Friday, November 25, 2011

Testimonials For the Camp

One emotional & one practical testimonial for the Cleveland Girl Scout camp, circa 1937 - still strangely relevant today

Abbie Graham, author of "Ladies in Revolt"

"I approve of the sort of campaign you are running in behalf of camping. I might buy a square inch of the proposed acreage..... one that would give footing for the young eyes to discover the excellence of an adolescent moon. Or I might purchase an apple tree whereof some incipient Eve might eat and awaken to a knowledge of her own stupendous importance. Or I could use words to seek to arouse potential contributors to realize the unusual opportunities which the Girl Scouts are now offering Clevelanders".


Junior League bulletin

"Safety Director [Elliot] Ness and his crime prevention bureau were troubled by the reports of juvenile delinquency in a city district. THey sent out an SOS to the Girl Scouts to organize troops in the district. Modern law enforcement officers realize that what the juvenile gang spirit requires is direction into constructive channels.

But to cope with city streets, the Scouts must have camps where girls can learn the way of simple, adventurous activity out-of-doors during the adolescent years. Harold L. Madison, chairman of the camp planning committee for Cleveland Girl Scout Council, says: " If the children of a large city are to build healthy bodies, wholesome minds, and appreciative souls, the camp becomes a nessessity. It is the one organized channel available to large numbers of children"

Now, after years of searching, the Girl Scouts have found what Mr. Madison characterizes as "the most desirable campsite within a hundred miles of Cleveland". Their necessity is urgent is urgent since the present site is woefully inadequate.

The proposed site covers 243 acres at West Richfield, southwest of Brecksville. It is 22 miles equidistant from the Public Square, Lakewood, and Cleveland Heights, and its well-constructed dam provides it with two lakes. It is not raw land but is already equipped with buildings remarkably equipped with buildings remarkably appropriate to the uses of the Scouts; a lodge for eating and recreation, a mill house for crafts, an 11 room heated house for winter weekends and a boat house.

The Scouts ask us to consider these facts:

1. Permanent possession of this site witll make it possible to train 1400 more girls each year and to take care of younger girls.

2. The new camp will be open 52 weeks in the year.

3. Present facilities make it impossible for all the agencies for girls to serve more than 10 per cent of the girls in Cuyahoga county.

4. Cleveland is the only city in the region that does not have its own Girl Scout camp.

5. Figures from Akron, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Columbus show that the cost of the camp and its nessessary equipment is less than those cities have had to pay for a similar set up.

The goal for the Camp Fund Campaign is $60,000; part for the land purchase, the balance for the necessary remodeling, the erection of tents and other necessities to operate the camp on a year-around basis. Mr. Warner Seely is chairman of the campaign: Mrs. Benedict Crowell , vice chairman.

Since the soliciting organization is not a large one, Interested Junior League members will be doing their Scout-leader friends a very great favor if they don't wait to be called on, but step right up with their contributions.

Who Donated Camp Crowell/Hilaka?

With the revelelation that Mr. Guy Renkert's family had donated the land for Great Trail Camp and was still keeping an eye on making sure it was used properly, lots of people have been asking "who donated the land for Crowell Hilaka? " Here is the answer:

Instead of getting a land donation and then deciding to put a camp on it, the Cleveland Girl Scout Council was looking for a place that they could turn into a camp. The main qualification was that it have a lake large enough for swimming and boating.

One description of the camp search said that real estate agents kept showing them abandoned farms with creeks that " could easily be dammed up to create a lake" and that they were all getting tired of crawling underneath barbed wire fences.

When they found the Kirby property in 1936, they were thrilled. Two lakes, a boat house, dining hall, main house ( to be used for camp staff and adult trainings) and the farm buildings. Plus the mill was so pretty it would inspire arts & crafts.

The property was valued at $85,500.00 Kirby said he would take $48,500.00 for it because of it was for the Girl Scouts. The committee figured that they needed to raise $60,000.00 because in addition to buying the property, they would need to set up campsites and outfit the dining hall.

They decided that Eleanor Garfield would start by heading up the "special gifts" division of the fund-raising campaign. ( I think this means asking the wealthier citizens for large contributions. As the wife of a US president's grandson, she probably had the society connections needed to pull that off. ) There was a Scout family division and a Public division. They planned with the media to get continuous coverage of the campaign which would run from February 9 to February 26 (1937) . They got endorsements from a star-studded list of respected pillars of the community*. They developed a brochure explaining why the Girl Scouts needed the camp and why the place they had chosen was so perfect.

The official campaign kicked off with a dinner and entertainment at the University Club of Cleveland. Mr. Kirby attended, as did Mrs. Benedict ( Julia) Crowell. Girls enacted a "pantomime" called "Camping through the Calendar" . Following the event, newspapers and community bulletins kept up a steady stream of reports on how much money had been collected and encouraging people to give more.

5,050 individuals donated toward the purchase of the camp. Amounts ranged from 10 cents to 10 thousand dollars.

Donations came from "every corner of Cuyahoga County". The youngest donor was seven years old.

At the time, there were 3,626 Girl Scouts in the Cleveland Council.

So the answer to the question of "who donated the camp?" would be "the people of Cuyahoga County."

