The American Gymnosophical Association (AGA) was organized circa 1930 by Herman and Katherine Soshinski. It was one of 3 spin-off groups from the League for Physical Culture that had been organized by Kurt Barthel in 1929. Dr. Maurice Parmelee, Professor of Sociology, City College of New York was its honorary President. [1] [ dead link ]
Katherine and Herman Soshinki arrived in the US in 1923 from Germany as librarians of the New York Public Library. They had become familiar with nudist practice in Germany from 1918–23. Once in the US they continued their subscription to the German newspapers where they saw the advertisements by Kurt Barthel soliciting German residents to assist in the formation of nudist groups. They joined the group, the League of Physical Culture spending time with others at leased farms in Westchester County in summers and gymnasiums and pools in New York in the winter before organizing the American Gymnosophical Association. Due to the anti-nudity laws in New York they searched for a location which led them to Rock Lodge. Membership soon grew to over 300 and national nudist conventions were held at Rock Lodge Club in 1936, 1938, and 1941. [2]
Rock Lodge Club compared most favorably with the other camps, not only in the scenic beauties, conveniences, and housing facilities, but with the personnel of the membership body at large, as well as the directors in particular. [3] The group had an office in Manhattan and by 1933 had leased an 11-acre (45,000 m2) camp in the foothills of the Catskills and accepted another farm of 60 acres (240,000 m2) nearer the city. Miss Ruth Winkler was the secretary of the Association. [4]
Like other groups interested in nudism, the American Gymnosophical Associates, maintained a well-equipped gymnasium in New York City during the winter months, where calisthenics and other exercises were indulged in under expert guidance. [1] [3]
A 1932 painting by artist Richard Ederheimer (1878–1959) indicating nudist activities at Rock Lodge Club is in the collection of the New Jersey Historical Society.
In 1936 looking to expand its operation in the winter months the AGA advertised for a secretary for its new camp Mossy Oaks located in Lake Thonotosassa, Tampa, Florida which was, at that time, Tampa's only nudist facility. [5] [6] By 1939 both locations had been approved for National American Sunbathing Association charter, Oakland, NJ. [7] The AGA had to discontinue renting country places in Florida in 1943 because of financial difficulties due to World War II.
The original AGA logo contained the words mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body). In an early AGA publication at Camp Rock Lodge in Stockholm, New Jersey are the statements "So perfect a paradise for the practice of nudism has not many parallels in America. It is all ours! The whole lake and miles of winding paths over the mountain-ranges!" "Back to nature, but not too far back". [8] Rock Lodge Club continues to operate as a non-profit nudist co-operative club at the same location.
The AGA was inspired by the idea that nude sunbathing was a healthy way of life. This belief seems to have first gained popularity in Germany in the 1890s following the publication of two influential books, Heinrich Pudor's The Cult Of The Nude and Richard Ungewitter's Die Nacktheit (Nakedness), a utopia of nude living.
In the early 1920s while in Germany, Dr. Parmelee researched the movement having read reference to it in a book written by Havelock Ellis on sex and society in 1912. He obtained literature on the subject and then was able to visit and take part in the nudist groups that had formed in Germany. It was during this time he realized he had opportunity to observe and study a significant movement from a psychological and sociological aspect and was encouraged to write a book on social nudism.
Back in New York during the winter of 1923–24 Dr. Parmelee wrote the book The New Gymnosophy the first edition of which was published in 1927 by F.H. Hitchcock, NY with his agreed upon financial assistance. He is the author of the first book on Nudism in the English language. He also wrote a paper entitled "Nacktkultur Under National Socialism".
Dr. Maurice Parmelee, was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1882. He received doctorate degrees from Yale and Columbia universities and taught Anthropology, Sociology and Economics at the universities of Kansas, Missouri and Minnesota and is the author of over 15 books.
In his later years Dr. Parmelee founded the American Gymnosophical Society, an Illinois chartered non-profit, tax exempt organization which published a 4-page brochure entitled "Gymnosophy". The pamphlet states the society was given affiliation in 1952 with the Societe Internationale de Gymnosophie which itself was founded in 1926 by Kene D'Mongeot in France. In 1952 Dr. Parmelee had retired from government service.
Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms are broadly interchangeable, nudism emphasizes the practice of nudity, whilst naturism highlights an attitude favoring harmony with nature and respect for the environment, into which that practice is integrated. That said, naturists come from a range of philosophical and cultural backgrounds; there is no single naturist ideology.
