playing freely

During the Victorian era, children were expected to be neat, quiet, and well-behaved, even during playtime. Messy children were often considered weak or even depraved. Grace Bagley strongly disagreed. She suggested, “Young-sters ought to be given plenty of sand, plastic clay, and other ‘precious messes’ to dabble in.”  A leader in the playground movement, she helped create one of the city’s earliest public playgrounds in 1897.  Located under a railroad viaduct, the small playground had sandpits, so that children could have fun, get dirty, and foster their creativity.