Municipal Science Club and Special Park Commission
12021-01-27T12:41:30-06:00Jane Darcovich74607e991e3aae385523e2a142f659c2efe61099138plain2023-09-29T14:57:22-05:00Dan Harpereff3db32ed95b3efe91d381826e2c10c145cd452In the 1890s, the Municipal Science Club organized the social, political, and economic elite to promote urban parks, playgrounds, and recreational spaces. Most notably, the club invited Jacob Riis to speak at Hull-House about the dangers of the overcrowded urban environment. This meeting led to the City Council’s creation of the Special Park Commission in 1899, on which many Municipal Science Club members, including Dwight Perkins and Jens Jensen, served. The Commission studied Chicago’s existing open spaces, called for more playgrounds, and worked to create a systematic plan for recreational spaces across the city. It was the Special Parks Commission that published the Metropolitan Park Report in 1905.
1media/SB483C5A51905-007_thumb.jpg2023-07-21T10:01:21-05:00Special Park Commission Report, 19057Title page from Special Park Commission. Report of the Special Park Commission to the City Council of Chicago on the Subject of a Metropolitan Park System. Chicago: W. J. Harman, 1905. Special Collections & University Archives, University of Illinois Chicago Library.media/SB483C5A51905-007.jpgplain2023-09-15T15:24:45-05:001905