|
 |
|
A Manufactured Wilderness Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth, 1890–1960 Abigail A. Van Slyck |
|
|
Winner of the Vernacular Architecture Forum's Abbott Lowell Cummings Award An engrossing look at American summer camps—from mess halls to tents to fire circles. Since they were first established in the 1880s, children’s summer camps have touched the lives of millions of people. Although the camping experience has a special place in the popular imagination, few scholars have given serious thought to this peculiarly American phenomenon. Why were summer camps created? What concerns and ideals motivated their founders? Whom did they serve? How did they change over time? What factors influenced their design? To answer these and many other questions, Abigail A. Van Slyck trains an informed eye on the most visible and evocative aspect of camp life: its landscape and architecture. She argues that summer camps delivered much more than a simple encounter with the natural world. Instead, she suggests, camps provided a man-made version of wilderness, shaped by middle-class anxieties about gender roles, class tensions, race relations, and modernity and its impact on the lives of children. Following a fascinating history of summer camps and a wide-ranging overview of the factors that led to their creation, Van Slyck examines the intersections of the natural landscape with human-built forms and social activities. In particular, she addresses changing attitudes toward such subjects as children’s health, sanitation, play, relationships between the sexes, Native American culture, and evolving ideas about childhood. Generously illustrated with period photographs, maps, plans, and promotional images of camps throughout North America, A Manufactured Wilderness is the first book to offer a thorough consideration of the summer camp environment. “This book takes up the American adult impulse to give its children—and future adults—a better life than the adults enjoy by returning the youths to the former ‘youthful,’ ‘primitive’ and pre-industrial civilization. Van Slyck’s recounting of the movement is successful. This fine study takes a part of the development of modern society if not from the cradles to the grave then at least from childhood to adulthood. Architectural and cultural historians will find this book useful. Van Slyck’s interpretation of the manufactured environment through archival images is excellent. This thoughtful study demonstrates the changing definitions and needs of childhood, but, equally important, it shows how concepts of race, class, and gender were transferred to children through a seemingly innocent wilderness vacation.” —Journal of American Culture “Since their first appearance in the 1880’s, summer camps—and the experiences they offered— have shaped the lives of millions of Americans over the years. here Van Slyck provides a history of camping with a touch of sociological flavor, bringing in such issues as social class, race, and gender. In so doing she offers readers a complete picture of summer camps, their appeal, the variety of children who attended summer camps, and how children were served by the summer camp experience. Her approach is architectural, as the main title suggests: she looks at how these created wildernesses reflected life and values in the US. She also provides fascinating period photos. Although it classes under recreation and leisure, this book is bust suited to those in the social and behavioral sciences. Summing up: Recommended. All readers; all levels.” —Choice “An interesting historical review for camp directors and camp alumni seeking to understand how an why their camp property and buildings were developed. It illustrates the continuing influence of century-old social trends on current camp programming.” —International Journal of Wilderness “Sure to be of interest to readers who want to learn more about the physical and cultural landscape of the summer camps they attended as children or are sending their own children to now.”—Chicago Tribune “The book is generously illustrated with period photographs, maps, plans and promotional images of camps throughout North America.” —Crossroads Chronicle “Van Slyck examines the intersections of the natural landscape with human-built forms and social activities. She addresses changing attitudes toward children’s health, sanitation, play, relationships between the sexes, Native American culture and evolving ideas about childhood.” —Lake Country Echo “Provides an interesting look at why summer camps of the Frank A. Day era were created, how they were influenced by the social and cultural trends of their time, and how they influenced the development of generations of youth.” —Telegram & Gazette “Van Slyck's work is an informative and comprehensive look at its subject.” —Library Journal “A Manufactured Wilderness is an original work done in masterful fashion. Van Slyck vividly and convincingly highlights the connections between landscape, design, and culture. Every step of the way, she notes how the layouts of the camps and the activities children took part in were fraught with cultural meaning. No detail of camp life escapes her watchful eye.” —Journal of Popular Culture “A lavishly illustrated and imaginatively sourced book. Van Slyck’s research base is just as impressive as the interdisciplinary character of her analysis. A Manufactured Wilderness is a fine example of interdisciplinary history and an imaginative investigation of a subject that deserves more attention from historians.” —Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies “Van Slyck’s analytical framework lends itself well to an evaluation of summer camps in the present day. Van Slyck offers a history that may make a reader nostalgic for the days when summer camps were intended to build healthy bodies and 'character' rather than college application portfolios.” —Journal of Social History Abigail A. Van Slyck is Dayton associate professor of art history at Connecticut College. 296 pages | 107 halftones, 20 line art | 8 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄2 | 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations 1. Putting Campers in Their Place: Camp Landscapes and Changing Ideas of Childhood Epilogue: Summer Camps, Modern Architecture, and Modern Life |
||
$34.95 Cloth/jacket