# Neva L. Boyd
## Folklorist. Play Theorist. Recess Advocate.

Studied and collected artifacts of an oral tradition which survived through schoolyard games and chants in various cultures.
Early believer in the power of play in creating and maintaining social cohesion.
Worked at Hull-House (a settlement house for immigrants founded by Jane Addams and her "very good friend" Ellen G. Starr).
Identified a problem: the vast influx of immigrants to Chicago meant that many children from many different backgrounds ended up in the same place. They had trouble engaging in play because they couldn't speak each others' languages.
Her solution: create a common non-linguistic language of play.
Her study of the schoolyard oral tradition helped her to identify the tendencies and structures of play which resonate with human intuition and help the players navigate pro-social dialogue/negotiation/construction between selves.