Description
Dunbar Playground is named after African American poet Paul Dunbar. It was opened by the New York Department of Parks on September 23, 1935. The department press release stated that the playground would be “equipped with a wading pool, shuffle board court, handball courts, swings, slides, seesaws, etc.” (kermitproject.org). Although the release does not specify federal involvement, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that “it is safe to say that every single project completed by the NYC Park Department during the 1930s was federally funded to some degree.” After April 1935, the WPA was especially involved in the development of the New York park system.
Source notes
https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/pdf/1935.html#1935/09/20 https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/parksprojects.html#commentary https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/dunbar-playground
Project originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on July 27, 2015.
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