Children play at South Park Wading Pool in this photo from the early 1950s.
Perhaps it is fitting that what led to the creation of a city department whose business includes organizing games, hanging holiday lights and planting flowers was actually the community’s hardship.
In the late 1930s, Lawrence, like the rest of the country, was still in the midst of the Great Depression, and while the adults worked longer hours and dealt with the struggles of the time, the activities that once entertained the children had become scarce.
“All of these organized activities that would have occupied young people, scouting trips, outings and hikes, they weren’t happening as much,” said Watkins Museum of History Curator and Collections manager Brittany Keegan. “So what the city started noticing was groups of kids around without an activity.”