Finding aid for the Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council records
0477
Finding aid prepared by Sue Luftschein
USC Libraries Special Collections
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California, 90089-0189
213-740-5900
specol@usc.edu
2011 June
Title: Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council reports and studies
Collection number: 0477
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.04 Linear feet
3 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1945-1972
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.
creator:
Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council (Los Angeles, Calif.).
creator:
Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles.
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.
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
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
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.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Recreation and Youth Services Planning Council (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Archives
Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles. -- Archives
Correspondence
Memorandums
Minutes
Reports
Social service--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
Youth--Services for--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
Box 1, Folder 1
Sorenson survey correspondence and memorandums
1945-1947
Box 1, Folder 2
Correspondence; reports; memorandums
1945-1950
Scope and Content
First Annual Report draft (1951); memorandums regarding surveys of youth recreation services; meeting invitations; Council
by-laws; committee reports; planning memorandums; proposals for boys' clubs.
Box 1, Folder 3
Reports; minutes; memorandums
1951-1952
Box 1, Folder 4
Reports and pamphlets
1949-1955
Scope and Content
First 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.
Box 1, Folder 5
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".
Box 1
Recreation for Everybody, Volumes I & II [Sorenson Survey]
1946
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA Southeast Branch
1963 April
Box 2, Box 1
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA Northeast Branch
1963 June
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA San Pedro and Peninsula Branch
1963 June
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA South Pasadena-San Marino Branch
1964 April
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA Gardena Valley Branch
1964 June
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA Torrance Family Branch
1964 June
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA East San Fernando Valley Branch
1965 January
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA East Los Angeles-Montebello Branch
1965 January
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study of the North Valley Jewish Community Center
1964 October
Box 2
A Social Need and Desirability Study for the Whittier YMCA
1964 October
Box 2
Proceedings of the Conference on the Role of Leisure Service Agencies in Mental Health Rehabilitation
1964 December 11
Box 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
Box 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
Box 2
Study of Recreation Needs and Services, South Central, Los Angeles
1966 August
Box 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
Box 2
The Ill, Retarded and Handicapped in Public Recreation
1967 June
Box 3
Teenage Recreation in Los Angeles County with Guidelines for the Establishment of Teenage Programs
1968 January
Box 3
Guiding the Development of Youth Behavior in Recreational Settings
1972 January
