A Very Brief History of the Naturist Society by Mark Storey
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A Very Brief History of The Naturist Society by Mark Storey Lee Baxandall becomes a naturist activist reate nude, and it kept them abreast of challenges to their naturist freedoms. In the summer of 1974, the superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore proposed a ban on nudity to include the Birth of The Naturist Society traditionally clothing-optional Truro beaches on the Atlan- tic side of Cape Cod. He argued that the nude use was By the end of the 1970s, Baxandall and other free beach attracting too large a crowd for the site. leaders on both the East and the West coasts saw the need for a broader-ranging, centralized naturist organization. The Lee Baxandall and some other free beach enthusiasts devel- American Sunbathing Association was serving the needs of oped a support group—the Free the Free Beach nudist clubs that owned property, but did virtually nothing Committee—to protest the ban. Since Lee Baxandall was for nude use on public lands. Defenders and promoters of the only self-employed member of the group, and thus had clothing-optional beaches, hot springs, or just naturism in job security, the task fell to him to be the public spokesper- general were isolated at best, and in many regions non- son for the group. With his ownership of a publishing firm existent. Baxandall called for an organizing conference to in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, he was also the obvious choice to be held in San Francisco in May 1980. Beach leaders, direct any activist writing projects that came up. coming from both sides of the nation, met to agree on how In May 1976, Baxandall met with Beachfront USA*— to proceed effectively and efficiently to promote and defend another free beach advocacy group—in Los Angeles to clothes-free use of beaches. discuss ways of combining their efforts and to advance the Attendees agreed that the unifying organization’s business free beach movement. They agreed to designate August 7, office should be called The Naturists, Inc., and that the 1976 as National Nude Beach Day in order to make inroads organizational membership should be called The Naturist on the public’s view of beach nudity. In coming years, this Society. By the time TNS issued its first set of membership successful event would become National Nude Weekend; cards in September 1980, it had 879 paying members, as and in 1992 it became National Nude Recreation Week. well as dozens of contributors. TNS and other naturist organizations each year receive hundreds of phone calls from inquisitive media representa- tives trying to figure out what is going on. It gives TNS the chance to explain the principles of naturism, and to alert *editor’s note: Beachfront USA was profiled in the Spring & Summer 2006 issues of the SunDial, members of the general public to the clothing-optional available online at www.sffb.com. opportunities in their regions. Baxandall and others also agreed that a center to store the primary materials of the clothing-optional movement was needed. Baxandall volunteered to use his Oshkosh facilities to house these documents and to have Oshkosh be the physical location for a new Free Beaches Documentation Cen- ter. Initially, the FBDC concentrated on collecting information pertaining to free beaches, but soon expanded to concern itself with all elements of clothing-free use of public lands. It intended to preserve documents such as posters, flyers, mani- festos, news items, photographs, legal documents, and publicity paraphernalia for use by students and writers with seri- ous interest. In June 1976, FBDC began publication and distribution of Free Beaches newspa- photo: per. Copies were available for the price of Michael Kush a donation to the FBDC. The tabloid pro- vided updates on where readers could rec- TNS’s Nicky Hoffman Lee (right) at Haulover Beach 2 vast majority of the magazine’s photos and articles are The Naturist Society contributed by TNS members and supporters from around the world. TNS Naturist Gatherings and Festivals In 1989, TNS issued its first copy of Nude & Natural magazine. Although TNS recognized that altering names One of the central features of TNS from its first year in was a risky move, it decided that the change would rein- existence was its member-driven regional Gatherings. force the biological value of social nudity by linking the TNS’ first Gathering was held on October 24-26, 1980 at words “nude” and “natural,” and focus attention on two Elysium in Topanga Canyon, California. TNS accepted core naturist values: social nudity and a sympathetic rela- club owner Ed Lange’s gracious invitation to use his club tionship to the natural environment. grounds to host this convention of free beach, hot spring, and naturist