A portrait photograph of Joseph Lee. Joseph Lee (1862-1937) was the Inventor and "Father of the American playground movement," introducing the first contemporary neighborhood playground in the U.S. Lee promoted recreation activities as nurturing experiences and wrote several books in the field of physical education. A few of Lee's more popular titles are "Play in Physical Education" (1915) and "How to Start a Playground Including a Suggested Form of a Constitution of a Local Playground Association" (1910). Lee also served as president (1910-1937) of the Playground Association of America and was a major financial supporter of the Immigration Restriction League, a Boston-based group that promoted race-based eugenics as a basis for restricting immigration from eastern and southern Europe.
