THE TORONTO STAR FRESH AIR FUND: TRANSCENDENTAL RESCUE IN A MODERN CITY, 1900–1915 |
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| Authors: | PHILLIP G. MACKINTOSH RICHARD ANDERSON |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Dr. Mackintosh is an associate professor of geography at Brock University, Saint Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1.;2. Dr. Anderson is a sessional lecturer in geography at York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3. |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT. The Toronto Star newspaper began rescuing poor children from the city's hottest, smokiest, and smelliest neighborhoods in 1901. The Fresh Air Fund, like park and playground planning, assumed that proximity to nature modified both health and behavior. Evoking transcendentalism—the idea that providential nature could move humanity into higher forms of existence—the Star sent children to the countryside near Toronto, albeit temporarily, assured of producing tangible health benefits. It also expected “nature” to convert the antibourgeois immorality of poor children into something more tolerable. |
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| Keywords: | Canada children nature reform Toronto Toronto Star transcendentalism |
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