Women Leaders of the “Bureau of Recreation” throughout the 1920s

By Meredith Leep, Architectural Researcher

Did you know that women led Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (formerly known as Philadelphia’s Bureau of Recreation) throughout the 1920s? These women were Miss Sophia L. Ross, Chief of the Bureau from 1920-1924, and Mrs. Emily L. Carmichael, Chief of the Bureau from 1924-1930. 

Chief Sophia L. Ross got her start in recreation in 1907, when she ran a playground in Waterview Park, which would later become Waterview Recreation Center. She ran the playground for the Civic Club, which was a progressive women’s reform organization in Philadelphia. When the City of Philadelphia formed the Board of Recreation in 1912, Miss Sophia L. Ross was appointed a board member. When appointed the Chief of the Bureau of Recreation in 1920, the newspaper headline read: “Woman is Chief of Recreation Bureau . . . Is First of Her Sex to be Given an Important Place by the Moore Administration.” 

Chief Sophia L. Ross was succeeded by Mrs. Emily L. Carmichael, who in addition to serving as Chief of the Bureau of Recreation was also active on many charitable boards. She was the mother of a well known Psychologist named Leonard Carmichael, who established a scholarship named after her at Tufts University. Sadly, in 1930 Emily L. Carmichael passed away while still serving as Chief of the Bureau. 

Both Chief Sophia L. Ross and Chief Emily L. Carmichael served as groundbreaking leaders at a time when women rarely had the opportunity to lead in public roles. After Chief Emily L. Carmichael’s death, it would be 58 years before another woman, Commissioner Dolores M. Andy, would lead the Department from 1988 to 1992. Since then, the Department of Recreation and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation have had a number of leaders who happened to be women, including Commissioner Susan Slawson and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s current leader, Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell.

(Photos from www.fultonhistory.com)