Segregated and Integrated Camping in Youth Organizations
Interwar camps that aimed to create an integrated experience were highly progressive for their time, including Camp Wo-Chi-Ca and the Pioneer Youth Camp. Led by union activists and socialists/communists, these camps made a point of recruiting black campers and staff. In the 1940s, Camp Wo-Chi-Ca was estimated to have a membership of 20% black, and the camp leadership actively recruited from Harlem. Members of Harlem's artistic elite taught dance and visual arts to the campers, creating a diverse and unique experience. In 1914, G.W. Herring established a 4-H club in North Carolina that was tailored for black youth. By 1945, this club had grown to include over 29,000 members, and in 1950 the 4-H Club Foundation of North Carolina was founded to provide resources to create a camp specifically for boys and girls of color. (History of 4-H in North Carolina, 2023)
By 1930, mainstream organizations began to open their summer camps to interracial groups, although segregated camping programs were still more common. In the South, some segregated camps served black children, while the YMCA in Seattle ran segregated camps for Asian Americans and black boys until WWII. The Girl Scouts had long been an interracial organization. Still, in the North, their individual troops were generally segregated through suburban gerrymandering, and in the South, local white-led councils blocked black Girl Scout troops. In the late 1930s, civil rights activism spurred the national Girl Scouts leadership to explore interracial camping. By the early 1940s, black Scouts attended day camps with white girls, but very few attended integrated overnight camps.
(Courtesy South Carolina State University)
Campers at Camp Nathan Hale, Southfields New York, 1943.
(Courtesy Library of Congress, Gordon Parks)
Ringing the dinner bell at Camp Nathan Hale, Southfields New York, 1943.
(Courtesy Library of Congress, Gordon Parks)
As stated previously, despite the ACA’s declaration for “intercultural, interracial, interclass, and interfaith camps” in 1945, these ideals were not aligned with most camps’ actual practices in the 1940s and 1950s. At this time, only a few camps and organizations led desegregation efforts and even fewer created explicitly interracial camps. The YMCA was one of the organizations that, while having a national leadership that promoted desegregation, left it up to local customs, leading to regional inconsistencies in desegregation. It wasn't until the mid-1960s that some YMCA camps in the South were desegregated, a full decade after the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.
Interracial summer camps were seen as a way to help create a more “color-blind” society in the aftermath of World War II. These camps provided children with the opportunity to learn and experience living with someone of a different race, which was something that was not often experienced in school or while simply playing together. Despite the enthusiasm for this concept, those who supported it were aware of the potential obstacles and challenges they faced and approached it with realistic expectations.
In the 1960s and 1970s, many youth groups and camps began admitting more minority children; however, the language used to describe them was similar to the language used in the early 20th century to "Americanize" immigrant children, at times reductive and damaging. Separate camp networks were founded to reinforce minority cultures and identities rather than assimilating them into majority-white camps. Camp Leslie Marrowbone, founded by Sioux YMCA leaders in 1970, is an example of a camp focused on maintaining and celebrating Indigenous culture. (Paris, 2008)
By 1930, mainstream organizations began to open their summer camps to interracial groups, although segregated camping programs were still more common. In the South, some segregated camps served black children, while the YMCA in Seattle ran segregated camps for Asian Americans and black boys until WWII. The Girl Scouts had long been an interracial organization. Still, in the North, their individual troops were generally segregated through suburban gerrymandering, and in the South, local white-led councils blocked black Girl Scout troops. In the late 1930s, civil rights activism spurred the national Girl Scouts leadership to explore interracial camping. By the early 1940s, black Scouts attended day camps with white girls, but very few attended integrated overnight camps. (Smith, 2002)
Loretta Gyles pulling a bow at Camp Fern Rock, Bear Mountain, New York, 1943.
(Courtesy Library of Congress, Gordon Parks)
Campers at Camp Gaylord White, Arden, New York, 1943.
(Courtesy Library of Congress, Gordon Parks)
"At an integrated summer camp, children play and do arts and crafts in Hamtramck, Michigan, 1940."
(Courtesy DVarchive Retro Footage)
Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement
During the interwar period, boys still attended camps in greater numbers than girls, and minorities had far fewer opportunities for camping than white children. However, camps were becoming more inclusive, and progressive camps were challenging traditional hierarchies. At the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, the New York State State Committee on Charitable and Philanthropic Agencies and Organizations investigated accusations that Communists had, in their words, “moved in on a particularly American institution—the summer vacation camps—which gives them a direct path into the minds of the children.” Because of this, some “radical” camps closed, and political pressure was put on more mainstream camp directors. (Paris, 2008)
By the early 1960s, Civil Rights Movement activists were becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress toward achieving integrated summer camps. While some camps allowed black children to attend, they were still largely segregated from white children. Private camps were particularly resistant to integration, with only 33% allowing any racial mixing. Furthermore, only 1% of the 14% of American youth attending camp were black. In response to this, many youth organizations’ regional and local districts urged discussions on the issues surrounding camp integration. (Smith, 2002)
New Concerns Entering the 1960s
From the 1960s onwards, the camp industry experienced increasingly tough times. Rising land values made it difficult for prospective camp owners to afford desirable rural properties. The 'baby boom' generation aged out of camps, and, combined with a smaller generation in the following years, led camps to struggle to find clients. Economic hardships in the 1970s further discouraged parents from enrolling their children, leading to a national drop in YMCA camps and a high rate of closure for camps in general (both private and organizational)—around 1 in 5 camps went out of business from the 1970s to the 1990s.
