The programs of the Fresh Air Fund and the Children’s Aid Society to introduce immigrant children to summer vacations were largely shaped by a desire to assimilate the children to American culture. Due to the social practice’s protestant origins, the decision to use vacations as an assimilation tool demonstrates reformers were seeking to impart protestant values on the Irish Catholic Children.

Nineteenth century reformers saw the paramount health benefit of the summer vacation was the time spent outside; due to the access to fresh air. Their additional emphasis on the importance of work during the vacation demonstrates the reformer’s belief that the site of a child’s personal betterment was largely within their own mind. Reformers in the early twentieth century, however, thought the ultimate health benefit of summer vacation was the opportunity for more physical activity than the school year permitted, and emphasized social activity like team sports and summer camps.The shift in adult perceptions of an “ideal” summer vacation reflect the larger trend in contemporary scientific theories on health and psychology; which believed one’s body was the site of personal development. Although it is worth noting the fear of crowds for health reasons was still very prevalent in American society well into the mid-twentieth century.