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- Source of title proper: Title based on the organization which created the fonds.
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1904-1982 (Creation)
- Creator
- Ontario Camps Association
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65 cm of textual records
101 photographs
1 film reel : b&w ; 35 mm
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Administrative history
In 1900 A.L. Cochrane established the first private camp in Ontario. By 1925, the number of private camps in Ontario had increased to only six or seven. The camps established during this time period (1900-1925) were mainly for boys over the age of thirteen. Co-ed camps were unheard of at this time. As of 1925, the private camps were making headway in their development and agency camps, such as the Y.M.C.A., were opening up across the province. The leaders and directors of these camps, wanting to keep abreast of new trends, began to regularly attend the American Camping Association conventions, due to the absence of a Canadian or Ontario camping association. This situation, although helpful to the evolution of camps in Ontario, was not ideal. Issues relevant to Canadian camps, and camp leaders and directors, were not being addressed by the American association. As a result, the camp leaders in Ontario decided to form their own group. In the first few years, the meetings were informal, and held in private homes. The first members were A.L. Cochrane, H.E. Chapman, Mary Edgar, Mary Hamilton, Fern Halliday, and Taylor and Ethel Statten. One of the main topics of discussion centered on the need for a camping association in Ontario. In 1933, this group of private camp leaders and directors formally founded the Ontario Camping Association. Taylor Statten was made the first chairman of the Association. It was decided by the founding members that the Association would not just be for private camps, but would be open to anyone engaged in any aspect of camping. The interests of the founders of the Association encompassed the development and maintenance of high camping standards in the field of camping for children and an appreciation of the wider aspects of the camping movement. They believed that through discussion and consideration of common camping policies and problems, and by mutual exchange of ideas and knowledge, better camping would be achieved. The Ontario Camping Association was responsible for the development and implementation of standards for Ontario's children's camps, and, in 1941, in conjunction with the Provincial Department of Health, made the licensing of all camps mandatory. The headquarters of the Association are located in Toronto, Ontario. In 2012, the Ontario Camping Association changed its name to Ontario Camps Association.
Custodial history
This fonds was created by the member camps, agencies and committees of the OCA as well as by the OCA Board of Directors. It was in the custody of the OCA until it was donated to the Trent University Archives.
Scope and content
This fonds consists of additions of collected historical records of the Ontario Camping Association. It includes: camp brochures; the records of various camps; OCA Board of Directors membership lists, minutes, agendas, financial records, by-laws, and reports from annual meetings; records from the Woodmanship leaders school; Day camp Committee minutes, correspondence, proposals, reports and seminar records; and records collected by the Archives Committee.
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The fonds was donated by the Ontario Camping Association.
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N
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Associated materials
For related records see: 77-024 (L.M. Frost fonds), 80-022 (M.L. Northway fonds) and 90-016.
Accruals
Further accruals expected. Additions to the fonds include: 72-007, 78-006, 84-019, 85-011, 86-018, 88-006, 89-015, 92-005, and 93-012.
General note
Photographs are located in Box 2 Folder 1, Box 3 Folders 1-4.
General note
Box 1
Folder
1: Assorted camp brochures, 1960-1981
2: Margaret Govan's memoirs of Camp Onawaw, spring 1977, with biographical notes attached by Adele Ebbs. Two sets, with minimal duplication
3: Camp Onawaw "Scrapbook": Letters to campers in off-season, brochures, clippings, banquet menus, Centennial Achievement Award, lists of campers, crests and other memorabilia, 1930, 1950-1969
4: Camp Onawaw: architect's drawing of proposed dining hall, and end of summer report, Feb. & Sept. 1960
5: Camp Onawaw movie (duplicate of original made in 1938). Margaret Govan notes: "When I had it `remade', the maker put its second part first. Since it was supposed to be a day in camp, this is confusing."