club leaders, as well as any TNS member who N has continued the tradition of journalistic excellence cared to join the discussions. established by CWS. N in size alone nearly doubles most other naturist publications around the world. TNS is proud One innovation announced at the 1980 Gathering was the to be a leader in covering naturist history, social commen- formulation of Naturist Special Interest Groups, or SIGs. tary, arts coverage, travel reports, and other naturist-related Baxandall got the idea of SIGs from the Mensa group. SIGs topics. were to provide a common meeting point on topics and activities of interest to TNS members. NAC & NEF In 1981, TNS held its first Eastern Naturist Gathering at As populations increased and once-remote beaches grew Pine Tree Association in Maryland, one of the East Coast’s more popular with non-naturists, some site authorities in oldest and best-established nudist clubs. Every year since the 1980s began to challenge longstanding nude use of then, TNS has had at least one Gathering on both the East specific public lands. TNS received a rising number of and the West coasts. In the 2000s, the trend has been to calls for information about existing sites whose clothing- highlight two major Gatherings: one each on the West and optional status was under attack, and recognized that it East Coasts, with regional Festivals in other parts of the country. The Gatherings and Festivals bring together naturists from around the country for educational seminars, legislative TNS photo updates, sports and games, and the chance to meet, support, and learn from one another. Some events have as few as 50 attendees; others have attracted nearly 800. Each is success- ful due to the volunteer efforts of TNS members who host the majority of the seminars, workshops, displays, and performances. It’s at the Gatherings and Festivals that TNS’ grassroots spirit is most clearly manifested. Clothed With the Sun – N Magazine Some Sun (formerly Free Beaches) readers had complained about its low newspaper quality, so Baxandall chose a more resilient and archival quality for TNS’ new magazine, Clothed with the Sun. TNS wanted to present the growing trend of clothing-optional beach use to recreation managers and law enforcement officials as being led by people who were organized, well informed, and able to articulate a coherent mission. The professionalism of CWS aided this effort. The office staff found production and distribution of the magazine much easier than that of the Sun, which was sent out to everyone who made a contribution to FBDC. CWS, on the other hand, was mailed to the TNS membership, who in turn was supplying a large portion of the articles and reviews. Although at present TNS has a cadre of writers willing to provide regular features for TNS’ journal, the Lee Baxandall, founder of The Naturist Society 3 that is accepted for that purpose” had risen from 71.6% to The Naturist Society 80%. It showed that those believing that “special and se- cluded areas should be set aside by the government for must develop a means of meeting these challenges while people who enjoy nude sunbathing” had risen from 39.1% continuing the mission of promoting naturism through the to 48%. And it showed that the number of people who had journal, Gatherings, and the network of beach support “gone ‘skinny-dipping’ or nude sunbathing in a mixed groups, naturist clubs, and SIGs. group of men and women either at a beach, at a pool, or somewhere else” had risen from 14.7% to 25%. After a series of attempts at working with various like- minded groups, TNS finally hit upon its most successful In 2006, NEF commissioned the Roper Public Affairs (the approach. By 1990, TNS had enough members, enough company had changed its name since 2000) to ask the three respect among the naturist and non-naturist communities, questions yet again. For the first question regarding inter- enough useful ties with other naturist organizations, enough ference of nude sunbathing, the number had dipped to experienced and battle-seasoned leaders, and a journal of 74%—higher than in 1983, but a bit lower than in 2000. For sufficient and consistent quality to take on the task of the second question asking about setting aside public land forming a model naturist action group of its own. In August for nude sunbathing, the number saying “yes” rose to 54%. of that year, TNS officially formed the Naturist Action And for the third question asking how many had gone Committee, soon after to be registered as a 501(c)4 non- skinny-dipping in mixed company, the number remained profit corporation. steady at 25%. These polls—stretching from 1983 to 2006—show a firm U.S. acceptance of at least some forms NAC’s stated goals were threefold: legal action, lobbying, of skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing on public lands.