Public Pools and The Great Outdoors on Inquiry

One of the most unique and fascinating social histories of America is JEFF WILTSE’s CONTESTED WATERS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF SWIMMING POOLS IN AMERICA. On tonight’s Inquiry, Wiltse, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Montana, describes how public pools were originally designed as bathhouses for the urban poor. But over the course of the first half of the 20^th Century, as the function of pools changed, these municipal spaces became the focus for heated and often-ugly debates about class, race and sexual equality that culminated in violence and riots. Tune in for a little known, but important, history of America! 

Put down that iPod and take a hike! That’s some of what RICHARD LOUV recommends in his book Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. What is happening to the minds and bodies of this current generation of children who seem to never experience the out of doors? Louv talks about the numerous health benefits to our children that time playing in that local woodlot or field can offer and why many parents fear letting their children roam outside.