Fred Ring

In 1933, Fred Ring and his wife became the first Americans prosecuted for nudism after police raided their Michigan nudist camp, Sun Sports League. He convicted of “designedly making an open, indecent and obscene exposure of his person and of the persons of others in violation of Act No. 328, Pub. Acts 1931, § 335.” ¹

His appeal of his conviction in 1934 failed, ² he served time, and was basically bankrupted by the events.³ Brian Hoffman describes the Fred Ring story in his book Naked: A cultural History of American Nudism. ⁴

The Sun Sports League in Allegan, Michigan, in contrast to these camps, failed to create friendly ties with the community; and within a year the camp was raided by local police. Fred Ring, a Kalamazoo dance instructor, and his wife, Ophelia, thought they had found the perfect location for their nudist camp. Located two miles away from the nearest highway and surrounded by thick woods, the members of the Sun Sports League never expected any problems with the local authorities.⁵

24 Oct 1933 Nudist Cult Leader Found Guilty Today Tue, Oct 24, 1933 – Page 1 · The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, Wisconsin) · Newspapers.com
Accounts of the trial were reported across the Midwest from Indiana to Illinois.⁶

A court order banning operation of the cult’s camp was issued at Kentland Tuesday on charges that small children from a nearby school were allowed to mingle with the unclad men and women. ⁷

Ring did fight it the charges and certainly paved the way for other nudists. According to Donald Johnson in his book The Nudists ⁸ Fred Ring’s prosecution and subsequent sentence made him the first martyr of the American nudist movement. The Sun Sports League property was later taken over by U.S. federal government.

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