Finding aid for the Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council records
Table of Contents
Finding aid prepared by Sue Luftschein, 2011 June
Summary Information
- Repository
- USC Libraries Special Collections
- Creator
- Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council (Los Angeles, Calif.).
- Creator
- Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles.
- Title
- Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council reports and studies
- Collection no.
- 0477
- Date [inclusive]
- 1945-1972
- Extent
- 1.04 Linear feet, 3 boxes
- Language
- English
- Abstract
- The Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council records consist of correspondence, memorandums, meeting minutes, and reports created and compiled by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Recreation and Youth Services Council from its formation in the late 1940s through the early 1970s (the organization's name was changed to the Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council in 1964). The records document the founding of this organization as a result of the "Recreation for Everybody" report; the condition of the region's parks, playgrounds and beaches at the end of World War II; and the efforts of Council members to gather expert advice and set priorities. The records also document the various activities undertaken by the Council, primarily through published reports. Topics include studies of facility expansions for branches of the Los Angeles YMCA and a Jewish Community Center in the San Fernando Valley; the role of leisure services and public recreation in the area of mental health rehabilitation; the behavior of youth in recreational settings and in schools; and recreational needs and services for youth.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder# or item name], Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council records, Collection no. 0477, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Historical note
The impetus for the organization of the Metropolitan Recreation and Youth Services Council, like that for innovative programs such as the Los Angeles Youth Project and Special Services for Groups, came from the notorious "Zoot Suit" disturbances of May 1943, when minority youth gangs fought back against attacks made against them by servicemen stationed in the area. While Angelenos were alarmed by the violence, and disturbed by national media attention paid to it as evidence of racial tension, the Los Angeles Welfare Federation and its Council of Social Agencies acknowledged that social services for youth in the most disadvantaged and congested areas of the city had been seriously neglected. Preoccupied with war production, and plans for post-war industrial "reconversion", Los Angeles had allowed many of its public recreation facilities to deteriorate beyond repair. A first step for the Metropolitan Recreation and Youth Services Council was to commission--with difficulty, given the lack of qualified civilian manpower during the war--the detailed city-wide survey of its surviving recreational assets. In the post war years, while city and county government engaged in capital projects including freeway and airport construction, the Metropolitan Recreation and Youth Services Council worked with private and public agencies, including the Los Angeles City Board of Education and the City Recreation and Parks Commission, to meet the recommendations of its Sorenson Survey Report, both volumes of which can be found in the collection.
Scope and Content
The Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council records consist of correspondence, memorandums, meeting minutes, and reports created and compiled by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Recreation and Youth Services Council from its formation in the late 1940s through the early 1970s (the organization's name was changed to the Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council in 1964). The records document the founding of this organization as a result of the "Recreation for Everybody" report (1946; also known as the Sorenson Survey) commissioned by the Youth and Recreation Survey Committee of the Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles in 1945, as well as the condition of the region's parks, playgrounds and beaches at the end of World War II; and the efforts of Council members to gather expert advice and set priorities (included are copies of committee correspondence with urban historian Lewis Mumford on the poor prognosis for good recreational values in "tower block" public housing, as then contemplated by Los Angeles City Council). The records also document the various activities undertaken by the Council, primarily through published reports. Topics include studies of facility expansions for branches of the Los Angeles YMCA and a Jewish Community Center in the San Fernando Valley; the role of leisure services and public recreation in the area of mental health rehabilitation; the behavior of youth in recreational settings and in schools; and recreational needs and services for youth.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
USC Libraries Special Collections
2011 June
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California, 90089-0189
213-740-5900
specol@usc.edu
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
The use of archival materials for on-site research does not constitute permission from the California Social Welfare Archives to publish them. Copyright has not been assigned to the California Social Welfare Archives, and the researcher is instructed to obtain permission from the copyright holder to quote from or publish manuscripts in the CSWA's collections.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Archives
- Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles. -- Archives
Genre(s)
- Correspondence
- Memorandums
- Minutes
- Reports
Subject(s)
- Social service--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
- Youth--Services for--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Sorenson survey correspondence and memorandums 1945-1947 |
1 | 1 | ||
|
Correspondence; reports; memorandums 1945-1950 Scope and ContentFirst Annual Report draft (1951); memorandums regarding surveys of youth recreation services; meeting invitations; Council by-laws; committee reports; planning memorandums; proposals for boys' clubs. |
1 | 2 | ||
|
Reports; minutes; memorandums 1951-1952 |
1 | 3 | ||
|
Reports and pamphlets 1949-1955 Scope and ContentFirst Annual Report; "Swimming Pools in the Los Angeles Area"; "A Summary of Services Performed by the Metropolitan Recreation and Youth Services Council"; "Manual on Use of School Facilities"; fact sheets. |
1 | 4 | ||
|
Reports and pamphlets 1956-1959 Scope and Content"Recreation is for Everybody" (pamphlet); "The Next Ten Years: Factors Influencing Recreation in Los Angeles County"; "The Next Ten Years...Changing Roles of Agencies"; "Junior Sports: A Manual of Recommended Practices"; "Report on the Second Phase of the Recreation and Group Program Study". |
1 | 5 | ||
| Box | ||||
|
Recreation for Everybody, Volumes I & II [Sorenson Survey] 1946 |
1 | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA Southeast Branch 1963 April |
2 | |||
| Box | Box | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA Northeast Branch 1963 June |
2 | 1 | ||
| Box | ||||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA San Pedro and Peninsula Branch 1963 June |
2 | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA South Pasadena-San Marino Branch 1964 April |
2 | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA Gardena Valley Branch 1964 June |
2 | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA Torrance Family Branch 1964 June |
2 | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA East San Fernando Valley Branch 1965 January |
2 | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA East Los Angeles-Montebello Branch 1965 January |
2 | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study of the North Valley Jewish Community Center 1964 October |
2 | |||
|
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Whittier YMCA 1964 October |
2 | |||
|
Proceedings of the Conference on the Role of Leisure Service Agencies in Mental Health Rehabilitation 1964 December 11 |
2 | |||
|
Leisure Services and Mental Health Rehabilitation. A Survey of Recreation and Group Work Agencies' Programming as it May Aid Rehabilitation of the Mentally Ill in Los Angeles County 1965 March |
2 | |||
|
A Comparative Analysis of the Guiding Principles of the Youth Services Program of the Los Angeles City Schools with the Principles Emerging from Recent Recreational Literature 1966 February |
2 | |||
|
Study of Recreation Needs and Services, South Central, Los Angeles 1966 August |
2 | |||
|
The Prevention and Control of Anti-Social Behavior of Youth. An In-Servicve Training Guide for Youth Services Personnel of the Los Angeles City Schools 1966 September |
2 | |||
|
The Ill, Retarded and Handicapped in Public Recreation 1967 June |
2 | |||
|
Teenage Recreation in Los Angeles County with Guidelines for the Establishment of Teenage Programs 1968 January |
3 | |||
|
Guiding the Development of Youth Behavior in Recreational Settings 1972 January |
3 | |||
|
|
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