Kurt Barthel - father of naturism

could be called the father of the American Nudist Club. He began the American League for Physical Culture in 1929 with an ad in the newspaper requesting like-minded folks to join him. Some people say this organization was the evolutionary beginning of the American nudist movement in general and the American Sunbathing Association (now called the American Association for Nude Recreation or (AANR).

He founded America's first official nudist camp, Sky Farm in New Jersey at a time when nudists and nudism were not accepted at all by the American public in the throes of a depression.