The Development of Private and Public Beaches for Recreational Use

Letters of Support for the Public Bathing Beaches, 1895

Author: E. S. Dreyer
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-37320)

Author: William Dose
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-37321)

Author: Theo. Bluchardt
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-37322)

Author: Lyman Gage
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-37323)

In 1894 the Free Bath and Sanitary League (FBSL) succeeded the Municipal Order League. It comprised a large working committee of club and professional women and an honorary committee of three hundred prominent professional and businessmen. During its first months, the FBSL's immediate goal was to open a public beach in Lincoln Park to give the poor and working class a place to bathe. The League solicited the endorsement of prominent businessmen and government officials, including the governor.

See also: Baths, Public; Public Health; State Politics; Swimming

Petition in Support of Public Bathing Beach, 1895

Creator: Free Bath and Sanitary League
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-37324)

The Free Bath and Sanitary League petitioned the Lincoln Park Board Commissioners to establish a bathing beach on Lake Michigan between Fullerton and Diversey. It secured more than six hundred signatures of support from prominent doctors and reformers in the city.

See also: Baths, Public; Park Districts; Public Health; Swimming