Box 2
Folder
1: Camp Robin Hood - photographs
2: Camp Northway Lodge. Ann R. Prewitt, The Lasting Aspects of a Seventy-five Year Old Camp, 3 p., 1980; fragile camp brochure (n.d.); Toronto Star clipping, July 5 1980
3: Camp On-Da-Da-Waks brochures: 1917, 1923-1924, 1928-1930, 1935, 1938, 1941- 1948; 1906 Ottawa YMCA Banquet Program
4: Camp Wanapitei brochures, annual report, shareholders' profile, chronological accounts of events, 1971-1980
5: Material donated by Adele Ebbs: photocopy letter, W. Forgie to Adele Ebbs, 14 June 1947; "The Seven Smiling Seraphs, or Tenting Tentatively in Temagami" (canoe trip diary - Temagami and Lady Evelyn River area), Aug. 1921. Camp Wapomeo forms
6: Material donated by Dr. J.H. Ebbs: C.E. Hendry & J. Alex Edmison, Companionable Thoughts, Vols. 3 & 4, (Christmas 1926 & 1927); Ontario Boys' Work Board Camp Directors' Manual (ed. by W.A. "Ace" Milks); Canadian National Railways, Camp Craft and Woodlore, 1929; Shirley Bay Boys' Camp brochure; Camp On-Da-Da-Waks brochures, 1925 & 1939; Camp Pathfinder brochure (Source Lake, Algonquin Park - probably 1920s); National Music Camp of Canada, brochure, 1969; Camp Tonakela (India) letterhead; J.H. Ebbs A Tribute to Charles E. Hendry, 1979
Box 3
Folder
1: Photographs of YMCA Camp Couchiching 1905-1910 (donated by Adele Ebbs). 26 black & white dry mounted on 5 mounts. The camp was located at the Narrows between Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching
2: Glen Bernard Camp: 26 assorted black & white (and 1 colour) photographs of camp scenes, 1922-1950s. (Note: these photographs are neither duplicated by copy negatives nor listed in the OCA photo inventory)
3: Glen Bernard Camp: 34 assorted black & white photographs, 1920s-1950s (as per folder 2). Glen Bernard Song Book circa 1948, and brochures, nd
4: Miscellaneous material: Big Doe Football Camp poster circa, 1950; Royal Life Saving Society Certificate of Thanks to Mary S. Edgar, 24 March 1953; photographs and letters donated by Bruno Morawetz of Camp Ponacka - W. Forgie letter, 17 June 1960, and Morawetz-Edgar letters, 21-24 Jan. 1967; clippings re Clairville Day Camp; Keith Rumble "An Oral History of Physical Education, Recreation and Camping," U. of T. PhE. Thesis, 1974, with notes and insertions by Miss Helen E. Stewart, OCA Archives Committee Chairman; clippings from Toronto Calendar magazine
5: OCA Board of Directors: membership lists, minutes and agenda, 1974-1981 (incomplete)
6: OCA Executive Committee: agenda and minutes of regular and special meetings, 1974-1980; balance sheet, as at 31 Dec. 1979, and expense summary, 1973-1975
7: Miscellaneous Board & Executive materials - reports from annual meetings, briefs, CCA liaison materials, by-laws, memoranda from OCA President, 1977-1982 (includes 1981 annual meeting, held April 1982)
Box 4
Folder
1: Minutes and related documents of OCA Committees, Aquatics, 1975; Environmental Concerns, 1979-1980; Education, n.d; Finance, 1974, 1979-1980; History & Research, 1975; Membership, 1975-1980; Nominating, 1980; Planning, 1979; Standards, 1974, 1979-1981; Wilderness Travel, 1978; Woodsmanship, nd, c1974
2: Materials from Woodsmanship leaders school, Counsellors' Conference; bulletins from Counsellor Placement Bureau, 1974-1981
3: Working Group on Standards and Guidelines for Outdoor/Wilderness Programs - minutes, correspondence, etc., 1979
4: Contents as per folder 3 above. Includes U.S. Congressional materials
Box 5
Folder
1: Near-Print and other materials from OCA library: a) Ontario Department of Agriculture - Ontario Farm Service Force, Camp Manual, 1949 b) Suggested Camp Forms, OCA, n.d., revised, 1978 c) Camping YWCA, Toronto, 1957 d) OCA, 1972, Convention Report e) Canoe & Tripping Course, June 1970 and April 1972
2: Brief to the Ontario Select Committee on Youth, 1965. Two copies
3: Day Camp Committee, minutes, etc. 1974- 1975; Metro Toronto Social Planning Council, Day Camp Workbook, n.d. [1963]
4: Day Camp Committee: file of materials from OCA 1966 Conference
5: Day Camp Committee: minutes, correspondence, seminar materials and Constitution of Professional Recreation Guild, 1967-1969; 1978
6: as above: minutes, correspondence and related materials, 1969-1971
7: as above: minutes, 1972-1977
8: as above: minutes, 1974-1975; seminar materials
9: as above: minutes, etc., 1975- 1976
10: as above: correspondence, 1968
11: as above: correspondence, 1974-1975
12: as above: correspondence, 1976-1977
13: as above: proposals, surveys & reports, recommendations to OCA Board
14: as above: seminar materials, etc. for day camp counsellors, n.d.
15: OCA Conferences - Barry Lowes' addresses to the 1968 and 1980 conferences; John C. Spragge's address to the 1980 Annual meeting; 1981 Conference Programme and photographs of exhibitors' area
16: Material collected by OCA Archives Committee - Muskoka Summers brochure, 1946; Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA Camping Department Report; Centennial Cross- Cultural Camping Exchange, 1967; Archives Committee minutes, memoranda, 1967-1968
17: OCA Archives Committee - Accessions. List of donors and donations on 4" x 6" cards
Box 6
Folder
1: OCA Board minutes & documents, committee reports, etc., 1977
2: OCA Board minutes & documents, committee reports, etc. 1979
3: OCA Annual meetings & reports, 1965- 1973; 1975-1976. Text of Barney Dansen's address to Annual Meeting, 10 April 1979
4: 1979 Conference programme and first draft of "Study of Camping Practices - Camping Standards for Resident Children's Camps," 1979