Introduction: The Lithuanian worker and the Lake Michigan dunes -- Where Chicagoans found nature : an expedition with Leonard Dubkin, "Urban Ranger" -- Immigrants in "nature's nation" -- Turf : working-class ethnic youth culture and green space -- "The Negro speaks of rivers" : African Americans and nature -- The nature of May Day : green space and working-class Chicago -- Conclusion: What we can learn from Chicago's cultures of nature
Summary
In early twentieth-century America, affluent city-dwellers made a habit of venturing out of doors and vacationing in resorts and national parks. Yet the rich and the privileged were not the only ones who sought respite in nature. In this book, historian Colin Fisher demonstrates that working-class white immigrants and African Americans in rapidly industrializing Chicago also fled the urban environment during their scarce leisure time