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by Kathy Christie
This summer, Aloha Camp, in Fairlee, Vermont, will join many camps in
the United States that have reached their centennial milestone. Aloha's
founders were part of an educational community that found camp to be a
natural extension of the academic experience. Harriet Farnsworth Gulick,
the founder of the Aloha Camps and director of Aloha, was also among the
founders of the American Camping Association (ACA). Both she and her daughter,
Camp Lanakila's Director Carol Hulbert, were presidents of ACA. As ACA
approaches its own centennial, the story of Aloha and the Gulick family
provides an inspiring anchor in the nationwide camp movement's coming-of-age.
"Imagination necessary. The very fabric of human civilization depends
on it." Harriet Farnsworth Gulick wrote these words in a notebook
of ideas for assembly talks at Aloha Camp, which she founded with her
husband, Edward Gulick. This remarkable couple, known always as Mother
and Father Gulick, could imagine what women could become in America and
in the world. They saw how a summer outdoors in nature, with good role
models, creative fun, and healthful activities could help girls develop
into young women prepared to accomplish great things in the world. Once
Mother Gulick's imagination was touched, it kept expanding.
In 1905, daily life for girls and young women in educated society was
regulated and restricted by the norms of the time. American women did
not have the right to vote until 1920. Given this culture, the delight
of abandoning long skirts and dresses, corsets and tight waists, and high
button shoes for the bloomers, middy blouses, and comfortable walking
shoes of camp was a welcomed liberty. Even more welcomed was the independence
of traveling to Fairlee, exploring the mountains and rivers and lakes
of New England, absorbing the variety of camp experiences, and thinking
and acting on one's own. Mother Gulick often said that the sign of an
educated woman is her ability to accept change, and "Aloha Maidens"
were known for embracing change.
Opening Day at Aloha Camp
Aloha Camp's first Opening Day in June of 1905, was especially fulfilling
for Mother and Father Gulick after a long winter of hard work in planning,
arranging, and corresponding with prospective campers, counselors, and
parents. In the dawning days of camp for girls, the Gulicks' generosity
and imagination led them to view their summer cottage as an unparalleled
opportunity for girls, including their own three daughters.
Right from the start, understanding one's inner life was equally important
as taking part in activities. Most important of all was getting along
with fellow campers and developing an appreciation for service to others.
Service was a strong ethic passed down through both the Farnsworth and
the Gulick families, who were known for their missionary work (in Turkey
and Hawaii, respectively) and for their pioneering work in the American
camp experience. "There is a lot for women to learn in order to be
active in the world and bring peace," Mother Gulick wrote in her
assembly notebook.
Along with its ideal setting, what made Aloha Camp so successful was
Mother and Father Gulick's attention to the inner spirit in equal portion
to their spontaneity and their initiation of "delightful activities."
Each spring, Mother Gulick would advise campers on what to pack. "Most
important of all that you bring . . . is what you cannot buy in the best
stores of New York or Paris, nor in the bazaars of Istanbul, Cairo, or
Benares! Place in your trunk great bags of the best brand of merriment,
humor, courage, and good cheer. Sprinkle into all the cracks quantities
of gentleness and gracious tolerance and also sympathetic imagination.
Be sure that no cartons (big or little) of bumptiousness or quarrelsomeness
get into your baggage. Should you find some small packages of 'I can't,'
throw them out and fill spaces with plenty of parcels of 'I'll try.'"
A typical day in Aloha's first years began with 6:50 a.m. bugle reveille,
followed by requisite calisthenics or a dip in the lake. After breakfast
and putting tents and campus in order, the whole camp would spend at least
an hour in assembly. Accompanied in the living room by Father Gulick's
spirited piano playing, campers and counselors would sing hymns and songs,
and Mother or Father would give a short talk about an idea, a person,
a world concern, or advice about getting along with others. With music
and inspiration in their step, the camp would then take on swimming, canoeing,
horseback riding, crafts, gardening, and tennis.
Mother Gulick believed that spontaneous interest is the best incentive,
that inner satisfaction is the greatest reward in work or play, and that
rewards work better than punishments because they "keep the girls
always striving to improve, eager and happy in emulation," as she
wrote in the 1915 Aloha Kanaka. From the start, campers made free choices
of program from a rich array of opportunities, and then participated for
the joy of the work or the love of the game. Aloha worked "for that
wise mingling of freedom and restraint which leads to a healthy and self-reliant
womanhood."
Opening Aloha Club
After a courageous first year, Mother and Father Gulick had to take
out a loan to pay their debts. But successive summers brought more campers
and counselors — as enthusiasm spread by word-of-mouth, bringing
resources with which to expand the Main House, buy more tents and canoes,
and construct new buildings. Next, the Gulicks turned their imagination
to opportunities for women "age eighteen to eighty," opening
Aloha Club in 1910 on the secluded shore of Lake Katherine in Pike, New
Hampshire. This unique camp for adult women was self-governing, rather
than counselor-directed. Adapting the Wellesley College system, they elected
officers and wrote and followed their own daily schedule. These were adventurous
and independent women, consciously carrying their Aloha heritage in all
they set out to do.
