Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Bringing Children Together, Changing a Community
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Early in 1950 five women met in Knoxville, Tennessee to plan a day camp for city children. They described the purpose of the camp: “The purpose of this Day Camp shall be to create an atmosphere for children in which they may develop understanding and appreciation of their neighbors here in the community, and in the whole great wide world.” This integrated camp began that summer and continued until 1972, bringing together children and staff from across diverse Knoxville communities.
The organizers of the day camp went on to establish a local Fellowship House chapter, that sought to “… bring together in an atmosphere of common purpose people of all national, racial, and religious origins, and to provide them opportunity for sharing experiences.” Fellowship House members were active in efforts to integrate the University of Tennessee, the Knoxville City Schools, downtown businesses, and health care facilities.
As a child attending the camp in 1954, I saw it as an opportunity to have fun. Now I recognize the significance of the efforts of the women who organized the camp and the Fellowship House. By interviewing former campers and camp staff and reviewing documents held at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville and in the Fellowship House files at the Special Collection Research Center at Temple University in Philadelphia, I have begun to document this early civil rights effort. This paper will report on what I have learned.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Beth Bingman, now “retired,” is active in economic revitalization efforts in southwest Virginia. She formerly served as associate director of the Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee and as Managing Director of Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
Bringing Children Together, Changing a Community
Early in 1950 five women met in Knoxville, Tennessee to plan a day camp for city children. They described the purpose of the camp: “The purpose of this Day Camp shall be to create an atmosphere for children in which they may develop understanding and appreciation of their neighbors here in the community, and in the whole great wide world.” This integrated camp began that summer and continued until 1972, bringing together children and staff from across diverse Knoxville communities.
The organizers of the day camp went on to establish a local Fellowship House chapter, that sought to “… bring together in an atmosphere of common purpose people of all national, racial, and religious origins, and to provide them opportunity for sharing experiences.” Fellowship House members were active in efforts to integrate the University of Tennessee, the Knoxville City Schools, downtown businesses, and health care facilities.
As a child attending the camp in 1954, I saw it as an opportunity to have fun. Now I recognize the significance of the efforts of the women who organized the camp and the Fellowship House. By interviewing former campers and camp staff and reviewing documents held at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville and in the Fellowship House files at the Special Collection Research Center at Temple University in Philadelphia, I have begun to document this early civil rights effort. This paper will report on what I have learned.
