent upheavals so violent ... [that] ... the upper half fell to inquiring what was the matter. (Riis, 1890, reprinted 1957, p. 1)
As the American frontier disappeared, the westward movement declined, and the industrial revolution emerged, an ever-increasing number of rural dwellers moved to cities. Th is clustering in crowded cities, magnifi ed by the infl ux of foreign immigrants, led to barbaric conditions of living-poverty, crime, and unsafe conditions for children-and a multifaceted child-saving movement began to emerge. Th is broad movement embraced several related but separate movements with the common purpose of saving children but with diverse approaches. Collectively, these movements formed the most extensive system previously seen for changing the lives of impoverished, destitute children in America and perhaps the world. One of the common goals of these groups was to improve conditions for children by providing organized opportunities, spaces, and playgrounds for their play, recreation, and learning while protecting them from crime, poverty, abuse, and illiteracy.