*
Endorsements for purchase of a camp for Cleveland GS Council 1936 / 37 came from

Eleanor Rooseveldt
Lou Henry Hoover
Elliot Ness
Junior Leauge of Cleveland
Charles H. Lake
Mrs. R.N. Rutledge
Mr. & Mrs. Max Hellman
Rabbi Abba H. Silver
Dr. A Caswell Ellis
Mrs. F.W. Reindel
Mrs. E.L. Shupe
Paul Bellamy
Mrs. Robert H. Jamison
Mrs. Frank L. Session
Fred Ramnsey
A.G. Knebel
Edward D. Lynde
Rabbi B.R. Bricker

The camp planning committee was headed by Harold L. Madison, director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Mary Colley, age 15, was selected as the "representative Girl Scout" pictured on the campaign flier.

Opening Banquet
Mrs. Carlton W. Bonfils was chairman of banquet arrangements
Mrs. Alexander C. Robinson was program chairman, assisted by:
Mrs. John A. Kiggen Jr. ( publicity chair)
Mrs. Stanlee Orr ( chairman of hosteses)
Mrs. Fred Harroff
Mrs. J. Jones Hudson
Mrs. E.A. Fisher
Mrs. George Jones
Mrs. Normal Siegel
Mrs. W.A. Roberts
Mrs. F.O. Fleming
Mrs. Howard Dingle
Mrs. Edwin Parkhurst

Proffessor Henry Miller Busch of Cleveland College was the keynote speaker

GS Troop 89 (captained by Mrs. Clifford Jorns) and GS troop 120 ( captained by Mrs. William C. Russell) took part in the " Camping Around the Calendar" skit.

Girls Jo Anne Galberach, Elizabeth Izant, and Peggy Camplejohn were pictured in the Plain Dealer laying logs on a pretend fire in the skit

Mrs. Clifford E. Jorns - author of skit lyrics
additional entertainment by radio stars Delma Lee and the Kay sisters
a motion picture by Mrs. Warner Seely of the new campsite was shown

According to the Cleveland NEWS, the following accepted invitations to sit at the speakers' table:

Mayor & Mrs. Harold H. Burton
Mr. & Mrs. Edward D. Lynde
Mr. & Mrs Hal Griswold
Mr. & Mrs. James R. Garfield
Mr. Harold Madison
Mr. George Green

Banquet attendees pictured in the Cleveland Press report:
J.B. Kirby
Mrs. Benedict Crowell
Menry M. Busch
Mrs. Henry Friede
Mrs. Hal Griswold
Harold L. Madison
Miss Grace Courtade
Miss Mary Driver
Miss Fay Stein
Miss Jean Warwick
Mrs. Stanlee Bates
Warner Seely
Mrs C Bonfils
George E Greer
Mrs Rudold Garfield
Mrs B.F. Quate
Miss Ann Wright
Stanlee T. Bates

support also came from
Mrs. Cleaveland Cross

From the Financial Report of the Capitol Account Drive. Cleveland GS Council February 26, 1938
Campaign Executive Commitee
Mrs. Henry Friede , Comissioner
Mr. Warner Seely, General Campaign Chairman
Mrs. Rudolf [Eleanor] Garfield, Special Gifts Chairman
Mrs. B.F. McQuate, Public Division Chairman
Mrs. Clifford Jorns, Scout Division Chairman
Mr. James B. Garfield, Treasurer

Camp Construction Committee
Mr. Morris A. Black, Chairman
Mr. Alexander Robinson, III
Mr. W.F. Schickler
Mr. E.A.Fisher
Mr. Gilbert R. Osterland
Mr. James B. Kirby
Mr. Henry Friede
Dr. R.W. Markwith
Mr. Harold Madison
Mr. John Homer Kapp

Special mention was made to Glidden & Co., The Electrical League, The Ohio Edison Co., Walsh & Co., and the newspapers for their invaluable publicity

The estate of Mr. & Mrs. James B. Kirby became the property of the Cleveland Girl Scout Council on April 7, 1937

The deed for the property was formally presented at the dedication ceremonies held at the camp on June 20, 1937. ON this date the camp was named in honor of Mrs. Benedict Crowell. Garfield Lodge was dedicated August 9th. Kirby house was dedicated on August 17th.

403 different girls between the ages of 7 and 18 attended the first summer camp sessions. From September 1, 1937 to February 26 when the first financial report on the camp was written, the camp was in "constant use" . 16 troops comprised of 252 girls camped on the weekends, 260 girls were served during 3 snow days. 8 conferences and training courses served 238 adults

Cleveland GS council -1937
Miss Anne Wright, Director [ CEO ]
[ the following are what today we would call the board officers ]
Mrs. Henry [Linnea] Friede, Commissioner
Mrs. B.F. McQuate, first deputy commissioner
Mrs. Stanlee T. [Margaret] Bates second deputy commissioner
Miss Grace Cody , third deputy commissioner
Mrs. Morris A. Black, corresponding secretary
Mrs. John H. Kapp, recording secretary
Mrs. John Pavlik, treasurer
Mrs. Bennett Chappele, of Middleton, OH; regional chairman


information for this history snippet comes from the 1938 CGSC report / 39 clippings provided by Farnham Publicity Service 1937 /
courtsy, archives of the GSNEO history committee

For newspaper articles and other information about the campaign to raise money to buy Camp Julia/Crowell, click here.  But be warned:  This is a 46-megabyte file, and it's going to take a long time to download.