As NRPA begins its 50th anniversary year, we take time to reflect on the first half-century of our existence while looking forward to the future. To help showcase our journey, the editorial staff will look at one issue from our archives each month for the rest of 2015.
The June 1966 issue shown here is the sixth issue of Parks & Recreation magazine in its current form, although as the cover explains, it combined four related magazines that existed before the five organizations that joined to form NRPA merged in 1965. The content shows that park and recreation professionals dealt with the same issues then as our members do now, with headlines such as “Your Turfgrass Headache: What Variety” and “Unique Answer to Urban Sprawl Problem” jumping out from the table of contents. Other articles showcase how the field of parks and recreation has evolved over the past half-century; this issue’s cover story, “Why Have A Zoo?,” looks into the now-rare combination of zoos and municipal parks, while “Teenagers Provide Recreation for the Mentally Retarded” showcases how special-needs recreation has always been a focus for our members, albeit using different language today.
Most tellingly, the opening editorial by Conrad Wirth, then the vice-chair of NRPA’s Administrative Board, outlines his wish for the association’s future.
“In closing, I wish to say, in as few words as possible, what I hope the National Recreation and Park Association will accomplish. I want it to foster: excellence in park and recreation administration; a demand by the public for an adequate national system of parks and recreation areas at all levels of government; provisions for advanced research; planning to improve parks and recreation facilities to meet the public’s requirements; public realization of human environmental requirements; a strong human protective instinct for resource use and preservation; and the establishment of a high standard of excellence in professional ability and accomplishments.”
Half a century later, it’s encouraging to see that NRPA’s objectives remain the same and that great strides have been made for the field in the areas Wirth mentions. We hope our founders would be pleased with all that has been accomplished and the work we continue to do.
Danielle Taylor is the Executive Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine.