Gyro Club Playgrounds and Children's Recreation in Edmonton, Alberta: Outdoor Play, Civic Life, and Urban Reform, 1922-1950

This study explores the history of the Gyro Club playground movement in Edmonton, Alberta, from the 1920s to the 1950s. Investigating who the Gyros were and how they structured play for children offers new insights to the history of Edmonton's playground movement and social reform in civic development. It probes how children experienced playgrounds and how the City built partnerships with a voluntary sector organization to promote recreation services through more than twenty years.;This work adds to understanding the implications of men's leadership in urban social reform and in the child saving movement. It also presents children's perspectives informed by archival and oral history sources on play in Gyro playgrounds. Furthermore larger shifts were related to voluntary sector and public sector work in urban governance and the lives of citizens.