Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

62 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 

Camp: A 100-Year-Old 
Summer Tradition
T

his is the JN’s “Camp 
Guide” issue. Time to 
start thinking about 
enrolling the kids at your favor-
ite camp and, perhaps, antici-
pating a bit of a break for mom 
and dad? Well, check out the 
ads in this issue for Tamarack 
Camps and 
Camp Tanuga, 
two of the oldest 
in Michigan, 
as well as such 
camps as Roeper, 
Tamakwa, Young 
Judaea, Walden 
and Lawrence 
Tech.
The first summer camps in 
America — almost all for boys 
— appeared in the 1870s and 
1880s. The first Jewish camp 
was founded in 1893 during 
the mass migration of Jews to 
America. Most of the Jewish 
immigrants settled in major 
urban areas, in particular, New 
York City. Detroit’s Jewish pop-
ulation also rapidly expanded in 
the early 20th century.
The mission of early Jewish 
camps was to provide youth 
with an escape from crowded, 
often poor, urban living spac-
es. The camps were meant to 
be “fresh-air refuges.
” They 
were also intended to make 
immigrant Jewish youth more 
American rather than to rein-
force Jewish values and culture. 
Camps began to change 
their ethos in the 1940s. No 
longer was Americanization 
the main purpose of camps. 
Jewish religious sectors such 
as Conservative and Reform 
Judaism organized some camps, 
others were organized around 
Zionism, Yiddish, Hebrew and 
other Jewish-centered learning 
themes.

According to recent sta-
tistics, in 2018, there were 
more than 160 camps that 
hosted about 80,000 Jewish 
campers every year. Now, 
with COVID on the wane, 
2023 should be a good year 
for summer camps.
I decided to explore the 
history of summer camps in 
the William Davidson Digital 
Archive of Jewish Detroit 
History. It took a bit of reading: 
3,878 pages were generated just 
by searching for the generic 
term “Summer Camp.
” In short, 
a long history of summer camps 
can be found in the Archive.
The earliest mentions of 
summer camps were found in 
the Detroit Jewish Chronicle in 
1917. Jewish youth going to 
and returning from camp were 
named in the “Society” column. 
 
The first advertisement that I 
found for a particular camp was 
in 1922, an ad in the Chronicle
for Camp Grand Sable for 
Jewish boys. The camp would 
be “run on Boy Scout principles 
and ideas, with wholesome dis-
cipline” (June 9, 1922). I must 
admit, this sounds a bit like 
boot camp to me.
An early article about a camp, 
one for Jewish boys, appeared 
in the April 15, 1927, Chronicle. 
Camp Walden in Maine was 
“Distinctly an Educational 
Institution.
” Its director, Morris 
Waldman, declared that “I can 
safely say that all intelligent 
parents approve of summer 
camps.
” 
The 1930s witnessed a grow-
ing number of ads for Michigan 
camps. In the May 19, 1933, 
Chronicle, Camp Nahelu on 
Perry Lake announced that it 
would open on “Decoration 
Day [now Memorial Day].
”

Soon after, the Fresh Air 
Camp (Tamarack’s ancestor), 
Camps Mehia and Hiawatha, 
and the Riseman Camp 
appeared in stories and ads, to 
name just a few. By the 1950s, 
the JN began to publish a 
“Camp Directory” (see the May 
5, 1959, JN for one example).
To say the least, summer 
camps have shaped the identi-
ties of Jewish youth for the past 
century. They have instilled 
memories that last a lifetime. 
Indeed, one often hears the 
question — what camp did you 
attend? 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN 
Foundation archives, available for free 
at www.djnfoundation.org.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

the William Davidson Digital 

History. It took a bit of reading: 
3,878 pages were generated just 

term “Summer Camp.
” In short, 

a long history of summer camps 

named in the “Society” column. 
 

found for a particular camp was 

be “run on Boy Scout principles 
Soon after, the Fresh Air 

term “Summer Camp.
” In short, 