Naked yoga is the practice of yoga without clothes. It has existed since ancient times as a spiritual practice, and is mentioned in the 7th-10th century Bhagavata Purana and by the Ancient Greek geographer Strabo.
Rock Lodge Club is a naturist club located on 145 acres (59 ha) of privately owned land located in the Stockholm area of the Hardyston Township, New Jersey, which is situated on the New Jersey Highlands of North Jersey, about 40 miles (64 km) from Manhattan, New York. Rock Lodge Club and Sky Farm, also based in New Jersey, were founded in 1932 as the first permanent nudist communities in the United States. Both clubs are active today.
The American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) is a naturist organization based in the United States.
Ed Lange was a nudist photographer, and a publisher of many nudist pamphlets and magazines showing the nudist lifestyle.
Kurt Barthel (1884–1969) is the father of the modern United States nudist movement.
IlsleySilias Boone (1879–1968) was a charismatic speaker, a powerful organizer, a magazine publisher and the founding father of the American Sunbathing Association (ASA)—later reorganized as the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR). As a publisher he distributed the first nudist magazine in the United States. That publication eventually led to a challenge to the U.S. Postal Service's ban against sending obscene materials through the mail. Boone took his challenge all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which struck down the ban.
Freikörperkultur (FKK) is a social and health culture that originated in the German Empire; its beginnings were historically part of the Lebensreform social movement in the late 19th century. Freikörperkultur, which translates as free body culture, includes both the health aspects of being naked in light, air and sun and an intention to reform life and society. It is partly identified with the culture of nudity, naturism and nudism in the sense of communal nudity of people and families in leisure time, sport and everyday life.
Christian naturism is the practise of naturism or nudism by Christians.
Social nudity is the practice of nudity in relatively public settings not restricted by gender. This occurs both in public spaces and on commercial property, such as at a naturist resort.
Nude recreation consists of recreational activities which some people engage in while nude. Historically, the ancient Olympic Games were nude events. There remain some societies in Africa, Oceania, and South America that continue to engage in everyday public activities—including sports—without clothes, while in most of the world nude activities take place in either private spaces or separate clothing optional areas in public spaces. Occasional events, such as nude bike rides, may occur in public areas where nudity is not otherwise allowed.
Gymnosophy was a movement and a philosophy practiced in Europe and the US from the end of the 19th century to the mid 20th century. The practice involved nudity, asceticism, and meditation.
A nude beach, sometimes called a clothing-optional or free beach, is a beach where users are at liberty to be nude. Nude beaches usually have mixed bathing. Such beaches are usually on public lands, and any member of the public is allowed to use the facilities without membership in any movement or subscription to any personal belief. The use of the beach facilities is normally anonymous. Unlike a naturist resort or facility, there is normally no membership or vetting requirement for the use of a nude beach. The use of nude beach facilities is usually casual, not requiring pre-booking. Nude beaches may be official, unofficial, or illegal.
This timeline of social nudity shows the varying degrees of acceptance given to the naked human body by diverse cultures throughout history. The events listed here demonstrate how various societies have shifted between strict and lax clothing standards, how nudity has played a part in social movements and protest, and how the nude human body is accepted in the public sphere.
Felicity Jones is an American naturist who blogs pseudonymously for Young Naturists America. She is from Newton, New Jersey and is known for her activism in the nudism and feminism movements. Jones is a feminist who promotes female self-acceptance feminist thinking and opposes fat shaming. She encourages acceptance of sexuality and social nudism in daily life. She has been a contributor to Failure Magazine.
Richard Ungewitter was a German naturist and pioneer of the Freikörperkultur movement and one of its first organizers. There was a völkisch element in Ungewitter's ideas.
Naturism in the United States is the practice of social nudity as a lifestyle that seeks an alternative to the majority view of American society that considers nakedness and sexuality to be taboo based upon the legacy of Puritan and Victorian attitudes. Enthusiasm for naturism began in the late 1920s with the establishment of members-only communities where naturists could gather to socialize and enjoy recreation without clothing in an environment that was no more sexual than that experienced while clothed. In later decades some groups began advocating for more general acceptance, and the opening up of public land to clothing-optional recreation.
A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual social nudity. A smaller, more rustic, or more basic naturist resort may be called a naturist camp.
| Nakedness and clothing | |
|---|---|
| Nudity and sexuality | |
| Issues in social nudity | |
| Naturism | |
| Nude recreation | |
| By location | |
| Social nudity advocates | |
| Depictions of nudity | |
| See also | |
