Spiritualists subscribed to what were, for the time, radical ideas such as full equality between men and women and the possibility of contacting the spiritual realm through seances and mediums. Lake Pleasant was a spiritualist community set in a pine grove in Montague, Massachusetts. Before a fire in 1907 destroyed nearly everything at Lake Pleasant, children like the girl shown here, spent summers enjoying the clean air and restorative waters. Some families lived in wooden structures, while others set up canvas tents on platforms. Water for drinking, cooking and bathing was pumped from the ground by hand.