Opening Aloha Hive in 1915
The success of Aloha Camp and Aloha Club inspired Mother and Father
Gulick to imagine how camp could benefit younger girls. Having purchased
400 acres of farmland on Lake Fairlee in Ely, Vermont, they envisioned
all kinds of swings and hammocks for play, a green for dancing and games,
and even a pen for animal pets. Their 1915 brochure announced the opening
of Aloha Hive, featuring "all the same attractions which have made
the other camps so popular, with the additional mothering which younger
girls desire and need." Guided closely by her counselor, each Hiver
was encouraged to develop her own personality, stand on her own, and take
responsibility. Hive's first Director was Ellen Farnsworth, Mother Gulick's
sister. Successive directors included Mary Knapp, Helen Gulick King, and
Helen Shaw, who each brought her own personal touch to Hive's "summer
full of fun and interesting experiences." Director Helen Shaw brought
her enlightened leadership, encouraging spirit, and humor to Hive for
so many years (1944-1970) that the Trustees later dubbed her "a Gulick
who did not bear the family name."
Something for the Boys — Camp Lanakila
After launching Hive, the next question for Mother and Father Gulick's
imagination was "what about all the little brothers of Aloha and
Hive campers?" Granted, their first zeal was to fill the cavernous
need for girls' camps, but since numerous sons of staff usually spent
the summer at Aloha, the Gulicks knew the Aloha Spirit would work well
for boys. Far from the military camps that prevailed for boys in those
days, they envisioned a camp that promoted a spirit of adventure, discovery,
creativeness, respect for others, and individual growth. The Gulicks'
daughter, Carol, and her husband, Chauncey, lead the camp initially, although
they were only in their 20s. When Chauncey died only two years later,
a very young "Mrs. Carol" courageously took up the reins, which
she held devotedly for forty-six years.
Known for enjoying practical jokes, Mrs. Carol was one of few women
in the camp, and she had the respect of everyone. She was a wonderful
storyteller, and her message — expressed in different ways —
was to be true to yourself and to help out the other guy. Although there
was competition until the mid-1930s between Gray and Green teams —
and for a few years a White team as well, Mrs. Carol's leadership encouraged
intramural team competition. Victory at Lanakila was about one's personal
effort — a victory over self. Mrs. Carol delighted in imaginative
projects, and each summer in those early years, the boys built creative
structures such as a wooden railroad with a functioning engine, a lighthouse,
a mill house, a Spanish galleon, and the Castle, an enduring landmark.
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| Current Directors of The Aloha Foundation |
Posie Taylor
Executive Director |
Nancy Linkroum Pennell
Aloha Camp |
Helen Rankin Butler
Aloha Hive Camp |
Barnes Boffey
Camp Lanakila |
Andy Williams
Hulbert Outdoor Center |
Danny Kerr
Horizons Day Camp |
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An Appreciation for Different Cultures
From Aloha's opening day, Mother and Father Gulick had sought to help
children understand the world's economic, social, and political upheavals
of their time. As their own childhood years had been spent in Turkey (Mother
Gulick) and Hawaii (Father Gulick), a strong international understanding
led them to respect the inherent value of different cultures. One way
they could encourage world peace was to bring campers from all over the
world to Fairlee. In the 1938 camp booklet, Mother Gulick pointed out
that "exposure to this broad and deep interest in world affairs,
education, peace, and all forms of social progress may be the most valuable
experience of [a camper's] summer."
Accommodating Change
Peacetime in the 1920s and 1930s brought its own challenges, both economic
and social, and the Gulicks made program adjustments as needed. When automobile
touring became a popular venture in the 1920s, fewer women flocked to
Aloha Club, and since that campus had been built on rented property, it
became economically impractical to continue operating on Lake Katherine.
Instead, the Gulicks made Club the eldest unit at Aloha Camp, where young
women could learn to be counselors.
The Great Depression and how to respond constructively to its impact
concerned Father Gulick. Among his preserved sources for talks to the
camps is a reprinted essay entitled, "I Am Still Rich," in which
its author Roy L. Smith wrote, "We have passed through a panic, suffered
from a crash on the stock market, but I am still rich . . . .The depression
has not lowered the value of a single friendship. No nation becomes great
by becoming rich. Neither does a man find satisfaction in life by owning
something — only by becoming something . . . .This depression has
cost us some of the things we created but it has robbed us of none of
our power to create."
The Next Generation
After Father Gulick's death in 1931, Mother Gulick continued for twenty
years as the central, caring presence for all the camps. She passed away
in February 1951 at the age of eighty-six. As the Aloha family mourned
her loss, the camps carried on with the strength of the Gulick traditions
and values she had taken care to secure.
In the mid 1960s, the camps faced a major challenge as members of the
Gulick family's next generation followed pursuits other than the management
of Aloha, Hive, and Lanakila. Realizing that the camp mission was too
valuable to abandon, Mrs. Carol began exploring alternative ideas with
a dedicated group of parents. With imagination, this group and the Gulick
family eventually agreed to create The Aloha Foundation, a non-profit
organization that would continue operating the camps and endeavor to sustain
the Gulick traditions.
Through the fortunes and challenges of the times, the Gulicks and The
Aloha Foundation challenged themselves to affirm the camps' mission and
scrutinize policies in the light of changing world realities. Now, as
then, the process has confirmed that a summer at The Aloha Camps or participation
in a Hulbert Outdoor Center (named after Mrs. Carol) is even more essential
today to the children we serve. The Aloha Foundation's values —
similar to those of the country's finest American Camping Association
camps — of self-knowledge, friendship building, cooperation, service
to others, and respect for our natural environment are all the more important
for young people to carry with them into a depersonalized, technological,
often violent, and ever-changing world.
Originally published in the 2004 July/August
issue of Camping Magazine. |
