Neva Boyd
Encyclopedia
Neva Leona Boyd founded the Recreational Training School at the Hull House
in Chicago
. The school taught a one-year educational program in group games, gymnastics, dancing, dramatic arts, play theory, and social problems. She was on the faculty of Northwestern University
as a sociologist from 1927 to 1941.
Born in 1876 in Iowa
, Boyd moved to Chicago after high school. She enrolled in the Chicago Kindergarten Institute and eventually arrived at Hull House, a settlement house for European immigrants. She taught kindergarten in Buffalo, New York
, before returning in 1908 to attend the University of Chicago
.
The Chicago Park Commission hired Boyd as a social worker, specifically to organize social clubs, direct dramatics, supervise social dances and play activities. At Hull House, Neva Boyd ran movement and recreational groups for children. She used games and improvisation to teach language skills, problem-solving, self-confidence and social skills. During the Great Depression
, Boyd worked with the Recreational Project in the Works Progress Administration
, (WPA). In 1927, Boyd accepted Northwestern University’s invitation to move The Chicago Training School for Playground Workers from Hull House to its own Department of Sociology. Boyd became a sociology and theatre professor at the University of Chicago and is one of the founders of the Recreational Therapy and Educational Drama movements in the U.S.
Boyd also worked in military convalescent homes. The Red Cross, which established these convalescent houses, ensured that all wounded veterans engaged in playful games to prepare them for leaving the hospital. By the 1940s, Boyd’s methods found their ways into every military hospital in the country.
Viola Spolin
and Colonel William C. Menninger
were two of her students.
Hull House
Hull House is a settlement house in the United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located in the Near West Side of , Hull House opened its doors to the recently arrived European immigrants. By 1911, Hull House had grown to 13 buildings. In 1912 the Hull...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The school taught a one-year educational program in group games, gymnastics, dancing, dramatic arts, play theory, and social problems. She was on the faculty of Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
as a sociologist from 1927 to 1941.
Born in 1876 in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Boyd moved to Chicago after high school. She enrolled in the Chicago Kindergarten Institute and eventually arrived at Hull House, a settlement house for European immigrants. She taught kindergarten in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, before returning in 1908 to attend the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
The Chicago Park Commission hired Boyd as a social worker, specifically to organize social clubs, direct dramatics, supervise social dances and play activities. At Hull House, Neva Boyd ran movement and recreational groups for children. She used games and improvisation to teach language skills, problem-solving, self-confidence and social skills. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Boyd worked with the Recreational Project in the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
, (WPA). In 1927, Boyd accepted Northwestern University’s invitation to move The Chicago Training School for Playground Workers from Hull House to its own Department of Sociology. Boyd became a sociology and theatre professor at the University of Chicago and is one of the founders of the Recreational Therapy and Educational Drama movements in the U.S.
Boyd also worked in military convalescent homes. The Red Cross, which established these convalescent houses, ensured that all wounded veterans engaged in playful games to prepare them for leaving the hospital. By the 1940s, Boyd’s methods found their ways into every military hospital in the country.
Viola Spolin
Viola Spolin
Viola Spolin was an important innovator of the American theater in the 20th century. She created directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find choices improvisationally, as if in real life...
and Colonel William C. Menninger
William C. Menninger
William Claire Menninger was a co-founder with his brother Karl and his father of The Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas, which is an internationally known center for treatment of behavioral disorders.-Boy Scouts:...
were two of her students.
Books Published
- Old Square Dances of America by N. Boyd e Tressie M. Dunlavy (1932,2007)
- Handbook of Recreational Games de Neva Boyd, (1975). Ed Courier Dover Publications, ISBN 0486232042
- Play and game theory in group work: A collection of papers by Neva Leona Boyd por N. Boyd e Paul Simon (1971)
- Social group work: A definition with a methodological note de Neva Leona Boyd, (1971). Ed Jane Addams Graduate School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
- Social group work;: A definition with a methodological note (1949)
- Handbook of games (1945)
- Home games: A collection of games Neva Leona Boyd (1942)
- Group work experiments in state institutions. In Proceedings of the National Conference on Social Work (pp.339–345). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (1935).
- Folk Games and Gymnastic Play for Kindergarten, Primary, and Playground Dayny, and Neva L. Boyd Pedersen (1914,1932)
- Hospital and bedside games (1930,1945)
- Schoolroom games (1932)
- Outline for recording on clubs and dramatic groups (1932)
- Hospital and Bedside Games (1919)
- Old English and American Games for School and Playground by Florence Warren and Boyd, Neva L. Brown (Paperback - 1915)
- Folk Games of Denmark and Sweden for School, Playground and Social Center Dagny and Boyd, Neva L. Pedersen (1915)
See also
- Hull HouseHull HouseHull House is a settlement house in the United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located in the Near West Side of , Hull House opened its doors to the recently arrived European immigrants. By 1911, Hull House had grown to 13 buildings. In 1912 the Hull...
- Viola SpolinViola SpolinViola Spolin was an important innovator of the American theater in the 20th century. She created directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find choices improvisationally, as if in real life...