A History of American Nudism – Part II

Modern naturism had its beginnings during the late nineteenth century. During this time, the medical community had neither explanation nor cure for the debilitating diseases that were commonly believed to be the result of living in the crowded and unsanitary cities, tenement housing, restrictive Victorian clothing, and oppressive working conditions in evidence during this “Golden Age” of industrialization. Some medical practitioners concluded that what people needed was exposure to the natural healing elements or fresh air, sunlight, and water preferably in the absence of clothing. So if you were under the impression that nudists were produced by the sixties movement, you were mistaken. Certainly the turbulent sixties was an era where a rigid culture, unable to contain the demands for greater individual freedom, broke free of the social constraints of the previous age through extreme deviation from the norm – even an era of great irresponsible excess and flamboyance. Toward the later half of that decade, younger generations rebelled against the conservative norms of the time, disassociated themselves from mainstream liberalism, turned away from the high levels of materialism which was so common during the era and created a counter-culture that eventually turned into a social revolution throughout much of the western world. The counter-culture movement was marked by drug use (including LSD and marijuana), psychedelic music, “free love” and yes, a good deal of nudist expression. Still this was not the roots of nudism/naturism. Public nudity was simply a vehicle used during the sixties as one more dissociative act of rebellion against “the system.” This actually rather pointedly makes the case for how strong the Puritanical and Victorian opposition to nudity still was in America during this period of history as it was seen something worthy of rebelling against.

The modern nudism movement continued in America patterned on the similar naturist movement in Europe when Bernard MacFadden, an early pioneer of health reform, began to promote natural living in his Physical Culture magazine and at his Physical Culture City, as did William Call in his Common Sense Club. In 1929 the first real nudist outing in American was organized by a group of German-Americans who were familiar with European naturism. Led by Kurt Barthel, they rented a piece of remote property over the Labor Day weekend and enjoyed a pleasant weekend outdoors celebrating nudity. The following spring, Barthel formed a regular club, The American League for Physical Culture. A year later, the American League for Physical Culture opened a permanent site near Spring Valley in Rockland County, New York, named Sky Farm. Over 200 new members joined that first year. Police raids soon followed as word of Sky Farm spread. When the case came to trial at the end of 1931, to everyone’s surprise, the judge acquitted the entire group. He ruled that not only were they doing all they could to maintain their privacy they were not guilty of any lewd behavior. This unexpected victory gave the nudist movement a tremendous boost and the publicity alone attracted many new converts. What had started as an attempt to stop American naturism instead nurtured it and helped it to grow.

Within a short time, American minister, Ilsley Boone, wrested control of the nudist movement away from Barthel. Boone would transform the American Nudist Movement and lead it off in a new, more daring direction. Rev. Boone fought successfully to win official recognition for the First Amendment rights of nudist publications. Immediately after assuming the presidency of the American League for Physical Culture, Boone renamed the group The American Sunbathing Association. Boone preferred to call his members “nudists” to differentiate them from the European term “naturist.” He began chartering new clubs affiliated with his own across America and by the mid 1930s there were eighty-one nudist camps across America.

By the mid-1980’s, the national organization Boone had founded, the ASA, grew to its peak of over 50,000 members throughout the United Sates, Canada and Jamaica. One last name change occurred in 1995 when the ASA became the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) – to better reflect the purpose and goals of the organization. The “Golden Age” Nudism in America soon followed the favorable 1958 Supreme Court decision which ruled that nudist (and men’s skin magazines) were protected under the First Amendment. In 1959, The State Supreme Court of Michigan ruled that nudists had the right to practice nudism within private resorts. Many of the post World War II primitive “nudist camps” were replaced by newer locations featuring swimming pools, clubhouses and restaurants. Nudists were no expected to “rough it” in order to enjoy nude recreation. They began to enjoy comparable luxuries to those enjoyed by their clothed friends at their summer resorts.

-- To be continued