Park Conscious (1938)

Sep 14, 2017



"Parks are a call to the people to rest and play in family groups, a cure which has been seriously advocated for most of our social difficulties", so teaches this understated rallying cry from the US Department of the Interior to get "Park Conscious". Focusing on the parks of Minnesota, the film is notable for its emphasis on the mental well-being that parks can bring, as places where "nature can work her magic of mental and physical healing". Its an emphasis that perhaps makes sense once the timing of the piece is considered, coming as it does amidst the recession of 1937–1938, a downturn which itself came after already nearly a decade of hardship known as the Great Depression.