Collection Number: SC#13
Title:
Ozark Playgrounds Association Collection
Dates:
1800s, 1928-1977
Collection Size:
1 Box
The Ozark Playground Association was officially created in 1920 to increase tourism in what was considered the ‘Playgrounds of the Ozarks’ area by the association. The idea behind the association was created on November 25, 1919, leaders of local businesses in Joplin, Missouri reached out to surrounding towns and their businesses in both Missouri and Arkansas promoting the idea of a cooperative group for tourism advertising the Ozark area. Originally the area covered included Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas, but in 1937 Northwest Oklahoma joined the organization.
The Ozark Playground Association’s main goal was to increase tourism in the area. They did this by creating pamphlets and booklets which advertised local places to stay, places to eat at including specific Ozark specialties to try, and activities to do in the area. They focused on the more country life in these areas and on the natural environment, pushing tourists to see the caves and rivers in the area.
The Ozark Playground Association often ran contests to get the locals involved in the advertising. One such example is the creative writing contests such as the Flaming Fall Revue Poetry and Essay Contest in 1938. A contest they regularly held and that was important to the organization was the Smile Girl contest. The contest was a photo contest that specifically focused on photographs of smiling local women. The winning woman would then appear on the Association’s pamphlets and fliers as the advertisement for the “The Land of a Million Smiles”, the slogan for the Playgrounds of the Ozarks area.
The Ozark Playground Association often worked with businesses in the Playgrounds of the Ozarks areas, they would later include some of these businesses in the pamphlets to both stir up tourism in the area and patronage of the business. The association also closely worked with the realty industry, both working together to increase local property purchases from those non-local to the area.
The collection was donated by Marie Kolb who had been the Bureau Manager of the Ozark Playgrounds Association for several years. She collected information for potential article ideas for the group, and she wrote several articles about and for the group.
- Prepared by Kyleigh Mason, School of Arts and Sciences, Literary Studies, 1/30/25
The Ozark Playgrounds Association collection contains, articles and booklets about the formation and ongoings of the association, advertising pamphlets and booklets of the area, photographs of people associated with the association, and newspaper clippings about the general Ozark area.
Included in the collection are informational booklets and pamphlets, which both describe the Association and act as advertising for the Ozark area. Also included are maps of the area covered by the Association, with potential notable spots marked on the map.
There are also several photographs, most of them depicting members of the association. Other photographs involve the natural scenery of the Ozarks. Also included are three scrapbook pages depicting some of the members of the association and the smile girl contest winners of 1930 and 1935.
Included in the collection are several articles created by Marie Kolb, the donor. These articles were often directly about the group, but there are also a few about the Ozarks. Also included are personal correspondence and notes written by Kolb.
In the collection are many newspaper articles about the Ozark area. These articles focus on the natural environment of the area and any notable people or businesses of the area. Included is an envelope of newspaper clippings that were collected as possible ideas for feature stories by the OPA. This includes famous people in the area, products in the area that have done well, as well as anything noteworthy that has happened in the region and appeared in newspapers.
Also included in the collection is a history paper by James F. Barrett, which gives additional information about the group and the geographical boundaries of land the group was advertising.
- Prepared by Kyleigh Mason, School of Arts and Sciences, Literary Studies, 1/30/25
Ozark Playground Association
The Joplin Globe
Rogers Arkansas News
Arkansas Gazette
Donated by Marie Kolb in 1979 and 1981. "The Ozarks Playground Association" history paper donated by James F. Barrett in 2005.
Anna Mae DeLoy, 1930 Smile Girl - 3rd from the right
Folder 1: Jim Barrett paper
Folder 2: Ozark Playgrounds Association booklets, pamphlets and maps
Folder 3: Joplin Photograph
Folder 4: Photographs
Folder 5: Articles by Marie Kolb
Folder 6: Marie A. Kolb letters and papers
Folder 7: Flaming Fall Revue
Folder 8: Joplin, Missouri booklets
Folder 9: Miscellaneous documents
Folder 10: Newspaper Clippings
Folder 11: Newspaper Clippings
This site is maintained by the librarians of George A. Spiva Library.
If you have a question or comment about the Library's LibGuides, please contact the site administrator.
