In the Morgan Park region there is a large Negro population but no park or playground within its Negro area. Barnard Playground and Ridge Park are the nearest facilities, a mile or more distant. Negro children said they did not go there because "those are in Beverley Hills and only rich folks go there—no colored people." The directors of these parks said there was no discrimination against Negroes but that they did not come because they felt that these parks were "for white folks only."
III. USE OF FACILITIES
Table XVII gives estimates by the officers in charge of the Negro attendance at the places of recreation in or near the Negro areas.
| Name | Average Daily Attendance | Percentage of Total Daily Attendance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School Time | Through Year | Vacation Time | School Time | Through Year | Vacation Time | |
| South Side District: | ||||||
| Twenty-sixth St. Beach | 200 | 95 | ||||
| Thirty-eighth St. Beach | 500 | Less than 1 | ||||
| Fifty-first St. Beach | 500 | Less than 1 | ||||
| Moseley Playground, Twenty-fourth St. and Wabash Ave. | 900 | 150 | 80 | |||
| Colman Playground, Forty-sixth and Dearborn Sts. | 350 | 700 | 90 | |||
| Doolittle Playground, Thirty-fifth St. near Rhodes Ave. | 800 | 500 | 90 | |||
| Oakland Playground, Fortieth St. and Langley Ave. | 600 | 400 | 75 | |||
| Beutner Playground, Thirty-third St.and LaSalle St. | 1,400 | 1,000 | 67 | |||
| Sherwood Playground, Fifty-seventh St. and Princeton Ave. | 1,500 | 900 | 50 | None | ||
| Drake Playground, Twenty-seventh St. and Calumet Ave. | 1,100 | 600 | 25 | |||
| McCosh Playground, Sixty-sixth St. and Champlain Ave. | 1,200 | 450 | 25 | 15 | ||
| Carter Playground, Fifty-eighth St. and Michigan Ave. | 1,200 | 500 | 25 | |||
| Fiske Playground, Sixty-second St. and Ingleside Ave. | 1,500 | 1,000 | 2 | |||
| Fuller Park Recreation Center, Forty-fifth St. and Princeton Ave. | 1,500 | 3 | ||||
| Armour Square Recreation Center, Thirty-third St. and Shields Ave. | 1,500 | 1 | ||||
| Hardin Square Recreation Center, Twenty-sixth St. and Wentworth Ave. | 800 | 1 | ||||
| Washington Park | 27,000 | 10 | ||||
| Jackson Park | 47,000 | 2 | ||||
| Ogden Park District: | ||||||
| Copernicus Playground, Sixtieth and Throop Sts. | 1,400 | 800 | 7 | 16 | ||
| Ogden Park Recreation Center, Sixty-fourth St. and Racine Ave. | 3,000 | Less than 1 | ||||
| South Chicago District: | ||||||
| Thorp Playground, Eighty-ninth St. and Buffalo Ave. | 500 | 350 | 5 | |||
| West Side District: | ||||||
| Robey Playground, Birch and Robey Sts. | 500 | 800 | 20 | |||
| Mitchell Playground, Oakley Ave. and Ohio St. | 1,200 | 200 | 5 | |||
| Washington Playground, Grand Ave. and Carpenter St. | 200 | 1 | ||||
| Otis Playground, Grand Ave. and Armour St. | 200 | 1 | ||||
| McLaren Playground, Polk and Laflin Sts. | 300 | 400 | ||||
| Gladstone Playground, Robey St. and Washburne Ave. | 1,300 | 400 | 1 | |||
| Hayes Playground, Levitt and Fulton Sts. | Closed | |||||
| Union Park Playground, Washington St. and Ashland Blvd. | 1,500 | 40 | ||||
| North Side District: | ||||||
| Northwestern Playground, Larrabee and Alaska Sts. | 300 | None | ||||
| Orleans Playground, Orleans St. and Institute Pl. | 150 | 400 | 5 | |||
| Franklin Playground, Sigel St. near Wells St. | 1,500 | 300 | 5 | 25 | ||
| Seward Park Recreation Center, Elm and Sedgwick Sts. | 1,500 | 15 | ||||
| Stanton Park Recreation Center, Vine and Rees Sts. | 2,000 | 1 | ||||
| Lincoln Park | 60,000 | 15 | ||||
Maximum attendance, 100,400. Negroes approximately, 19,000.[43]
Factors influencing attendance.—Out of the thirty-five playgrounds, recreation centers, and bathing-beaches in or near the Negro areas for which attendance figures were secured, at fifteen Negro attendance never amounted to more than 10 per cent, and usually was less. In several cases distance or such barriers as railroad tracks seemed to explain the small percentage of Negro patrons. In other cases it seemed due to the existence of other facilities nearer the center of the Negro area which were more largely patronized by the Negroes; an example is Stanton, which though not far from the Negro area is farther than Seward Park. The small number of Negroes at other places often could not be explained by the director. At Gladstone Playground, for example, in a neighborhood where the Negro population was increasing rapidly, practically no Negro children were found, though the white children said there were plenty of Negro children in the school. "They don't stick around after school hours or in the summer," said the children, but no one appeared to know why this was the case, as there had never been any difficulty at this playground. Negro children used Drake and Sherwood playgrounds much less, or not at all, after school hours and in summer. At Drake, though the two races mingled in games in the daytime and no disorders had occurred, the Negro boys took no part in the games in the evening when the older white boys were home. This, the director said, was due not to timidity or fear of aggression, but rather to "lack of ambition." At Sherwood Playground, west of Wentworth Avenue, where 50 per cent of the children using the playground during school hours were Negroes, there were no Negroes on the playground in the afternoon and evening and all summer. This was said to be due to the fact that the Negro children in the school, especially the girls, were larger than the white children and during the school session were the dominating group. After school, however, the older white children got home from other schools or from work and assumed control, allowing no Negroes in the playground. The Negroes then went to Carter Playground, which is east of Wentworth Avenue, in the main Negro settlement. This separation, the attendant stated, was due entirely to action on the part of the children, as the officials did not discriminate in any way. This neighborhood has been much disturbed and is discussed in more detail under "Contacts."
A TYPICAL SCHOOL YARD PLAYGROUND IN A WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD
Representatives of each park commission said that they had no rules or regulations of any kind discriminating against Negroes, and that all races were treated in exactly the same way. The only case in which this rule appeared to be violated was in connection with Negro golf players at Jackson Park. Two Negroes participated in the Amateur Golf Tournament at Jackson Park in the summer of 1918 and made good records. The only requirement for entrance into the tournament at that time was residence in the city for one year. In 1919 the requirements were increased, entries being limited to the lowest sixty-four scores, and membership in a "regularly organized golf club" being required. Since Negroes are not accepted in established golf clubs, the Negro golf players met this qualification by organizing a new club, "The Windy City Golf Association." In 1920 the restriction was added that contestants must belong to a regularly organized golf club affiliated with the Western Golf Association. As it was impossible for Negro clubs to secure such affiliation, it is impossible for Negroes to compete in the tournament.