
4 Items in This Collection
1) [Camp Chewonki] Reel 1
Boys on jungle gym, waving to camera. Campers in shirts with Cs on them. Wrestling. Round Top Farms cows and pasture. Fields with cows. Farm men gathering hay in horse-drawn wagon....
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2) [Camp Chewonki] Reel 2
Promotional 1940s Camp Film. Exercises in unison, one boy playing a joke is naked from the waist down. Boy gets a bath. Shot of boys brushing their teeth. Nurse weighs boys and chec...
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3) [Camp Chewonki Films] Reel 2
Chewonki [Point] service scenes over 11/14/72
Reel 2: Processed by Kodak N Jun 69
[Can label doesn't seem to match content]
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4) [Camp Chewonki Films] Reel 1
Chewonki [Point] service scenes over 11/14/72
Reel 1: Processed by Kodak FA Sept 59 (Tape at tail: "Buck W. Audubon"
[Can label doesn't seem to match content]
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Camp Chewonki Collection

Credit: Camp Chewonki Collection, Northeast Historic Film. Counselor with young archers at Camp Chewonki in Wiscasset, Maine.
Credit: Excerpt from Camp Chewonki Collection, Northeast Historic Film. Sports and recreation, ca. 1940s.

Primary Format and Extent
film (1,200 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.

Collection Date Range
1930 – 1940

Summary
The Camp Chewonki Collection consists of two reels shot in the 1940s depicting daily summer camp activities at Camp Chewonki in Wiscasset, Maine. Boys are seen playing, working, and learning how to take care of themselves and each other in a camp setting. The first reel includes footage of agricultural duties such as harvesting hay and herding cattle, and includes what looks to be vacation footage, including a boy seated on a Canadian Pacific cruise ship. The second reel offers a glimpse of two African American cooks standing in the doorway of a large building believed to be the entrance to the kitchen. The material focuses on the recreational activities at a boys’ camp, including footage of canoeing, sailing, swimming, and hiking. Counselors and boys meet with nurses and barbers, learn the basics of hygiene, and are weighed and measured. Boys participate in track and field activities such as shot put, jumping hurdles, and the long jump; counselors and campers take part in sports such as baseball, tennis, three-legged races, and horse riding. Religious service as a group, views of the wilderness, and theatrical performances are also captured.

Biographical/Historical Notes
Camp Chewonki was founded in 1915 along the shores of Lake Champlain, and moved in 1918 to the shores of Montsweag Bay on Chewonki Neck in Wiscasset, Maine. Founded as a saltwater camp for boys, Chewonki has grown into a year-round, non-profit environmental education organization. The boys’ camp continues each summer with an emphasis on natural history, sailing, and wilderness trips. In addition, a wilderness camp for girls ages 11-17 is offered, along with a variety of coed wilderness expeditions for teens.

Repository
Northeast Historic Film

Availability
The Collection is open for research.

Condition Governing Reproduction and Use
Authorization to reuse and/or reproduce must be obtained from Northeast Historic Film. See http://www.oldfilm.org/research for more information.
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