The New Promised Land: Maine's Summer Camps for Jewish Youth ...

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campers after the slots were full, in order to ensure that they could give each camper the attention he/she deserved. According to Krasner, there were two main reasons for the increase in the number of applications. For one, the Maine camps were located a considerable distance from the major cities on the East Coast. During the war, when one of the nation’s major concerns was the possibility of a German air attack, Maine’s remote location relieved parents who feared for their children’s safety. Additionally, finding childcare during the summer months, when children were not in school became a common issue, as “six million women who had never worked outside the home joined the labor force during the war years.” 179 As Evans wrote, “more than 4,400 [cities] had established childcare and welfare committees by the summer of 1943, but their efforts paled in comparison to the need.” 180 Therefore, it makes sense that families who could afford to send their children away for the summer would choose to do so in order to give the children the best experience possible at such a turbulent time. The 1950s: A Negotiation of Judaism and American Life By the 1950s, there were four thriving Jewish educational camps in Maine: Camp Modin, Camp Lown, Camp Naomi, and Camp Joseph. The most well-known (and only surviving) of these camps, Camp Modin, advertised itself as “the summer camp with the Jewish idea.” 181 In this respect, these camps negotiated the level of 179 Evans, Born for Liberty, 224. 180 Ibid, 224. 181 Camp Modin, “In Pursuit of an Ideal,” History & Heritage- Oldest Jewish Summer Camp in New England, http://www.modin.com/heritage/index.php (accessed April 30, 2013). 52
Jewish education that parents wanted their children to experience, as well as to participate in the activities and trips they desired. The Jewish Educational Camp According to Krasner’s The Benderly Boys & American Jewish Education, Albert Schoolman of the Central Jewish Institute founded the first Jewish educational camp in 1921. The camp accommodated the children of working-class families, whose parents could not otherwise afford to give their children time out of doors. It was so successful that the CJI purchased a permanent seventeen hundred- acre site in Port Jervis, New York in 1923. 182 The site contained dining halls, cabins, infirmaries, playing fields, and social halls. By 1926, the camp hosted “750 to 800 children and staff at one time.” 183 The camp eventually took the name Cejwin, a name that insinuated a Native American tone and paid tribute to its founding organization (CEntral JeWish INstitute). Meanwhile, Schoolman took a leave of absence from the CJI in the fall of 1921. That year, he approached his friends, Issac Berkson and Alexander Dushkin about opening a camp in Maine based on the same model as Cejwin but to serve a wealthier clientele. Schoolman came up with this idea because he noticed the success of the “Jewish” camps in Maine such as Camp Kennebec (1907), Camp Kohut (1907), Camp Wigwam (1910), and Camp Walden (1916). These camps were owned by Jews and served mainly a Jewish clientele. For example, Camp Kohut was founded by Dr. George Alexander Kohut, who was the 182 Krasner, The Benderly Boys & American Jewish Education, 272. 183 Ibid. 53
Page 1 and 2: The New Promised Land: Maine’s Su
Page 3 and 4: The Inspiration for the First Ameri
Page 5 and 6: coins “the excitement over nature
Page 7 and 8: century, the population of cities
Page 9 and 10: The Evolution of the Institution An
Page 11 and 12: Reverend William Parsons, the pasto
Page 13 and 14: called primitive life was not a sav
Page 15 and 16: hundred [girls camps] were in opera
Page 17 and 18: on the idea that women should be eq
Page 19 and 20: Organizational camps, such as the S
Page 21 and 22: vested choir for the Sunday program
Page 23 and 24: ecame a sign of class status.” 72
Page 25 and 26: Although the upper-middle class and
Page 27 and 28: Additionally, Jews appreciated Nati
Page 29 and 30: that American fitness levels had de
Page 31 and 32: involved in her children’s lives,
Page 33 and 34: the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New Yor
Page 35 and 36: the United States between 1880 and
Page 37 and 38: appeared in New York’s Sullivan C
Page 39 and 40: and fraternity houses. Even at the
Page 41 and 42: Jews were also excluded from variou
Page 43 and 44: to control the nation’s wheat far
Page 45 and 46: camp directors.” 157 Of Alford La
Page 47 and 48: organization.” 165 Further, Paris
Page 49 and 50: fee). 169 Many times, this ended up
Page 51: 1937, Walldorf, who lived on New Yo
Page 55 and 56: said that they knew their bunkmates
Page 57 and 58: Council and Phillip Lown, a success
Page 59 and 60: Traditionally, Jewish Americans hav
Page 61 and 62: Further, Tenney’s brother, Arthur
Page 63 and 64: organization.” 207 However, at th
Page 65 and 66: was the first time they left home f
Page 67 and 68: enough. Former Mataponi camper Andr
Page 69 and 70: ealized how much he loved songwriti
Page 71 and 72: extensive trip program and Maine ha
Page 73 and 74: Weinstock got to lead camp meetings
Page 75 and 76: 4) Charity. Campers were taught to
Page 77 and 78: Hand in hand. We are playing for fu
Page 79 and 80: those summers for anything in the w
Page 81 and 82: overwhelmingly positive experience.
Page 83 and 84: Appendix of Jewish Summer Camps 193
Page 85 and 86: Straus, Nellie May. “Lost Waldeni
Page 87: Radest, Howard. Toward Common Groun

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